First and foremost, I am in no way affiliated with Kasfly, the maker of this item, I am purely sharing something I’ve found to be extremely useful when it comes to honing with films.
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let’s get into it. A couple weeks ago I purchased the Kasfly Sandpaper/Lapping film holder to test out for razors. I was looking for something that would hold the films flat, tight, and secure and this seemed to fit the bill quite nicely.
When it arrived it met all of my expectations, great machining, and a high quality fit and finish, but more importantly it did exactly what I wanted it to do, hold the film flat and secure while Honing.
I know people will say this is unnecessary, and the same can be achieved using a piece of glass, acrylic, or tile from the local hardware store, and while I partially agree, this solution offers some benefits that those don’t, and I have gotten more consistent, better results with this method.
The biggest advantage of this is that it securely holds the film in place, allowing me to hone under running water throughout the entire process. This makes sure any excess swarf/contaminants are carried away from the film, and I’ve noticed less rogue microchips and deeper than normal scratches than I used to get just honing with standing water on the film. It is a small difference, but it is an improvement.
I also have noticed that the film actually lays a bit flatter than it did on tile or glass, as there is some tension holding it down to the platen other than just the suction created by spraying some water under the film. I believe that at a microscopic level the film is in better contact with the platen than with any other setup I have tried, though I admittedly have no direct proof of this, only indirect signs from looking at the resulting edge under a microscope.
Long story short, for anyone who does most of their honing on films, or is like me and just likes to push the boundaries and experiment with new things, this is definitely worth checking out. While definitely not NEEDED to achieve good results with films, I believe it does push the envelope a bit further allowing me to get everything just a bit sharper. It’s also much less finicky than trying to get just the right amount of stiction between the film and a piece of glass using only water. Just clamp it in, tighten it down and you’re off to the races.
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let’s get into it. A couple weeks ago I purchased the Kasfly Sandpaper/Lapping film holder to test out for razors. I was looking for something that would hold the films flat, tight, and secure and this seemed to fit the bill quite nicely.
When it arrived it met all of my expectations, great machining, and a high quality fit and finish, but more importantly it did exactly what I wanted it to do, hold the film flat and secure while Honing.
I know people will say this is unnecessary, and the same can be achieved using a piece of glass, acrylic, or tile from the local hardware store, and while I partially agree, this solution offers some benefits that those don’t, and I have gotten more consistent, better results with this method.
The biggest advantage of this is that it securely holds the film in place, allowing me to hone under running water throughout the entire process. This makes sure any excess swarf/contaminants are carried away from the film, and I’ve noticed less rogue microchips and deeper than normal scratches than I used to get just honing with standing water on the film. It is a small difference, but it is an improvement.
I also have noticed that the film actually lays a bit flatter than it did on tile or glass, as there is some tension holding it down to the platen other than just the suction created by spraying some water under the film. I believe that at a microscopic level the film is in better contact with the platen than with any other setup I have tried, though I admittedly have no direct proof of this, only indirect signs from looking at the resulting edge under a microscope.
Long story short, for anyone who does most of their honing on films, or is like me and just likes to push the boundaries and experiment with new things, this is definitely worth checking out. While definitely not NEEDED to achieve good results with films, I believe it does push the envelope a bit further allowing me to get everything just a bit sharper. It’s also much less finicky than trying to get just the right amount of stiction between the film and a piece of glass using only water. Just clamp it in, tighten it down and you’re off to the races.
