New Sharpening Pond and Stone Holders

I thought I would share my new sharpening pond and stone holders. For a long time I would sharpen by laying my waterstones directly on a flat surface without any type of pond. I would usually set them on a paper towel to at least soak up some of the overflow. I finally got tired of trying to corral the water from flowing everywhere and was determined to create a pond type system to minimize the mess. I built this first prototype about 6 months ago with a plastic tray I found in a local store. It worked fine for a while despite being too small, but eventually the water worked its way into the plywood stone holder causing it to be no longer flat. It is really hard to sharpen a bevel with the stone teeter-tottering back and forth.



Even when I built that first pond, I had a vision of something else. This next pond still is not what I am eventually going to go with, but the stone holders are. Here is my new pond and stone holders.


The pond is a photo developer’s tray that I bought off the internet. The stone holders are made from 1” thick solid PVC that I also bought from an internet site. Wood and water just does not mix well, so I decided to eliminate any wood from my stone holders.




The PVC shaped easily with power tools, but I also used sandpaper on a granite block to true up all the surfaces. I shaped the feet using a router and then glued them to the bed with PVC glue. Worked great! I cut the grooves for the stops with the table saw. The stops are not glued and can be removed. The stone holders are very heavy. I had planned on putting glass between the feet and the bed in order to stiffen it up, but I quickly realized that it was not needed with 1” thick PVC.

I eventually plan to build a custom pond using sheet PVC (this one is still not the right size) that will be self draining into a bucket via tubing.

The sketch-up photo shows a few other options I was considering for the stone holders.

i am assuming that you just mist your stones??? or do you submerge them for awhile to get them ready for the work ahead? looks like this will be a solid setup bill

That sure beats my cookie sheet and piece of plywood!

I use Shapton stones, Larry. They don't need soaking. The actual sharpening/honing process does not require much water. The reason that I have a pond, is that I flatten my stone as they sit on the stone holders. That is where I use a lot of water, to clean off the slurry after flattening and to wash off my diamond plate between flattening the stones (no cross contamination). Everything happens right here in the pond, no taking the stones out and flattening them off to the side somewhere.

When I get my PVC pond built with the drain hole in it, it will be like having a sink in my shop. I will not have to dump the pond water every once in a while. But right now this will do for a while. I have too many other projects next on the priority list.

The pressurized sprayer shown in the picture is the way to go. It is much better than your normal spray bottle. You can get these at most garden stores or off the internet. They can really spray a concentrated stream of water at your wife from across the room. Just must sure you have shoes on before you do and have developed the art of sleeping with one eye open. DAMHIKT!

Bill...Nice set up. I need something like that for my Shaptons

which diamond are you using to flatten with bill? i bet she is gonna get even

Thanks Ted!

Larry, I finally broke down (also broke my wallet) and got Shapton's diamond lapping plate.



I talked about it this past October in one of Stu's threads << Link >>

For normal waterstones (not Shaptons), I would recommend a less expensive diamond plate, the DMT Dia-Sharp Extra Extra Coarse.