Thread: Good stone holders

Originally Posted by Matt69

Is there any need for stone holders? I just put the stone on a tea-towel and it doesn't move around any.

Not really,but nice when lapping your stones.

Steelex, one for my water stones & one for my oil stones.

I have a pair of Steelex, one for Naniwa and one for Norton’s (they are different sizes), but if you hone on a bridge you don’t need them. They are useful if honing on a flat surface as they raise the stone an inch or so and the hand does not hit the surface.

Lately, I don’t use them and hone over the sink on a narrow 3.5 inch wooden board bridge and clearance is not an issue. I use a 3X8 in. piece of rubber non-skid drawer liner on the bridge and that keeps the stone firmly in place. I stack stones on top of each other with another piece of drawer liner between them. This is especially useful if you hone a pyramid or are switching stones frequently.

I hone in 2 stages, bevel setting and finish. Bevel setting, using a 400, 600 and 1k Naniwa with the 1k on the bridge and switching the 4 & 600 as needed. The on-deck stones rest in a warm water bath in a plastic shoebox in the sink. Finishing, the 12K Naniwa rest on the bridge and Norton 4 & 8 k’s are stacked atop as needed.

This system is quick and easy, switching out stones from holders is a pain and time consuming… and buying multiple holders is just crazy.

I also cut a bunch of 3X8 pieces of liner with a paper cutter to protect stones in storage/collection. One roll of liner will produce a bunch of them.

Originally Posted by Matt69

Is there any need for stone holders? I just put the stone on a tea-towel and it doesn't move around any.

I use that rubber shelf matting that Lynn is using in one of his videos for eschers and coticules. For the nortons I use the plastic boxes they came with. When I had the shapton pros I used their plastic boxes too. I really like the rubber shelf matting with a paper towel folded under it to catch the runoff.

Ditto. Use rubber shelf liner on the front edge of the sink. Works well.

A picture is worth...here is my steelex on granet .

My Steelex got here the other day, and tomorrow's my day off, so hopefully I'll get some time to lap my stones and do some honing! Thanks for all of the valuable input!

]Here is a photo of my stone holders at work and my honing bridge.


These rubber drawer liners also make great soap bowl holders when you get tired of chasing you soap across you sink counter. Just cut to fit the bottom of the bowl or tin.