use water on a new stone and don't ever put oil on it. Unless you try to sharpen something such as aluminum it should never become clogged up.
Only way I konw that will remove the oil is to burn it out and there is a good chance doing that will break the stone.
Build a fire with the stone in it from the beginning, and hope for the best.
Boiling in a large pan might work.
Some stones like water only,
some DEMAND oil, some viscosity specific, to boot
"Whetstone" is a pretty generic term.
I've owned and run em' both,......and gotta say that the modern "Sintered" stones have got a clear edge over the old tech quarried variety,...that edge being Homogeneity , and really uniform structure.
ANY,....repeat ANY of them will respond to most all of the excellent advice given here today.
"Figure 8 lapping" will cure damn near any mechanical mis-alignment known to man.
GTC
