Using 'Sweet Oil' on oilstones.

[Cheshirechappie]

Recent sharpening threads (sorry!) have made reference to old texts on woodworking, some of which mention the use of 'Sweet Oil' on oilstones. A brief interlude with Google revealed that 'Sweet Oil' is actually a light vegetable oil, usually Olive Oil. (Not all the textbooks mention it: Holtzappfel (Vol. 3 page 1142) just says that "the oilstone should be moistened with good clean oil not disposed to dry..." for example.)

Nowadays, most people would probably reach for the 3-in-1 or WD40, but why not Olive Oil? It's readily available in any supermarket in quantities up to gallons, and it's not that expensive compared to the mineral-based oils.

Has anybody used Olive Oil on their oilstones or other sharpening media, and if so, where there any disadvantages?

 

[Lons]

Has anybody used Olive Oil on their oilstones or other sharpening media, and if so, where there any disadvantages?

The chips would taste blo*dy awful after that :lol:

Good idea though, I might just try it, thanks

Bob

 

[heatherw]

I think Olive oil is inclined to dry, it oxidises like most non-mineral oils and would end up clogging the stone. Hving said that, I haven't tried it.

 

[AndyT]

I expect olive oil would be usable, but I reckon it's a case where the old guys used the best that was available at the time, where we now have a wider range of better options.
What other alternatives would they have had? Whale oil was the top of the range product for burning in oil lamps, but there would have been animal derived (smelly) alternatives too. I've read a reference somewhere to using Neat's Foot Oil, which is made by rendering down cattle feet. I bought some once to use on leather, and it was quite thick and gloopy.

A £2 can of 3-in-1 is pleasant to use and lasts a long time.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

An old chippie I worked with was taught to use neats foot when an apprentice, but I've not tried it. I would think it could be quite good on a hard natural stone where it wouldn't soak in, but I can't see it being brilliant on synthetic stones. I used it on my bike leathers for years - it's brilliant for that.

 

[Harbo]

I've used olive oil on chopping boards but it went rancid, so it could happen to oilstones too?
In the old days, Olive oil was rarely used for cooking in the UK and bought for medical purposes from the Chemists?

Rod

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Lons - it might be good for you! Taking the scrapings off the oilstone and drizzling them over your salad would put plenty of iron in your diet!

Heatherw - yes, must confess that one of the reasons for my asking if there were any disadvantages was that I wasn't sure if olive oil dried or not. I'm doing a little test - I've got a drop of olive oil spread thinly on a saucer in the kitchen, and I'll see if it dries overnight. Might even leave it longer and see what happens. I'll report back, anyway.

AndyT - yes, I see what you mean, but any way to save a few pennies, eh! On Neatsfoot oil, Tom Walshaw wrote quite a bit about in his book 'Ornamental Turning' (well worth tracking a copy down). It's one of the few animal oils that doesn't go rancid, apparently; it's also a very 'slippery' oil, and was specified by Holtzappfel for the lubrication of their spectacular ornamental lathes. You can refine it by leaving it in a clear bottle in a sunny window over a summer, when it will throw a fatty deposit in the bottom of the bottle. You then decant off the clear liquid. You can do the same again with the clear liquid the following year to get an even better brew. That a lot more hassle than getting a tin of 3-in-1 from Wilkinson's, or a pot of olive oil from the nearest supermarket, though!

phil.p - I think you may have a good point about the permeability of stones. Olive oil might work well on Arkansas or slate stones; maybe not so good on an India stone.

Harbo - went rancid, eh? That's definitely a possible disadvantage....

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've used olive oil on chopping boards but it went rancid, so it could happen to oilstones too?
In the old days, Olive oil was rarely used for cooking in the UK and bought for medical purposes from the Chemists?

Rod

What?? back in the seventies?

 

[blackrodd]

I think Olive oil is inclined to dry, it oxidises like most non-mineral oils and would end up clogging the stone. Hving said that, I haven't tried it.

As the man said, it dries out and leaves a clogging mess! Not the way to treat you're oil stones.
Regards Rodders

 

[G S Haydon]

+1 on not using olive oil for the reasons stated above. Baby oil is cheap and works well (so far, not been using it for long). I also looked into "sweet oil" which I think is neats foot cut with mineral oil? Once I learned, as Andy said, it was from shins and bits and bobs I decided baby oil would be the nice option.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I think Olive oil is inclined to dry, it oxidises like most non-mineral oils and would end up clogging the stone. Hving said that, I haven't tried it.

As the man said, it dries out and leaves a clogging mess! Not the way to treat you're oil stones.
Regards Rodders

I suspect that on the older natural stones, it may well have been OK because it didn't soak in. On a porous artificial stone, maybe not so good.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

+1 on not using olive oil for the reasons stated above. Baby oil is cheap and works well (so far, not been using it for long). I also looked into "sweet oil" which I think is neats foot cut with mineral oil? Once I learned, as Andy said, it was from shins and bits and bobs I decided baby oil would be the nice option.

Neatsfoot is one of the few that doesn't go rancid, apparently - see above. According to Google (which admittedly is not completely infallible) sweet oil is a light vegetable oil, usually olive oil (though one reference did mention almond oil). As stated above, it might work well enough on non-permeable stones like slate, but on porous artificial stones, maybe not.

Baby oil, heh? Why do they need to oil babies, then? Or do they squeeze them to extract the oil? Anyway - tip noted - thanks for that!

 

[G S Haydon]

Thanks for being more concise than my limited searching and failure to read a post properly ! I can confirm no babies were harmed in the making of the oil ;-). Really do try it though, it is sooooooooooo cheap when compared with 3 in 1 or Norton Honing Oil.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

When I were a lad, (60s) at school the normal oil was 50/50 engine oil and paraffin. Even cheap baby oil is more expensive than spit. Might be a bit more slippery, though.

 

[G S Haydon]

The thing that I liked about the baby oil is that it's kind on skin and keeps my hands soft and youthfull rather than smelling of dirty engine oil :lol:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The same guy who told me they used to use neats foot also told me that the standard treatment for dirty, clogged oilstones was to burn them off for a few hours in the stove. Apparently it was fine as long as they cooled slowly.

 

[G S Haydon]

I read about this regarding Washita stones, burning seems so very drastic!

 

[Pekka Huhta]

My dear wife used olive oil on one of my oilstones, as she got fed up with dull kitchen knifes which I failed to sharpen for her. Knives got perfectly sharp but the stone became useless when the oil dried in. The same goes with any vegetable oil which hardens over time. You wouldn't soak the stone in linseed oil either. Mineral oils are best in here.

I use a mix of paraffin and motor oil. Not necessarily 50/50, usually there's more paraffin than motor oil. It may sound a bit high-end, but I change the mix depending on the stone. Too thick oil makes the stone too "slippery" and ineffective, too thin oil just soaks inside the stone too fast. I just have a small oil can with about 50/50 mix and a bottle of paraffin which I splash over the stone if it feels too slow. I use the thinnest oil which still stays on top of the stone and doesn't just soak in. No other point in it than getting things done faster, 50/50 is horribly thick stuff on a hard arkansas stone.

The harder the stone, the thinner the mix.

Pekka

 

[Richard T]

Chris Schwarz uses Olive oil but on Arkansas stones, not porous stones.

There is a hill in Rome that is a massive heap of broken amphorae that had been used for Olive oil and become rancid. I know this through personal experience of watching BBC4.

 

[MIGNAL]

Olive oil is considered as one of the non drying oils, which is why it has never been used in a Varnish.
Walnut and Linseed are both drying Oils - unless they add a preservative which prevents it from going rancid.