Sharpening stones

[Joneserlax]

Hey guys,
So I recently was given a sharpening stone by my mother, apparently it belonged to my grandfather and ended up with her after he passed away. I'm trying to determine if it should be used with water, oil, or dry. It's logo is so faded i have no hope of reading it. But it is about 6 inches long, two and a half inches wide, and one inch deep. It it made of two stones joined together, one course, i think about 250 grit, and one fine, about 1000 grit if i had to guess. It is also very hard, leading me to think it is better to use with oil. My understanding is wet stones are a bit softer and even smoother. However recently i bought my wife a nice Japanese water-stone, and was surprised at the consistency. It was not soft like a few of my water-stones but was extremely hard. Could just be first impressions however.

I also am a bit confused as to what a "slip-stone" is. Am i to understand they are primarily for sharpening carving tools and gouges? The internet has not been my friend lately and i cant find any info on whether they are to be used with water or oil. Mine looks like this..

 

[HeavyHanded]

Most of the hard combination stones should be used with oil. Even grocery store mineral oil is a good bet.

That slip stone looks like a Norton India stone, also best used with oil when practical.

Both of your stones can be used with water, or even dry, but will load up with removed steel over time. Also the abrasive itself can glaze, loosing a lot of its grinding efficiency. Oil is best IMHO.

 

[Joneserlax]

Thank you HeavyHanded, I'm fairly sure at this point my grandfathers stone was intended for oil/is an oil-stone. A lot of my confusion however was with the slip stone as i could find very little information, but talking with friends, and your input, seems like oil is correct. Thank you