Carborundum 118 Oilstone
Carborundum stones are synthetic whetstones; the 118 is a single grit SIC stone that can be used with oil or a water/soap mixture. These stones were not sold with a ‘grit’ rating; I believe this would have been listed as a ‘Fine’ stone though.
How these stones are surfaced determine a lot about how they cut. Similarly, the choice of honing lubricant also impacts how the stone works; the stone seems ‘finer’ with oil than it does with plain water or even water mixed with some soap.
I’ve lapped this 118 on a very worn 325x DMT and with a water/soap mixture on top it seems to cut/polish to the same extent that a typical 800x-1k waterstone does. Using oil it pushes the ‘felt’ fine-ness higher, while slowing down the cutting. The stone is a fast cutter and the scratch pattern is pronounced; using a 3k afterwards removed all the scratches easily.
I’ve also used this on kitchen cutlery, as a final finish stone for heavy-use blades. This stone left a bit of ‘tooth’ on a carbon steel Chef’s Knife, but it still cut cleanly and smoothly.
Approx. Dimensions: 8.0 x 2.0 x 0.75” / 203 x 51 x 19 mm
Weight: 14.4 / 408 g