Thread: Hone Movement - Handholding etc.

Gentlemen,

I've been watching the video of Ryoichi Mizuochi (Iwasaki) honing a kamisori on YouTube, and see that when he hones, the hone moves because it's sitting on at least a couple of layers of a folded towel. I've long done this myself in various ways; the way I usually use is a half-folded bar towel with the hone, stone holder, or rubber block sitting astride the fold. This does two things, one it compensates for my slightly off-level table and irregular stones, and it allows the hone to move with honing pressure, much like hand holding a stone.

Livi seems to accomplish the same thing by honing hand held with a full size stone, holding the stone by one end which I find rather interesting and I haven't tried it. But you can of course see the hone move during honing. It would be impossible to hold the stone rigidly the way he does it so I feel that what he's doing is on intentional. I also note that he does not attempt to use anywhere near the full length of the stone but that's a topic for another thread and something I also do.

What most people do I think is simply sit the hone flat on one hand which allows the stone to move, and this can cure a multitude of sins when you're learning to finish a razor. Hand holding doesn't work as well with large, heavy stones though.

So how many folks have thought about allowing the hone to move a little - even on a bench - to adapt to pressure and what method do you use?

Cheers, Steve