Thread: Nano hones?

Does anyone have any experience with or using a Nano-hone to flatten their stones? I stumbled on their site when looking for info on Shapton stones (shapton.com redirected me to their site). When looking around their site, I found this grit comparison chart that I thought was useful.

First I've heard of them. The "edge cutting" concept seems a bit gimmicky to me. You won't find anywhere near the number of "edges" on one of those plates that you will on an Atoma plate, but I digress. We'll have to see how they hold up compared to the standards like DMT and Atoma in terms of durability.

Originally Posted by eKretz

First I've heard of them. The "edge cutting" concept seems a bit gimmicky to me. You won't find anywhere near the number of "edges" on one of those plates that you will on an Atoma plate, but I digress. We'll have to see how they hold up compared to the standards like DMT and Atoma in terms of durability.

Respectfully disagree. I have the Nano Hone (button), the DMT, the Atoma and the Shapton. Nano hone wins hand down. I've used it on synthetics and jnats and have been very pleased with the results. Pricey but those that are looking for an alternative to what's out there should check them out - I think over time as folks starting using them the feedback will be positive. And no, I don't own stock http://straightrazorpalace.com/images/icons/icon7.png

Originally Posted by mjwit

And no, I don't own stock http://straightrazorpalace.com/images/icons/icon7.png

Originally Posted by mjwit

Respectfully disagree. I have the Nano Hone (button), the DMT, the Atoma and the Shapton. Nano hone wins hand down. I've used it on synthetics and jnats and have been very pleased with the results. Pricey but those that are looking for an alternative to what's out there should check them out - I think over time as folks starting using them the feedback will be positive. And no, I don't own stock http://straightrazorpalace.com/images/icons/icon7.png

Disagree about what? The Atoma plates have far more "edges" just by the way the diamonds are deposited in clumps. Please do elaborate. And I'm guessing you're comparing a new Nano to used plates from the other manufacturers, which won't be an apples to apples comparison by a long shot.

Originally Posted by eKretz

Disagree about what? The Atoma plates have far more "edges" just by the way the diamonds are deposited in clumps. Please do elaborate. And I'm guessing you're comparing a new Nano to used plates from the other manufacturers, which won't be an apples to apples comparison by a long shot.

I disagree about it being gimmicky specifically. A couple of comments - as I mentioned above I have some experience with several different kinds of plates. So far I see no appreciable degradation in my "button" plate - it works the same now as it did when I started - this is due to the way the diamonds are imbedded in the buttons. It seems as if it will not wear out. However I acknowledge that I haven't used it for as long as I've used the other plates so ultimately time will tell. With respect to using the button plate on Jnats - it's the best I've used. I believe this is because when using this plate there's a place for the slurry to go - unlike the DMT and the Atoma and to a lesser degree the Shapton. There's always fresh contact between the plate and the stone as the slurry is released into the "grooves" between the buttons so that the plate glides between the buttons and the stone without a layer of slurry in between. IMO, much more effective and resulting in a truly flatter stone. These same kinds of "grooves" are in the entire line of the Nano hone so while I haven't tried the others - I expect that the results would be similar.

As far as apples to apples I have a new 400 Atoma pad freshly mounted on the back side of an older 400 - so apples to apples I'm good to comment.

In any case I'll leave this debate until such time as there are more Nano plates out in the community. While the button plate is quite expensive and will probably get into fewer hands I suspect that their "star" plate with it's price point will be tried by some and then we'll have more data to compare. At this point I can only recommend that folks check out the Nano hones web site - ask questions - and see for themselves whether the technology is indeed gimmicky or has some merit. At any rate as you say - we'll have to wait and see how they hold up.

My point about it being gimmicky is mainly directed at the seeming claim that the Nano plate has more "edges" presented to the hone being flattened than the competition. Every cluster on the Atoma plates (which have hundreds) present the same type of edges in far higher quantity. I don't debate that these edges could possibly help the hone cut faster.

As far as the slurry issue, I for one always flatten hones under running water whenever possible. When not possible, I frequently wash the diamond plate and hone surfaces every 10 strokes or so. Doing otherwise is detrimental to plate life in my experience. In terms of flatness, all of my diamond plates flatten stones will enough that two of the flattened stones placed face to face don't show any light, nor will a 0.0015" feeler gage fit between. Can't ask for much more than that, and really even that is plenty more than flat enough.

Regarding longevity, how long have you owned this Nano plate? Have you flattened any seriously hard stones with it? Like an Ark? I don't imagine longevity will be any better than any other reputable diamond plate out there unless they use better quality synthetic diamond to plate the hone or the diamonds are embedded deeper in the nickel matrix. We will have to wait and see. I would love to see a new plate that lasts longer and keeps cutting faster than others.