TMUC Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 Hi, I have never posted in a forum before so I hope this is the right way to ask a question. I recently acquired an old Washita oil stone. I don't use oil stones but would like to bring this one back into action. I have read about boiling them, cleaning them etc. but is it possible to just start using water after it's been thouroughly cleaned of oil, or is it more complicated than this? Thank you for any advice.
Michael Doran Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 I'm not an oil stone guy either, but I've akways heard that you can go from water to oil but not back. I wouldn't attempt it. M
Bill Yacey Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 I don't see any harm in soaking it in varsol for a few days followed by boiling it in soapy water. You certainly won't harm the stone unless you try and cool it too rapidly when it's hot.
Roger Hargrave Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 If it has been used for some time it will be difficult to clean. My advice would be to either keep it as an oil stone or sell it. When I started making, all my stones were oil lubricated. These days the wide variety of available water stones are by far the best and they are not as messy. I have not used an oil stone for 35 years.
Addie Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 Dawn mixed with a solvent will help, followed by just Dawn. You’ll have to do this periodically for the rest of the stone’s life. I’ve never boiled a stone--the dawn and solvent is a cold treatment.
TMUC Posted November 19, 2014 Author Report Posted November 19, 2014 Hey, thanks everyone! It was given to me by a teacher who wanted it used so I would feel bad to sell it. Maybe I will give the cleaning thing a go, as Bill says, it's unlikely to harm it. If not I will give it away. But does anyone use oil stones anymore?! Thanks very much for your replies
Melvin Goldsmith Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 I'd generally defer to Rogers greater experience but I must say that a Washita oil stone is a rare and beautiful thing these days and a damned good tool when used as it was traditionally intended to be by generations of fine woodworkers ..i.e. with a little splash of hohning oil. Please don't be tempted to use it any other way. These things are worth a fair bit of money. Put it on Ebay so someone who knows how to use it can pay you 200 + bucks so you can buy a whole set of water stones
Brad Dorsey Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 Is there any difference between an oil stone and a waterstone other than that an oil stone has had been oiled? Can any sharpening stone be either an oil stone or a waterstone?
James M. Jones Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 I keep a small fine one( white Arkansas) for small tools like purfling pick and linning mortice chisel, where the hardness of the stone prevents any digging into the stone by a short edge, I use water to avoid the mess of oil , so far the stone works great. . The great advantage of water stones is their ability to be easily flattened in order to produce a true straight edge , this same quality also produces fresh cutting surfaces,thus speeding the process of sharpening.
Melvin Goldsmith Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 Is there any difference between an oil stone and a waterstone other than that an oil stone has had been oiled? Can any sharpening stone be either an oil stone or a waterstone? Big differences. Waterstones generally cut cut faster but get out of shape faster ...but can be flattened faster...I have used both but prefer good traditional oil stones. My primary concern is cutting wood ,,, not dressing stiones
jim mcavoy Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 my understanding is that a water stone sheds and an oil stone doesn't... I stopped using oil stones years ago (mostly because straight razors use water, and that is sharp enough for me) Jim
Melvin Goldsmith Posted November 19, 2014 Report Posted November 19, 2014 my understanding is that a water stone sheds and an oil stone doesn't... I stopped using oil stones years ago (mostly because straight razors use water, and that is sharp enough for me) Jim Edit...straight razor..respect!
Brad Dorsey Posted November 20, 2014 Report Posted November 20, 2014 ...a water stone sheds... Sheds what?
Michael_Molnar Posted November 20, 2014 Report Posted November 20, 2014 Sheds what? Grit. They are very different in structure and the way they wear down.
Addie Posted November 20, 2014 Report Posted November 20, 2014 Yes. And since oil stones don’t shed, if they are used as water stones, they clog fairly quickly, so have to be cleaned.
Bill Yacey Posted November 20, 2014 Report Posted November 20, 2014 Hard Arkansas whetstones used with oil abrades the steel and wears very slowly in normal use. The oil helps to suspend the abraded metal particles and prevents the pores of the stone from getting clogged up. A water stone is much softer by comparison and wears down in use. The loose abrasive particles create a slurry and seems to cut faster than a hard whetstone.
Addie Posted November 20, 2014 Report Posted November 20, 2014 Even man-made stones use different binders for oil or water, so they behave like their natural counterparts. Water stones do cut faster, but see post #10
HullGuitars Posted November 20, 2014 Report Posted November 20, 2014 SELL IT OR USE IT AS IS. That's a freaking nice stone! The clogging issue (as mentioned above) came to mind when I first read your post. Without the face of the stone breaking down like a true water stone it will cause a few problems. IF you are hell bent on trying to convert it...... The only way I see to guarantee successfully removing all the oil would be to use a vacuum pot and pull a serous amount of preasure with the stone submersed in soapy warm water. After the vacuum is released and the water solution is exposed to the oils.... I would change the water out and preform the process again. A few go arounds and you should be ready to go. I will do it for you if you don't have a vacume pot. Shouldn't take more than an hour or two of partially attended work. Once the vacuum process has been done 3-5 times I would switch to a pressure pot. Pump about 500 psi in that baby with soapy water then switch to clean warm water. Should do the trick of removing the oil and putting an awesome stone out of commission. But WHO KNOWS? it may just work for you. -Grant
Bill Yacey Posted November 20, 2014 Report Posted November 20, 2014 An ultrasonic cleaning tank with varsol might work well too.
David Hart Posted November 20, 2014 Report Posted November 20, 2014 Just leave the stone. If you don't like to work with oil stones, in keeping with your benefactors wishes, it would be perfectly acceptable to sell the stone and use the money to buy a decent water stone, which would be more effective anyway.
Roger Hargrave Posted November 20, 2014 Report Posted November 20, 2014 I have a box full of Washita and Arkansas stones, white black and multicolored; are they really worth selling? I bought many of them from the 'Sultan of Stone', but you would need to ask the members of my year at Newark about him. As Melvin says this is a matter of taste. As for 'greater experience' Melvin, I doubt it, It is just that I have a bigger mouth.
TMUC Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Posted November 20, 2014 Now I really would like to know who the 'Sultan of Stone' is. ! Roger, perhaps you might use your 'bigger mouth' to reveal?? from the photos I've seen there weren't so many people in your year at Newark..
Addie Posted November 20, 2014 Report Posted November 20, 2014 Doing a little reading... apparently it’s now popular to clean oilstones in the dishwasher.
Melvin Goldsmith Posted November 21, 2014 Report Posted November 21, 2014 When I was a kid aged around 12 years old we still had old school woodwork teachers who were basically from the trade and used physical discipline of a slap around the head with a plank.. My least favorite teacher Mr Wade was some kind of lay preacher, very traditionally dresssed and very keen to instruct his pupils on the best makes of hand tools and we had to copy down his list of them...... Ward and Payne, Marples Hibernian, Norris etc as well as Washita and Arkansas oilstones........At the end of lessons like this he would then tell tell us to go look in our grandparents sheds and workshops and and inform him immediately if any items fitting the subjects of the day's lesson might reside there! As it happened My Grandpa did have a workshop of fine old tools and I was making my first violin in there but somehow knew even at that age not to tell my so called woodwork teacher Some time that year I was at a country fair with a pocket full of money from helping my Father making hay on the farm. I was attracted to a second hand tools stall and especially to a very cheap small wooden box that seemed too heavy for it's size and could not be opened. I bought it because I could sense there was something significant inside...hopefully in my 12 year old boy's mind a gun or a gold ingot. I got home and levered two halves of the box apart. It was a genuine unused as new Washita oil stone with original labels etc. For me even at that age it was a score! I used it immediately and have been doing so ever since.That's 34 years of service so far. ( 24 yrs every day in my full time workshop)
Roger Hargrave Posted November 21, 2014 Report Posted November 21, 2014 When I was a kid aged around 12 years old we still had old school woodwork teachers who were basically from the trade and used physical discipline of a slap around the head with a plank.. My least favorite teacher Mr Wade was some kind of lay preacher, very traditionally dresssed and very keen to instruct his pupils on the best makes of hand tools and we had to copy down his list of them...... Ward and Payne, Marples Hibernian, Norris etc as well as Washita and Arkansas oilstones........At the end of lessons like this he would then tell tell us to go look in our grandparents sheds and workshops and and inform him immediately if any items fitting the subjects of the day's lesson might reside there! As it happened My Grandpa did have a workshop of fine old tools and I was making my first violin in there but somehow knew even at that age not to tell my so called woodwork teacher Some time that year I was at a country fair with a pocket full of money from helping my Father making hay on the farm. I was attracted to a second hand tools stall and especially to a very cheap small wooden box that seemed too heavy for it's size and could not be opened. I bought it because I could sense there was something significant inside...hopefully in my 12 year old boy's mind a gun or a gold ingot. I got home and levered two halves of the box apart. It was a genuine unused as new Washita oil stone with original labels etc. For me even at that age it was a score! I used it immediately and have been doing so ever since.That's 34 years of service so far. ( 24 yrs every day in my full time workshop) I love stories like that. I was beginning to think that we had been to the same school, but my woodwork teacher was a super guy, one of a batch of ex-military war veterans looking to make the world a better place. They weren't all like that. Some passed the brutality they had experienced on to us. My woodwork teacher managed to combine a very traditional training with enjoyable projects like trick joints that we could show off to our mums and dads. As for the tools story, mine is as follows. One of my violin making teachers, Wilf Saunders, another great traditionalist, had a fantastic collection of Diston saws, Norris planes and the like. He inspired me to get out and look. At that time it was still possible to find such things. One summer my girlfriend (now my wife) came over from Germany to stay with me. We spent the following two weeks travelling on my motorbike and sleeping in a tent. We travelled around Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire visiting undertakers. Why she ever stayed with me I will never know. At that time undertakers were beginning to buy ready made coffins. All the tools they had previously used were redundant. I managed to buy several Norris planes, marking gauges and a lot of beautiful chisels. Some of these I later swapped in London for the Bishop saw that I now use, (as did Wilf Saunders) to cut ribs off one piece backs. The following year Claudia and I were married and we spent out honeymoon in a cheap farmhouse guesthouse in Bavaria. I spent the whole two weeks climbing cherry trees and collecting cherry gum. At that time I was making a lot of casein experiments, including casein and cherry gum emulsions. I still have a jar that I refined in 1976. It smells wonderfully summery and takes me back to those Bavarian mountains in the blink of an eye. Just to bring this back on topic, Wilf was a great champion of oil stones.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now