That softness comes with a different downside, though. Always sharpen the knives evenly so the blade remains balanced. You may want to use an old cloth for this since you won't be able to wash the grit out of it. For example, if you used 6 strokes to sharpen the first side of the blade, you should also use 6 strokes to sharpen the other side of the blade. Not quite! If you're using a very coarse stone, you may want an even shallower (lower) angle so you don't sharpen off too much of the blade. Avoid putting an oil stone in water because this can damage it. Read on for another quiz question. References. Your support helps wikiHow to create more in-depth illustrated articles and videos and to share our trusted brand of instructional content with millions of people all over the world. That'll make it more difficult to cut with. In addition to being harmless to your stone, they often have additives that help protect blades. Finally, once the knife is sharp enough, wash and dry the blade. Ceramic Stones. Honing oils are oils that are specifically crafted to help sharpen knives. sumaps2 describes how to sharpen a knife using a triple oil stone. Place the oil-stone on top of the towel. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/c\/cc\/Sharpen-a-Knife-With-a-Stone-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Sharpen-a-Knife-With-a-Stone-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/c\/cc\/Sharpen-a-Knife-With-a-Stone-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/aid2723480-v4-728px-Sharpen-a-Knife-With-a-Stone-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":259,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"410","licensing":"