Replies

1. 
   Eideann | May 25, 2020 11:08pm | #1

   Sand paper on a flat surface like granite or thick glass similar to a Waterstone. But you'll need to lubricate it. Seems like kerosene is the go to for some.

   I would recommend switching to Waterstones unless your really stuck on the oil stone.

2. 
   lat_axe | May 26, 2020 03:21am | #2

   Oil stones are often very hard. They take a longish time to dish but an equally long time to flatten. I can't see sandpaper doing the job as the oil stone will probably shred it long before the sandpaper wears the oilstone.

   As the previous poster mentions, now may be the time to consign the oil stone to history in favour of a more modern sharpening medium. My own choice has eventually come down to 3M (and some Hermes) lapping & polishing "sandpapers" (they mostly have a tough plasticised backing instead of or combined with paper; and use aluminium oxide as the sand) on float glass. A rough diamond plate for grinding if you don't use a grinding wheel, which I don't myself but you may have one for other grinding purposes.

   Water stones are liked by many for the fine edge they give but the keeping and maintaining tasks seem onerous to me. They need to be wet or damp; they have to be flattened after nearly every use (with a diamond plate, typically). They're expensive for good ones - although they last longer than the papers used on float glass.

   Some hang on to their oil stones because they're used to them. Perhaps they also kept their Ford Model T for driving in? :-)

   Lataxe

3. 
   john_c2 | May 26, 2020 09:48am | #3

   The very best way to flatten oilstones is to use a diamond plate. DNT makes a special large lapping plate specifically for flattening oil and waterstones. It's made for the task, and the surface is tougher tg an an average diamond plate. But it's pricey.

   You can use sandpaper, but be sure it's on a dead flat surface. Use wet or dry paper, and lubricate with water. Folks have been flattening oil stones that way since long before we were born.

   Oil stones do a great job. They've been part of putting razor sharp edges on steel for hundreds of years. The best way to keep tgem in good shape is to adjust your technique to use the entire stone, and the need for flattening will be very rare.

4. 
   DRBWWing | May 26, 2020 10:05am | #4

   They are cheap enough just buy a new one.

   I wouldn't take the chance ruining a diamond plate.

5. 
   john_c2 | May 26, 2020 10:42am | #5

   Cheap? A hard black Arkansas is a 100 dollar stone. It should last several lifetimes. It is by no means a disposable item.

6. 
   mikeinohio | May 26, 2020 11:12am | #6

   I have no experience with oil stones but I've read that they are best suited to traditional steel like O1 and don't work very well on modern steels like A2, PM-V11, etc...

   So when you wrote, "...both lack good cutting." I wondered what you were trying to sharpen.

   Mike

7. 
   gulfstar | May 26, 2020 12:14pm | #7

   I went from water stones to oil stones and would never go back. Lately I ran out of honing oil and used mineral spirits to lubricate and found that it made sharpening faster. Your stones could be clogged with steel particles, kerosene or mineral spirit could give them a new life. I use a Norton man made stone for setting the bevel after grinding and then a white hard Arkansas, if I want to impress the gallery I finish with a hard black Arkansas and a leather strop to lineup the atoms on the edge. I drive a Subaru.