Practice on a knife blade you’re not particularly fond of before moving onto your prized possession. It may sound silly, but you’ll be happy if you notice that you’ve scratched your crappy blade and not your best one while you were learning the ends and outs of sharpening. Beginners have a tendency to press too hard or use too severe of an angle when learning to sharpen a knife. They also tend to use less water or oil than an experienced knife sharpener. Throughout the entire process, you should be able to see a small pool of sharpening lubricant on the stone. If the honing oil or water changes color or gets streaky, that means there’s debris trapped in it. Stop sharpening and rinse the stone off. Then, reapply your lubricant and get back to work.
Tag Archive for 'honing oil'
What you’re looking for is water or “honing oil,” which is manufactured by several knife and knife accessory companies. There are two types of honing oil: water-based and petroleum-based. With diamond stones, use water or water-based honing oil. Petroleum-based oils work great with natural sharpening stones. If you’re out in the woods, you might spit on the stone before beginning. Keep in mind, though, once you’ve decided to use oil, stones don’t take to water very easily, so you’re going to have to stick with oil for the life of the stone.
Ask two different knife enthusiasts about using honing oil and they’ll tell you two different things. Some believe oil inhibits sharpening by never really letting the blade touch the stone — in effect, just polishing it rather than sharpening it. We’re of the other camp that suggests oil or water is a good thing. It lessens the friction you’re exerting on the blade, and that means it’s more forgiving if your hand slips. It’s also smoother and it keeps natural sharpeners clean by whisking away your excess filings.
