The old timer who told me to never sharpen a knife with water on a whetstone made me rethink everything I knew.

He grabbed my blade in the middle of a busy Saturday rush at the shop, wiped the water off, and said "you're grinding away the temper with that wet junk" and used a dry stone instead - has anyone else tried this and seen better edge retention?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason_robinson1mo ago

Call water the enemy all you want, but dry sharpening creates enough heat to soften the edge faster than any moisture ever will. I've run tests on cheap kitchen knives where dry stones left the steel feeling gummy after a few passes, while a light water splash kept the edge crisp and lasting. That old timer might be working with oil-hardened steel from fifty years ago, but modern alloys handle water just fine and heat is the real temper killer.

henry1011mo ago

Last year I dulled a $40 chef's knife in one session dry sharpening on a 1000 grit stone.