Water Or Oil With A Whetstone?

[tbmow]

Just want to ante my $0.02 into the pot here...

One method to learn how to sharpen is to find an old, dull tool or buy a cheap tool (like the $5 H/F 11 piece wood carving set), and practice using a cheap sharpening stone (like the two sided H/F one for $4). Before beginning, look at the cutting edge. You will see a lot of parallel lines that look like they are scratched in, those lines are what you want to remove. Start with the coarse stone and move to finer stones. When you have finished, the cutting edge should look smooth and shiny without any visible scratches.

If you get the cheapo set, start with one of the flat blades and progress to the more difficult shapes. The benefit of using this approach is that you are not working with an expensive tool that you are afraid of ruining. Set a goal of sharpening one of the set per day—about 30 to 45 minutes. Once you do it right, you can get good enough edges on the cheap tools to actually make them useful. Because the metal alloy is low-cost and not heat treated, these tools will not hold an edge (stay sharp) as long as your better quality tools. Taught sharpening this way to a neighbor last year, and he managed to get all 11 pieces sharp enough to shave hair off his arm. Then he went and sharpened his grandfather's tools.

On the water vs. oil debate. Certain natural stones, the "water stones," are best used with water. Most man made (synthetic) stones work with either. I have had stones that were used with water begin to "rust" when the water reacts with the metal particles removed from the edge. Rusting does not happen with oil. On the other hand, spilling water is an easy clean up compared to oil. If you decide to go the oil route, store the stones and oil in one of those plastic shoe boxes, and keep it on the bottom shelf (so that it has nowhere to fall down to and spill).

One type of oil that has not been mentioned yet is home heating oil, kerosene, or diesel fuel. Many sharpening oils are made from these oils because of the availability and low cost. If you do not like the odor, use mineral oil, commonly called baby oil.

Remember that sharpening skills are like leatherworking skills—practice, practice, practice...