Semi-permanent bench mounting a stone

[mrcharly]

I have a 1000/250 grit waterstone and am going to set up a workbench in my new house.

I'd like to have the stone semi-permanently set up, so I can just step up and use it - in the past I'v put it on newspaper and sloshed water on (after soaking).

Can't quite think how to set it up - needs to be held so it doesn't move about but I also need to be able to tip water on. Did think about cutting down a plastic box to 1/2 the stone thickness, then screwing little blocks of wood through that to the bench (so the box/tray could be kept semi-full of water).

On second thoughts, it might work out better mounted on a heavy bit of board - then it could be moved around, put on the floor etc for when I need a different angle.

Other people must have done this; how do you hold waterstones on a bench?

 

[Mesquite]

I just sit mine on a mouse mat on the kitchen worktop.

A none skid mat on a waterproof surface basically so it doesn't matter about water splashing around

 

[mrcharly]

That's similar to what I've done in the past, but I really could do with it always set up. Need to be able to turn round and just use it, rather than clear teenage food debris out of the way, then spend 10 min clearing up the grey sludge that dribbles off the stone.

 

[British Red]

How about using an thickish lump of wood (say a kitchen worktop offcut or the like) and routing out a whole to take the stone. Just clamp that bit of wood onto your bench with a couple of F clamps and its as permanent as you want it to be. I would then coat the piece of wood in several coats of PVA to tank it.

 

[steve a]

I used one of these for the past few years.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-non-skid-holder

 

[demographic]

Put a couple of cleats onto a board and then use two opposing wedges to hold it in place.
Thats the traditional Japanese way of holding them shown in my Japanese tools book.

Bit like this posh version with three of them, same principle anyway. This is a picture I found on the net but you can use wedges to hold all sorts on benches if you want.

There's another on this Youtube clip.
[video=youtube;aRjMTmATIKo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRjMTmATIKo#t=70[/video]

 

[mr dazzler]

I dont use waterstones now, other than they make great honing paste after being ground up.....
But when I used them a lot for sharpening, I made stands for them out of 6 x 2 joists, with small batons pinned either end to suit the length of each stone. I used rubber strips as non slip feet, or 4 nails one at each corner, nipped off and filed to a sharp poinnt so it could sit firm on the bench. I also used an old ikea plastic tray to keep full of water with the stone in it ready primed for use, with the wooden stand resting over it like a lid..

 

[mrcharly]

That's great, thanks guys, given me lots of ideas.

Now, where was that old cake tin?