Water stones need to be used wet, but should not be stored that way. Some water stones can break down if soaked in water long-term, so it is safer to store them dry.
While some stones – like those made of diamond or ceramic – can be used dry, they still usually benefit from a little water. Soaking the whetstone is important because it helps protect the stone from damage and wear. Sharpening your knives with a dry stone won't hurt the knife, but it will damage the stone over time.
Yes, a whetstone needs to be wet in order to be used. It should be soaked for at least 45 minutes, or per manufacturer instructions, Wetting the stone helps it last longer, while stones used dry tend to wear out faster.
Yes, you can use a whetstone dry. In the old days, a farm worker would carry a whetstone in his pocket to sharpen his scythe when harvesting a field of wheat - he would have no access to water to use and no need for it.
DRY AND STORE YOUR WHETSTONES
Soaking stones can take up to two days to dry. Dry them properly before storing them to avoid moisture-related damage to the stone or the box. Splash-and-go stones should dry in a few minutes.
The blade should move smoothly across the stone. Lift the knife, reset the heel at the top of the stone, and repeat. Count each pass made, so you're keeping each side of the knife even and not accidentally taking more material off one side than the other. Repeat as few as ten times and as many as 50.
But in reality, it's not as simple as that and for the most part, you will need to soak the whetstone before you use it. The reason for this is that the whetstone will be far more efficient if it is lubricated with water. Moreover, the stone won't wear as easily so it will last you longer.
Most pros would agree that pulling the blade edge across the whetstone produces the best results. Not only will it bring the knife to its sharpest but it's also a much more effective way to remove chips and imperfections from the blade.
Occasional application of oil to keep the stone lubricated and prevent it from becoming clogged with metal shavings. Clean periodically of any metal shavings and apply a light coat of oil to keep lubricated. Soak in water before use and clean regularly with a soft brush to prevent contamination.
Push the point you want to sharpen with your fingers. While keeping the angle and pushing the point with your fingers, stroke the blade until it reaches the other edge of the whetstone, then pull the blade back until it reaches the edge of the whetstone. This back and forth is counted as one stroke.
Another term often used for sharpening stones is whetstone. Both terms mean exactly the same. After all to whet is to sharpen! It is a rather dated term but one that is still used regularly.
First, you will soak your whetstone in water. Fine grit whetstones only need a few minutes of soaking; some chefs do not soak their fine grit stones to prevent any risk of cracking. Coarse grit whetstones should soak for 15 to 20 minutes. Once soaked, place a coarse grit whetstone on top of a kitchen towel.
This takes practice, and you have to be careful, as using a whetstone incorrectly could weaken or damage a blade's edge. It can be fixed, but still – practice and caution are key. Another thing to keep in mind about whetstones is grit, indicated by the numbers on the side of the stone.
Don't use excessive pressure, just pass the steel over the stone for about 30 seconds. Rinse the stone and the steel under running water to be sure you are rinsing off any diamond particle that may have come loose. Repeat the process for another 30 seconds and your stone should be broken in.
Start with your lower grit whetstone. For kitchen knives, a good starting point is 1000 grit for the first sharpening, and 6000 grit for finishing/honing, so they're the numbers we'll use in this guide.
You will need more than one grit
Coarse stones are the foundation stones of your sharpening toolkit. Sharpening is based on getting a good shape on an edge and then refining it, and a coarse stone is the fastest way to get a good shape on an edge. You will also need at least one finer stone.
Begin coarse side up: Before you start sharpening your knives, make sure that the coarse side of the stone is on top. This is the quickest way to form the knife blade back into the correct shape.
If you see lots of bubbles coming from the whetstone, it's a vitrified one and is meant to be soaked. If you don't, it's one of the other two types and should not be soaked. For those whetstones, just a splash of water on top is enough.
Waterstones and oilstones wear at greatly different rates: The softer of the two, waterstones, dish out faster and need to be flattened more often. We recommend flattening them at the beginning of every sharpening session-it's a 15-second job in most cases. Flatten oilstones about every 10 sessions.
Soaking stones often provide a better feel and sometimes better results than 'splash and go' whetstones, but are not quite as quick to use. 'Splash and Go' whetstones just need water splashing on them.
This is why we do sharpening on both sides, even on single-edged knives. Doing light sharpening on the opposite side is the way to solve this burr issue and remove them. With carbon steel knives, this is quite easy to do, but stainless steel knives are much trickier due to being more difficult to sharpen in general.
Whetstones have an average lifespan of up to six years. If you use yours less often, you can expect to get more use out of it. Every time you sharpen a knife, it wears down the center of the stone. This wear and tear will eventually cause the stone to break apart.
To keep your stone from clogging up with small metal fragments, which makes the sharpening properties of the abrasive grains much less effective, you can use either oil or water on a benchstone prior to sharpening.