Yeah. I wouldn't sharpen dry. at least not with waterstones. Just with a completely clean surface.Idk why using it dry is preferable, as opposed to clean and oiled/wet. Is it so that they can easily brush off the stone and not have to worry about adding more oil? With waterstones, just clean it off and use it wet.
I’d also be more worried about stone particles than metal. Although it’s true that that’s less of an issue if you’re using a super hard stone.
I definitely agree. The abrasive particles are much harder than steel, I would be more worried about those rounding the apex than steel particles. Though neither is ideal when finishing.
Idk if it is a generalization though. Are there cases where 3 body abrasion is specifically going to get a finer apex? If the finest apex possible is the goal. Then I would say a clean stone will be the absolutely most effective way to get that result.
Now, that's not saying you have to finish every blade, in every situation, with a clean stone. If the goal is to not have as aggressively fine apex as the final product. I could see an arguement not to clean the stone at the end. Saying you must finish that way may be a generalization, but that leading to the finest apex isn't