eli5: why do we have to wet sharpstone?

Question

I mean, what is the physical reason to use water/oil? What are the practical differences between soaking it and keeping it dry while sharpening a blade?

In: 8

Answer 1

There’s alot of little reasons but the main one imo is removing heat from the very tip of the blade as you sharpen it. Heating the edge too much will make it brittle, lubricant dissipates that heat