One of the cool things we get to do here at Northwestern Cutlery is try out new product lines. Since we do so much hand sharpening it is always exciting to get new sharpening stone line. Our new line is Nano Hone. This line was developed by Hap Stanley. He was the distributor of Shapton USA a few years back.
I’ve been testing the 35 micron (400 grit range) and the 15 Micron (1000 grit range) since these are the two ranges that do most of the heavy lifting. First the 35 micron. What a pleasure to use. The ceramic makeup of the stone means no soaking so no waiting so just splash and go. The stone cuts fast, real fast. Even on the harder metals, Shun for example. Because it cuts fast you’re not wearing out the stone, which you so often do with the courser grits. Because it cuts fast you would expect deep scratches left behind but not at all. It took very little work with the 15 Micron (1000 grit) to polish the 35 Micron surface away. Going forward with finer stones was just as easy.
I highly recommend these stones. You will need a diamond honing plate to resurface these stones but not a lot of pressure is required. The accessories offered by Nano Hone are well built and worth the investment.