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.