prepareing honing Strop

[jv1148]

I am very new to this machine just purchased one and really would like advice on the best oil to use for the honing wheel conditioning

[Jeff Farris]

Mineral oil (from the pharmacy) is my favorite.  It's cheap, has virtually no smell, and is the principle ingredient in most hand lotions.  Since your hands are covered with "hide" just like the honing wheel, it seems like a good choice to me. 

[boehme]

Mineral oil is what I use because Jeff told me to use it.  When I bought my Tormek at a WW show, part of the show special was a little kit that included a small bottle of mineral oil.  The kit also included a couple bandages -- I found out later why they were included.  I never knew that I could get a serious cut from a woodturning scraper. 

[boehme]

I don't understand this voting system -- looks like some sort of hanging chad to me.

I can't make up my mind whether to vote for #1 or #1  -- they are so much alike that it doesn't seem to make much difference.

Just put me down to be in favor of #1.

[taylorgso]

Also a newbie.  Reading "light machine oil," I went out and purchased some sewing machine oil.  Would this also serve the purpose?

[Jeff Farris]

Sewing machine oil will work fine.  So will baby oil, which is the aforementioned mineral oil with fragrance added.

[kucko6]

Hmm...

Jeff, In my exuberance to sharpen a tool with my new Tormek, I didn't notice the leather stropping wheel should be conditioned.  I just put the honing compound on it.

So, can I now try conditioning the wheel, or is it a loss?

[Jeff Farris]

The purpose behind using oil on the leather is fill the leather up with that, instead of compound. So, yes, you can go ahead and oil your honing wheel even after using compound.

What you want to avoid is continually oiling your leather.  Somehow, some folks get the idea that they should do this periodically, and that really doesn't work very well.  Break it in, and then just use compound.