How to reinforce a Japanese natural hone.

In this section we will explain how to reinforce your Japanese natural hone. This method is for hones with cracks in the sides, which could worsen over time as water enters the sides. If you don't have cracks in the sides of your hone, then this how to will be a sufficient preventative. These methods are unnecessary for synthetic hones.

What you will need:
1x Japanese natural hone
1x Strong and durable paint brush
1x 20ml bottle of lacquer
Qty of mineral Turpentine
1x small plastic container
1x Clean household tissue, another may be required, depending on size of the hone being reinforced
1x Pair of sharp scissors
1x Piece of paper a few mm smaller than the surface of the hone
Qty of tape

Now that you have the required equipment, it is a straight forward procedure. First Put the paper on the honing surface and tape the edges carefully. DO NOT try to use tape on the entire honing surface, as many tapes tend to leave a sticky residue which is difficult to remove. Next pour half the lacquer into the small plastic container, then replace lid on lacquer bottle. Add approximately 7ml of mineral turpentine to the lacquer and stir thoroughly, more may be needed. Next, using sharp scissors, cut the tissue to the size of each side of the hone. You will need to do each side one at a time, allowing each to dry before doing next side. Because the lacquer is thinned down (to prevent the tissue ripping), drying times are reduced. Lay the tissue on one side of the hone, then apply lacquer, do not stretch the tissue as this may cause tearing of the tissue. Repeat on remaining three sides, once all four sides are dry, give a second coating.

In our demonstration photos, you will see that the hone we reinforced had a severe crack going right through the entire hone. We believe it actually may have broken along the crack at some stage, and glued back together by it's previous owner. Due to the size of this hone, and the severity of the crack, two tissues were used so as to cover the base.
The amount of mineral turpentine used may vary, what you are after is a thin enough lacquer that will not tear the tissue. The lacquer we use is has a high viscosity.
Remember to aplly the laquer thinnly, and do not rush this job, as it might have an adverse effect.

This is the base of the demonstration hone, a nice thin skin is there, but we choose to cover with a tissue to assist in reinforcement.

Here is one side of the hone, which shows a distinct crack.

Bottle of lacquer, bottle of mineral turpentine, brush, plastic container, and facial tissue.

Tissues laid over the hone.

This is how it should look when you apply the lacquer to the tissue and the hone. The following pictures show the finished result.

This is how the hone looks after reinforcing is complete. We used two coats of undiluted lacquer after the tissue was sealed to the hone.

This was an extreme case and was perfect for this demonstration. If you have a hone that is cracked like this one, reinforcement is definitely recommended. Some cracks may be minor enough to only require a lacquering.