Thread: Wood base for new Jnat?

It looks very squarish/flat so making a cutout for it to sit in shouldn't be too much work for a router. Then small chisels to finish.

Port Orford cedar would probably be the closest to traditional Japanese wood used for the bases. They use a different grain orientation though, see the images below. As Jerry said, you can fit the stone to the base, and if you’re really good, the base will hold the stone by friction and the stone will only fit one way. Of course, any hardwood would work.

You could also make a cover, the cover shown below is hand made for the stone of paulownia wood. The stone inside the cover is very, very, good and I take the cover was to prevent anything from being dropped on it in a barber shop (I suppose)

That looks like a very heavily used doug fir 2x6 from home depot. It seems that they had no interest in taking attention away from the stone by showcasing a nice piece of lumber. it works! I just want to look at the stone.

I guess it's all in how you look at it. A hone, no matter how good it is, is merely a tool to be used and hopefully taken care of. Through the lifetime of an heirloom quality hone a wood base would likely see a lot of wear and tear from moving it around and exposing it to moisture on a regular basis. I have an exceptional la Vienette coticule bout that I mounted in a beautiful piece of Bocote a few years ago. The hone has been one of my favorites for a long time and has been used heavily. The base is starting to look pretty shabby these days. It's warped and cracked. When it's dry I can barely get the coti seated in it but when wet it fits like a glove. if I let the whole thing dry together it is nearly impossible to remove the stone. Seems that bocote was a bad idea.

I suspect that there is probably a reason certain species were used as bases for a hone.

Yeah that’s basically it. The stands were just that and nothing more, usually. And they got their own patina over time. On the old ones, I usually try to remove all the old slurry and lightly sand the loose wood fibers, then give them a coat of wax or spray lacquer just out of respect. Sometimes they’re rough and I like them to look like well cared for vintage tool handles.

I have only made bases for stones with uneven bases, Jnats. But for me space is more of an issue than protection. I store the daily drivers, synthetic and naturals, that I use most in four drawers, on end in wooden cutlery drawer organizers with rubber drawer liner between the stones. They are kept clean and well protected in their drawers.

I no longer use wood bases, I now make spacers from pieces of yoga mats glued with silicone and trimmed to fit to make the base level with the top without rocking, then hold each stone on a Steelex rubber holder.

I used a wooden bridge across our laundry sink for years, it was almost constantly wet, drying out only overnight. It was just a 1x4 pine board with a piece of drawer liner.

I only stopped using it because we moved, and the new sink is much lower that the old one. So, I don’t think it matters much what kind of wood it is.

Here is an interesting video

of a guy, Bill Carter, master woodworker and self-taught plane making artisan, making a box for one of his natural stones. He makes works of art, reproduction English Miter Planes, by hand,. He also collects Natural stones used to hone his plane blades.

The video is a little shaky, but this Bill is a National Treasures.