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Do You Need Oil on a Sharpening Stone?.

Short answer

Not on every stone, and the makers' own words differ by stone type. Case designs its honing oil for use with sharpening stones and recommends it on its Bench-Top and Aluminum Oxide Oilstone pages. Buck recommends using natural stones wet, with water, water-based honing fluid or petroleum-based honing oil, and says diamond sharpeners can be used dry or wet but not with petroleum-based oil.

What Case prints for its oilstones

Case ties its honing oil to its stones. The oil's own page and Case's kit pages say it is designed for sharpening stones, and the Bench-Top Sharpening Kit and Aluminum Oxide Oilstone pages each recommend Case's honing oil when sharpening. Case's Hard Arkansas Pocket Stone page names its stone an oilstone but prints no oil instruction of its own.

Buck's rule for diamond sharpeners

Buck treats diamond separately. Buck's how-to page says "Diamond Sharpeners can be used dry or wet" and "Use water or water-based honing fluid, not petroleum-based oil, as a lubricant." That is Buck's instruction for Buck's diamonds; if you are unsure whether a lubricant counts as petroleum-based, ask Buck before it goes on one. For the steps on a diamond plate, read how to use a diamond sharpener.

Moving between oil, water and dry

For natural stones Buck names three lubricants, not one: water, water-based honing fluid or petroleum-based honing oil. In its fine-sharpening stage Buck adds that sharpening "will require some clean up, so be generous with the honing fluid."

The cited Case and Buck pages do not explain changing a stone from oil to water or back. Use the lubricant the stone's maker names and ask that maker before switching. How many stones a kit needs is answered in whether different grits are needed.

Frequently asked questions

What does Case say about using its stones dry or with water?
The cited Case Bench-Top, Aluminum Oxide and Hard Arkansas Pocket Stone pages give no dry-use or water instruction. The first two recommend Case's honing oil. Ask Case about dry use or water for the specific stone.
Must a natural stone be used wet, by Buck's account?
Buck's how-to page gives two answers. Natural stones "can also be used dry or wet, but we recommend wet", and in the fine-sharpening stage they "should be used wet".
Does the word oilstone mean the stone needs oil?
Case uses oilstone as a product name and recommends honing oil on its Bench-Top and Aluminum Oxide pages. The name alone does not replace the instructions for a particular stone; ask its maker if those instructions are unclear.
  1. Case: Honing Oil
  2. Case: Sportsman's Honing Kit
  3. Case: Bench-Top Sharpening Kit
  4. Case: Aluminum Oxide Oilstone
  5. Case: Hard Arkansas Pocket Stone
  6. Buck: How to Sharpen Your Knife
  7. Arkansas Geological Survey: Novaculite (Silica Stone)
Updated 2026-10-22 · Knives Now, Woodlawn, Virginia
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