After extensive use of this stone with water trough, I'm beginning to think that this stone is much more suited to using something like a thick mineral oil on the cutting surface. That may not even be thick enough because ideally it would not be something that would simply soak into the stone at all. I suppose that is the issue with oil after all and wondering if there is anything similar one could use to both act as a coolant and a friction reducer to limit wear to abrasive much more than water and also keep the edge from losing temper.