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Share your honing set up

Wow, I thought Atoma's were pricey😮
Yeah. But the Nanohone doesn't suction-stick to the stone, and the NL-10 will last much, much longer. Each of those buttons is essentially a metallic-bonded diamond stone, all the way down. It's also heavy, which helps make it easy and fun to use. It's for keeping a stone very precisely flat with continuous maintenance, not heavy flattening work.
 
I guess I like to keep it to the essentials.
View attachment 1346238
1. Full sheet pan
2. Kasfly sink bridge
3. Optivisor with boost lens
4. Stone flattener
5. Spray bottle of water
6. Task light
7. Razors waiting in the wings, protected from water spray by freebie towel from favorite knife maker
8. Pug butt
I have some towels just like that (#7)! Watanabe?
I also have a pug underneath my chair as I right this. :)
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
Background, Harbor Freight tool chest holds hones, naguras, loupes, Sharpies, tape, etc.

Beside the tool chest right, a tape dispenser with two widths of 1 mil Kapton tape.

In front of the chest left to right, a Perrier bottle (plastic) with high pH soring water witha couple drops of Jet Dry in it. Scissors, 1” rubber block with plastic shelf liner for cushioning, cotton kitchen/bar towels.

Foreground, school lunch tray with a Silpat and a bar towel in it. In the tray on the left, top to bottom, a glass plate and plastic shelf liner to fit the Shapton holder, for short stones/koppas. You can just flip a Glass Stone over and do the same thing though. Shapton lapping plate (nice but not worth it really), Shapton stone holder (nice and worth every penny), the 4 pound one. It will work fine with Naniwa too. Right side in the tray, a small worn diamond plate for deglazing hard stones and slurry, ‘Wobble Wedges’ for leveling, and a hone.


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This is my usual set up, and semi a joke. I'll try to get the stash bookshelf(kinda? My wife is sleeping in there.) tomorrow. I usually just hold my stone and sit on the couch(which my daughter is sleeping on rn) or wander around the house or porch. I mostly use oilstones so once they're good on oil they can get lot of laps before I have to change.


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Background, Harbor Freight tool chest holds hones, naguras, loupes, Sharpies, tape, etc.
Beside the tool chest right, a tape dispenser with two widths of 1 mil Kapton tape.

In front of the chest left to right, a Perrier bottle (plastic) with high pH soring water witha couple drops of Jet Dry in it. Scissors, 1” rubber block with plastic shelf liner for cushioning, cotton kitchen/bar towels.

Foreground, school lunch tray with a Silpat and a bar towel in it. In the tray on the left, top to bottom, a glass plate and plastic shelf liner to fit the Shapton holder, for short stones/koppas. You can just flip a Glass Stone over and do the same thing though. Shapton lapping plate (nice but not worth it really), Shapton stone holder (nice and worth every penny), the 4 pound one. It will work fine with Naniwa too. Right side in the tray, a small worn diamond plate for deglazing hard stones and slurry, ‘Wobble Wedges’ for leveling, and a hone.


View attachment 1346983
Background, Harbor Freight tool chest holds hones, naguras, loupes, Sharpies, tape, etc.

Beside the tool chest right, a tape dispenser with two widths of 1 mil Kapton tape.

In front of the chest left to right, a Perrier bottle (plastic) with high pH soring water witha couple drops of Jet Dry in it. Scissors, 1” rubber block with plastic shelf liner for cushioning, cotton kitchen/bar towels.

Foreground, school lunch tray with a Silpat and a bar towel in it. In the tray on the left, top to bottom, a glass plate and plastic shelf liner to fit the Shapton holder, for short stones/koppas. You can just flip a Glass Stone over and do the same thing though. Shapton lapping plate (nice but not worth it really), Shapton stone holder (nice and worth every penny), the 4 pound one. It will work fine with Naniwa too. Right side in the tray, a small worn diamond plate for deglazing hard stones and slurry, ‘Wobble Wedges’ for leveling, and a hone.


View attachment 1346983

Ooh... I love that cabinet thing. I want one!
 
Here is what I consider my most important contribution to the greater good of all mankind...

Earlier this year I was wanting to watch the snooker, but also needing to sharpen a few knives. And I realised that because a computer has magnets at the top of the screen so that it stays shut, one can do this:

1A8A6011-F0A6-4336-A1A1-373EB48D80CF.jpeg


Today as you can see I’m watching the NFL, but the sheer brilliance of my ‘life hack’ is no less impressive, I’m sure you’ll agree.
 

Legion

Staff member
Here is what I consider my most important contribution to the greater good of all mankind...

Earlier this year I was wanting to watch the snooker, but also needing to sharpen a few knives. And I realised that because a computer has magnets at the top of the screen so that it stays shut, one can do this:

View attachment 1347715

Today as you can see I’m watching the NFL, but the sheer brilliance of my ‘life hack’ is no less impressive, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Lol. Never thought of that. My MacBook Pro is moving to the shed, now the main computer has been upgraded. I never thought it would become a part of the honing setup
 
Steve the Machinist chests are great for storing stones. I have an antique one the draws are a little different, but it holds 30+ barber size and full size stones. Not to mention lots of naguras, and tools for honing and repairs.

As for my honing set up. Pretty much a towel on the sink and I hand hone for razors.
 
Background, Harbor Freight tool chest holds hones, naguras, loupes, Sharpies, tape, etc.

Beside the tool chest right, a tape dispenser with two widths of 1 mil Kapton tape.

In front of the chest left to right, a Perrier bottle (plastic) with high pH soring water witha couple drops of Jet Dry in it. Scissors, 1” rubber block with plastic shelf liner for cushioning, cotton kitchen/bar towels.

Foreground, school lunch tray with a Silpat and a bar towel in it. In the tray on the left, top to bottom, a glass plate and plastic shelf liner to fit the Shapton holder, for short stones/koppas. You can just flip a Glass Stone over and do the same thing though. Shapton lapping plate (nice but not worth it really), Shapton stone holder (nice and worth every penny), the 4 pound one. It will work fine with Naniwa too. Right side in the tray, a small worn diamond plate for deglazing hard stones and slurry, ‘Wobble Wedges’ for leveling, and a hone.


View attachment 1346983
check this price out up North here!!


Ridiculous!
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
The wood chests are nicely made BTW, they’re not cheaply made. They’re Chinese of course and the wood - at least in mine - is not that attractive but for $75-85 you can’t complain. Wax the drawer runners, stones are heavy.

One way that they make these cheaply is that they have fewer drawers, therefore the drawers are deeper than many machinist’s chests, perfect for hones.
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
The machinist‘s chests are the ‘cheap seats’ though, what you want is a Victorian dentist’s cabinet, but really nice ones go $3k -$6k.


There’s one in the link above for sale, $17,500.


I want one, but not that bad!
 
Those dental cabinets would trigger a need to fill them (no pun intended). I really don't need that many stones :)

I live about 1 mile from a Harbor Freight. That one I can probably find room for (and afford).
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
Those dental cabinets would trigger a need to fill them (no pun intended). I really don't need that many stones :)

I live about 1 mile from a Harbor Freight. That one I can probably find room for (and afford).

They're fine for razors too!
 
Lol. Never thought of that. My MacBook Pro is moving to the shed, now the main computer has been upgraded. I never thought it would become a part of the honing setup

I was certainly pretty pleased with myself when I thought it up. In the pantheon of great ideas it's right up there with that time an apple fell on Newton's head, or Archimedes drew a bath.

And actually quite useful when sharpening a few knives at the same, using the same stones. When I'm doing fancy polishing progressions on my old yanagi collection &c.
 
Folded towel on table for stones to sit on and to catch excess water.

Haws Brass plant mister filled with water.

Bergeon 10x Watchmaker Loupe.

Scissors and tape (if needed).

When setting the bevel a King 1K sits on the towel and I hone on the bench.

After that, dilucot, stone in hand.

If I don’t end on the coti, I go to a different finisher, stone in hand.

Got rid of all my large bench stones, had a bunch of Waterstones, big 12” long Arks, took up a lot of space, Waterstones particularly messy (imo) with all the lapping and the large amount of liquid they need. All I want are a collection of various small finishing stones, nothing longer than 6” and able to be held in the hand easily and comfortably and a single bevel setter. Less space, less mess. Very recent change for me but I’m enjoying the simplicity.



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