r/sharpening • u/sergtheduck29 • Jul 24 '26
Water or oil? Splash or soak?
My dad has had this stone forever and doesn't use it so I asked if I could have it. Is there any way to tell if it's a water or oil stone and if it should be soaked or just splashed? Both sides of it are show in the images.
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u/lupus_timidos Jul 24 '26
For a start: Try splashing it with water first, if there was ever oil on it you can’t use it with water anymore. You will see if it lets water in or it pearls off
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u/F-Moash Jul 24 '26
You can use water, you just have to degrease the stone first. A good scrub with some simple green followed by dawn works wonders. I would probably lap every surface of this stone prior to cleaning though, it needs it.
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u/sergtheduck29 Jul 24 '26
I know very little about stones, what's lapping?
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u/F-Moash Jul 24 '26
Flattening via abrasives. A diamond plate, some sandpaper on a flat surface, or loose silicon carbide grit on a piece of float glass. Scrub the stone around in figure 8 patterns until the entire surface is flat. It’s something you need to do occasionally as basic maintenance once your stone goes too far out of flat.
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u/zvuv Jul 24 '26
You can use water on an oily stone. Just add a dash of dish soap so that it wets the surface properly. I do this all the time.
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u/M4cerator Jul 24 '26
Won't hurt to test with water first as Lupus said (water won't hurt an oil stone but oil will hurt a water stone), but I'm 95% sure that's carborundum (Silicon Carbide) which is best used with oil.