Paul Sellers sharpening system, which diamond stones?

[Timberwolf]

But like anything in life there are exceptions.




Dr. Beasley's, Behind the Detail Tips.

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Proving you can find whatever "pro and con" you want to if you google long enough...I have used several styles of diamond hones for well over twenty-five years, dry and with all types of "swarf removers" and never yet had one "rust"..but there may be some that do..

[CStan]

If one product has ammonia and one doesn't, that's a huge difference.

Armor All auto glass cleaner, in a pump/spray bottle, specifically states that it does not have ammonia for the reasons another poster pointed out.  I assume this is true for all the other products made for auto glass.

https://www.armorall.com/product/auto-glass-cleaner/

So there is a difference, and it's not trivial.

[ChuckHill]

I have been using Windex.  My nose says it contains ammonia.

[Ricky]

I have been using Windex.  My nose says it contains ammonia.

I think most people seeing his videos and copying his methods assume it's windex and just go with that.
I doubt the rust is a big deal.  The diamonds probably lose their usefulness by the time the rust
on the plates become a issue.

[Timberwolf]

I think most people seeing his videos and copying his methods assume it's windex and just go with that.
I doubt the rust is a big deal.  The diamonds probably lose their usefulness by the time the rust
on the plates become a issue.

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Ammonia is a very good grease remover, so it "may" contribute to rust if the hone was not nickel plated..but all I have ever used have been nickeled so no rust in all the years I have had them...I think this window cleaner idea is "much ado about nothing", anyway... Use whatever light fluid you have as long as it isn't dangerous. It will probably work just fine.

[Ricky]

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Ammonia is a very good grease remover, so it "may" contribute to rust if the hone was not nickel plated..but all I have ever used have been nickeled so no rust in all the years I have had them...I think this window cleaner idea is "much ado about nothing", anyway... Use whatever light fluid you have as long as it isn't dangerous. It will probably work just fine.

I've been using 3 in 1 oil.  So far so good.  

[Timberwolf]

I've been using 3 in 1 oil.  So far so good.  

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Ricky, This is just my opinion but one objectionable thing about oils is its propensity to oxidize and solidify in the pores of the hones, unless the hone is cleaned periodically. Lots of vintage "carpenter hones" are found badly oxidized... It is a slow process with most petroleum based lubricants but it can solidify in just days with products like vegetable based oils..Filling the pores is like paving over a gravel road...it can reduce the hone's abrasiveness. That's one reason hones need a good scrubbing from time to time with ammonia {or other solvent} and a toothbrush. All in all, I think Mineral Spirits works best for me because it evaporates and does not leave the pores of the hones clogged, but it has downsides as well.......WD40 is very good also, and doesn't slow the abrasive action of the hones very much at all.

In my collection I have a cabinet filled with dozens of hones, from flea markets, tool shows and yard sales..Some I have had all my adult life...Most all were badly oxidized and had very little abrasive action, but I restored lots of them by boiling them and brushing them with ammonia...some of them I "resurfaced" on a 6X48" belt sander. I seldom use anything but diamond these days, and lots of that is done with my ""Worksharp" or Veritas MKII, followed by a power strop.

[CStan]

Poor Paul Sellers can't make a casual observation about honing fluids he's used without being fisked half to death.

Is he George Hepplewhite reincarnated?  No, but nobody on this or any other forum I've ever visited is either.

I'm happy to have learned that auto glass cleaner does not have ammonia. That's a little knowledge I'll be able to use at some point, maybe not in the shop, but somewhere else.

[Ricky]

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In my collection I have a cabinet filled with dozens of hones, from flea markets, tool shows and yard sales..Some I have had all my adult life...Most all were badly oxidized and had very little abrasive action, but I restored lots of them by boiling them and brushing them with ammonia...some of them I "resurfaced" on a 6X48" belt sander. I seldom use anything but diamond these days, and lots of that is done with my ""Worksharp" or Veritas MKII, followed by a power strop.

Thanks Jack, good info. I misspoke, I'm actually using wife's bottle of sewing machine oil. It seems very light so I figured I'd give it a shot.
This is on my new diamond stones.  I hear it may eventually get gummed up but so far just wiping with a rag.   I'll switch to WD40.  I like
what you said about quick evaporation.

[Ricky]

Poor Paul Sellers can't make a casual observation about honing fluids he's used without being fisked half to death.

Is he George Hepplewhite reincarnated?  No, but nobody on this or any other forum I've ever visited is either.

I'm happy to have learned that auto glass cleaner does not have ammonia.  That's a little knowledge I'll be able to use at some point, maybe not in the shop, but somewhere else.

It's all good bud.  I use a hybrid of what I learn from experienced craftsman/teachers like Sellers, Cosman, and the late Charlesworth in regard to sharpening methods.  Also from people on this forum like Jack and others that like to share their way of skinning a cat.