Sharpening Pond ideas please.....

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

There's the Veritas stone pond that they talk about in this thread.

You could you use a bus tub -- you know, the grey things they use at restaurants to bus tables / clear dirty dishes, and make a crosspiece (or two) to hold the stone or stone holder. Come to think of it, you could just use a 2x4 (maybe even one of those plasticky ones they make for decks, the name of which completely eludes me right now), and just cut some slots so it would nest onto the tub when laying across it. The bus tubs are like $5 at restaurant supply stores.

But that's taller than you were thinking of (I think they're about 8"). Another thought is a half-sheet pan (still thinking restaurant supply store, obviously), which is an aluminum pan with about 1' sides that you use in the oven for cookies and such. I know, i know, metal. You could lay some of that drawer liner stuff along the bottom and sides (the stuff you use, for example, in chest toolboxes to keep tools from sliding around). That would protect the blades from mishap and keep your stones from sliding as well. In that same ouvre, you could also use a cafeteria tray.

Sorry about the lack of clarity. I'm distracted by my need to yell at the TV (Giants game).


Cheers,

cass

Thanks Cass. Out of everything you've mentioned, I like the idea of a cafeteria tray. A manageable size, small lip and plastic. I think I'm going to try this. Thanks!

Chris L

I started out using a metal tray meant for water colors available at art supply stores or on the web here. At that time I honed with the tray in my lap. Since then I have moved to doing it standing at the kitchen sink. I find I have a more consistent stroke standing then I do sitting.

Maybe you could find some sort of decorated stainless breakfast tray with a lip big enough to hold the water. That'd be a kind of classy solution that's functional as well, but not necessary or an easy item to find. :shrug:

I use a 7x10 pyrex pan. It's the size smaller than the standard lasagna pan size. It's too deep as is but I put a piece of styrofoam in it to raise to the hone to the proper height above the edge of the pan. That way I get no water on table!

The main reason that I use it is because it's what I had handy and it works.

ChrisL,

It sounds like a regular low lipped cookie sheet would work for you... I've seen aluminum ones that look very much like cafeteria trays at the local supermarket.

Me.... I just handhold the darn things for razors, I just can't do a decent rolling hone stroke with a bench mounted hone. Drips.... err.... isn't that what pants are for?!?!?!:D

I've got one of those infernal "Stone Ponds"..... useless afaik. I didn't think things through.... too much cleanup time, too easy to contaminate a finer hone with the slurry of a coarser hone and well... the clamping system sucks......<sigh>. Don't get me wrong, it works but your wet towel on the bench works better and costs less but I do add the rubber stand with the two clamping screws for bench work.

Regards

Kaptain "It's downright amazing how well Shapton Glass hones work.... even without all the Shapton *system* accessories....isn't it?!?!" Zero

I use the blue boxes that my nortons came in. It's a very convenient system imo.
If I use my naturals I simply put them on a table with some paper towel underneath.

I've not been using water stones for too long, so I haven't really figured out the best system. Typically I hone at my bathroom sink; I leave the sink full of warm water, put a paper towel down on the sink top, and drag in a chair. The height hoppens to work out and the stone doesn't slide at all. The first time I didn't refresh the water in the sink, and I got a bit of a black ring, but now I know better.

iirc tools for working wood has a stainless bridge that adjusts to fit different sink sizes. I have used a wooden version of that concept for lapping especially. I also use a livestock feeder rubber pan with a wood block sitting down inside to raise the stone. similar to Utopian's only larger. Most of the time though a towel and kitchen table works just fine especially for finish honing when i use less water

Thanks for the idea, guys. When I hone razors down on "Razorville" on my honing table I made out of reclaimed 2x4s, I just lay a towel under the stone and stone holder. By the end of a honing session, that towel is sopping wet, but it doesn't matter since I sealed the table surface with about 5 coats of oil based poly.

I'm looking for something where I can move the honing operation to the dining room from time to time so I need to contain things a bit more.

Christian, I'm also getting in to hand holding the hones. I like it so far.

Chris L

I don't us a pond. I simply place the hone on the table or on a towel. Incidently, I tried an experiment in which I draged the razor backwqrds on the hone a few times before finishing with chrome oxide on leather. After stropping, this seems to give smoother shave for me.

Maybe, just maybe, there is another solution.

[url=http://www.rasurpur.de/english/shop/shop.html]RasurPur Online Shop - The finest tools for a perfect shave[/url

Click on the Chosera stone for the information about how these stones are supposed to be used...i.e. without water.

I've read the same on the official German Naniwa hones internet site.

Makes the stuff I read on the knife forums sound as if they were using the hones incorrectly. Or not as recommeneded by the supplier.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by English

Maybe, just maybe, there is another solution.

[url=http://www.rasurpur.de/english/shop/shop.html]RasurPur Online Shop - The finest tools for a perfect shave[/url

Click on the Chosera stone for the information about how these stones are supposed to be used...i.e. without water.

I've read the same on the official German Naniwa hones internet site.

Makes the stuff I read on the knife forums sound as if they were using the hones incorrectly. Or not as recommeneded by the supplier.

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Do you mean the Chosera? Don't feed my HAD any worse than it already is?!!

Chris L

Did you read it? Yes it's the Chosera.

I telephoned the owner, who is a really nice guy. He uses the stones and says they are amazing. He said they even give a really good feedback and let you know when the blade is honed. He says the stone is so smooth you can feel that sucking/Vacuum feeling when the honing as at the optimum. I put it to him that surely the filings would clog or upset the honing. He said that this just isn't a problem. He said you hone and dust off with a cloth.

I'm really tempted, but they are not cheap for the amount of use I would give the hone.

He said that the hone is not better than a natural hone, just different. He said that it doesn't have the grit range that you can get out of a natural hone. I think you may need to buy two or three or even all of the hones to get a perfect edge. Too expensive for my blood, but he did say they do a really good job. He didn't imply that they give the ultimate edge but they are good and match the 10,000 grit competition very well and when you consider you don't need water, I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more about these things.

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:

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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

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