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When honing my edge tools I use 1000X and 4000X Japanese water stones. I had occasion to replace my old 1000X stone as it was far too narrow and had been broken. I found the new stone slipped around terribly when I honed tools. The old one was a combination stone, backed with a 250X surface, and that seemed to keep it from roaming during use. Very quickly I decided that something had to be done.
Whatever I used had to hold the stone firmly yet allow for easy removal. I store my 1000X water stone in a Rubbermaid container full of water as it must be kept wet at all times. (The 4000X shouldn’t be kept wet. It only requires water during use.) I didn’t want any permanent modifications to my bench and I decided it would be nice if it could be moved around the shop. The materials used should either stand up to repeated soaking with water or should be expendable. If scraps were to be used it would be necessary to make it simple and easy to replace. I settled on a small, mobile sled.
My sled was a piece of plywood with two cleats screwed to it. The stone rested on the plywood and was wedged between the cleats to hold it in place during use. A third cleat was screwed to the underside of the plywood body and contacted the front of the bench so the entire assembly could not slide forward under pressure. Two more cleats were fastened to my sharpening bench, between which the sled was wedged to hold it fast. I had, at the time, a dedicated sharpening area where the sled was kept, however, if the need arose it could be moved at a moment’s notice.
The materials used were simple. I selected a scrap of ¾” plywood - it was handy and it was a couple inches wider than the stone and perhaps four inches longer. Don’t make yours so small you have trouble fitting the cleats and wedges or so large that you have difficulty finding a place to use it. I found a piece of scrap poplar that was a quarter inch thick and used it to make the cleats and wedges to hold the stone to the sled. Some leftover spruce 1x4 was used to make the cleats and wedges to hold the assembly to my sharpening bench. The bits used were straightforward and construction was surprisingly uncomplicated.
Once the plywood was selected, I ripped a small strip off the end which I attached underneath – along the front edge of the sled. This was designed to be a stop against which the bench top would catch. I didn’t bother to glue anything. All the parts were assembled with screws as I fully expected any glue used to fail with the constant exposure to water. Two narrow, rectangular cleats of poplar were screwed to the top of the sled, one at the front and one at the back. No careful measurements were necessary. As long as they appeared parallel and were spaced an inch or two further apart than the length of the stone, they would work perfectly.
Fitting the cleats was ridiculously simple. I placed the stone in the sled with the front edge resting against the cleat nearest me. I eyeballed the distance between the back edge of the stone and the far cleat and cut a piece of poplar that was approximately a half inch wider than the space. (It was important to use material the same thickness as the cleats so I cut the wedges from the same piece of poplar. I decided if the cleats were not the same thickness as the wedges, installing and removing them may be problematic.) Once the wedge stock was cut, I drew a diagonal line from corner to corner and cut the wedges apart on the bandsaw. I installed a smoothing plane upside down in my face vise and dragged the cut edges across it to clean them.
Similarly, I used one ¾” thick wedge and two cleats to hold the sled to my sharpening bench. No measuring was required. The cleats and wedge were cut at the same time and cleaned up with a plane in much the same manner used to prepare the sled itself. I placed the sled where I wanted it (the strip underneath firmly in contact with the sharpening bench) and slid one cleat next to the sled’s left side. I fastened the cleat to the bench with screws. On the right-hand side, I butted the flat side of the wedge against the sled then I pushed the last cleat alongside. I screwed the remaining cleat to the bench top. Once the wedge was removed, the sled could be quickly moved.
I was also able to use my stone sled at the workbench. Because of the spacing of my bench dogs, I had to place a scrap of wood adjacent to the jig to hold it in place but it worked well. A small clamp would hold it to almost any surface and I could have made the sled a little wider to make clamping easier.
During use, a stone needs to be kept wet so I used a squeeze bottle of water to flush the filings off of the stone and kept it moist. When I finished honing with my 1000X stone I switched to my 4000X stone for a final polish. I did’t bother removing the 1000X stone from the jig. Instead, I simply set the 4000X stone on top of the 1000X, moistened it, then polished. The foot of the gold stone’s wooden base was hooked on the edge of the coarser stone to keep it from slipping. Once my tool was sharp, I set the gold stone to the side and returned the red, 1000x stone to the Rubbermaid container full of water.
I have found this to be a basic and effective solution to my slippage problem. I reduced the amount of scrap in the shop and the jig was very cheap and easy to build. The only better solution I have seen is Frank Klausz’s water stone pond which is basically the same thing but the sled is built right into the water filled storage tank. I think I’ll try that one next and I’ll be sure to let you know how it turned out. Happy sharpening!
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