Thread: Improvised or DIY hones

Hey, I was hoping some of the other members could chime in with their experiences using or making improvised hones at home. With so many different materials in a household with quite a few possessing abrasive properties, I hope I'm not the only one combining diy with HAD.

My collection of diy hones (which have vanished since the wife packed them for moving, hopefully to be found again)
1) a relatively coarse stone I made with regular beach sand and wood glue, though it's been falling apart fairly quickly it was my first diy hone so it has a bit of sentimental value.
2) a finer hone I made from the lid off the back of a toilet I found in the junk pile a block from my old house (my mind must go in strange directions to see "toilet" and think "razor hone") cut the thing apart by hand and finished to a rectangle with various sandpapers, altogether not too bad of a bevel setter.
3) the finest grit DIY stone I had, made from a ceramic plate I broke, then shaped in the same way as my "toilet hone", still not quite shave ready after this one but smoothed edges out nicely after the toilet hone and seemed a perfect match for my c12k from woodcraft.

If I can ever find these hones again I'll post pictures, but in the mean time it'd be great to hear if anyone else has attempted anything like this. I read once in a knifemaking forum of a guy who made a plane hone out of 0.9 micron silica and epoxy, and either him or someone else on that forum was planning one even finer grit than that, all our finishers are going to become outdated soon!!!

If they work for you, thats a good thing,your post brings a smile to my face

LazyH,,,, not quite sure if your serious about this thread or your looking for some fun replies,,,,,

First, I would never find myself in a situation where I needed to hone on a toilet lid or broken plate, especially for my straights. All my field knives have proper honing devices attached to them.

Although there is a little "Prepper Blood" in me,,, I still can't rap myself around the beach sand & white glue.

My PHIG/C12K, Zulu etc,,,,,,,,,, have been around for a few million years,,so I don't see them becoming outdated in the near future.

A fun thread this is, but this surely not practical for razor honing at any level.

I have stropped with an LP before and that was just recently. Works pretty well.

I've made a few sand/epoxy and emery/epoxy out of boredom before. I only use them rust removal on metal tools and have never used them on a blade.

An improvised hone that I have and use on my froe is a piece of travertine floor tile. The bottom is rough enough to clean up an edge. The top is smooth enough to do finishing, at least for a froe. It does a pretty good job on a pocket knife as well.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

First, I would never find myself in a situation where I needed to hone on a toilet lid or broken plate, especially for my straights. All my field knives have proper honing devices attached to them.

Although there is a little "Prepper Blood" in me,,, I still can't rap myself around the beach sand & white glue.

Yeah, the sand and glue was just a proof of concept thing, just for the heck of it, but the other ones came from a limited budget and lack of experience buying on the internet when I was just starting, don't knock it though, they still work very well and I sometimes use these in place of my more expensive "professional" stones just to mix things up (on personal projects only of course), they can still get just as good of an edge and sharpen just as, if not more quickly, than some store bought stones I've tried but I doubt they'd give as consistent results.

For bevel setting, asphalt shingles work well, get the ones with fiberglass for longer lasting usage, Duct tape protects the spine don’t want any needless scratches. Forget about raising slurry might chip the edge.

I also use an angle grinder with a scotch brite dipped in drywall compound, works well but sprays compound in your face, thank god for clear plastic bags.

For a finishing stone I mix finely sifted, (my brides sifter, wash well when done) ground brake pads mixed with grass clippings, a pinch of ganga for good luck and tile grout poured into vintage greased butter dish lids. Lap on the garage floor.

Strop on football, from tip to tip not around the middle, avoid the laces. If you want pasted get one used in a mud bowl.

Dude, base on you hones, I’m dying to see your razors… let me guess sharpened puddy knives, back side of a hacksaw blade, front side of a hacksaw blade…drywall corner bead?

Originally Posted by LazyH

Yeah, the sand and glue was just a proof of concept thing, just for the heck of it, but the other ones came from a limited budget and lack of experience buying on the internet when I was just starting, don't knock it though, they still work very well and I sometimes use these in place of my more expensive "professional" stones just to mix things up (on personal projects only of course), they can still get just as good of an edge and sharpen just as, if not more quickly, than some store bought stones I've tried but I doubt they'd give as consistent results.

LazyH ,,,I'm not knocking your ingenuity by no means,,,,,,,,I do seriously doubt that your toilet bowl lid or the broken plate will top my Norton stones.

If this forum was Preppers R Us, Honing Banjos or DoomsDay Honing,,, then maybe your ideas would be worth consideration, but they only make for a fun, silly thread,,,,,

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Strop on football, from tip to tip not around the middle, avoid the laces. If you want pasted get one used in a mud bowl.

Dude, base on you hones, I’m dying to see your razors… let me guess sharpened puddy knives, back side of a hacksaw blade, front side of a hacksaw blade…drywall corner bead?

I don't know, door frames with white paint work better than a football, it has that pigment in it, trust me, better than that silly strop paste at a fraction of the price. (remember, doorframes have better curvature than window sills with the same paint lol)

And yes, my very first razor I made was from a hacksaw (and yes it worked, kind of), luckily I've improved quite a bit, both skill and materials, so you can see some better examples of my projects elsewhere on the forum.

I would like to get a hold of one homemade stone I read about, aluminum oxide in epoxy, you could find it on knifeforums Topic#829052, but that's the only diy stone I might trust to give good consistent results.

Well, one point about a windowsill.......I mute spikes under mine all the time as they bite! A painted one at that!