I use the Shapton and here's why...
The Shapton pond, like the stones, stone holder, and DGLP are highly engineered and do there job really, really well. The inside of the pond is that plate glass or float glass double layered and bonded together and then finished with a sandblasted finish that holds the stone holder rock solid. The pond base is flat and level. It contains the water and is big enough to keep most of my spray blast in the pond. I've tried pond substitutes and mostly have abandoned them.
I have now evolved a "honing station" which consists of an 18" x 24" granite surface plate on a surface plate stand at waist level. The pond sits on the surface plate and there's room on the sides for stones and the DGLP. The surface plate stand is made of angle iron so I put a couple of C-clamps on the legs, one to hold the sprayer bottle and one to hold my opti-visor. Overhead is a double bulb fluorescent fixture for light. I plan to put a lighted magnifier lamp on as well. For now, I'm in pig heaven! Everything is flat, level, and rock solid. I can totally concentrate on getting the best edge I can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Chris L
Does anyone use any type of container to make a sharpening pond for the stones used during honing and if so, what do you use? I'm looking for something other than the Shapton pond. It's pricey.
I alternate from holding my stones when honing to using a stone holder with the stone flat on a table. To date, I've always laid a small towel under the stone holder to catch water when I wash off the stone surface.
It would have to be a very shallow container, ideally shorter than the height of a stone in the stone holder. It would be nice to have a water containment setup so I could move my honing upstairs rather then in "razorville" as my wife calls my area of the basement I disappear to far too often. With a pond, I could sit at the table and be in the same room with my wife as she watches TV. I don't watch TV, so it would be a compromise you see.
Thanks.
Chris L