Type of hone for custom honing device

I made a small handheld hone for finishing some small diameter parts (.188-.250 OD). The tool works well but the stone I used is far too soft. What type of stone should I use? Grit, material type? I looked at the Sunnen site but it was all vague. This is a picture of the tool I copied but I don't know what the stone is.


I don't know if the upload worked but any help is appreciated. After I upload my post I will see if it accepted the image. The material to be honed is 18% nickel silver.

Are those Sunnen stones? If so, should have a number "FA xxxxxx" or similar, IIRC. The Sunnen book has a lot of info on choosing the correct stones.. The key to Sunnen tooling is their proprietary stones... Perhaps try a stone that is intended for honing brass.. Or call them, they are very helpful. I have called several times,and gotten great help.

Looks like the fulcum/hinge of your tool is further away from the stones than the original.. it might reduce the force on the stone.. Just a casual observation..

The sunnen web site does not do a whole lot to help choose stones. Sunnen could do a lot better job at selling their product with video and such which I have suggested to them.

There are a lot of factors that go into which honing stone to choose. If you call Sunnen and talk to them the technicians are very helpful and knowledgeable.

basically you need to figure out what surface finish you want, how much material to remove, and how hard the metal is that you are honing.

Even once you know all of those things there is still some trial and error.

I did a lot of honing at my last job and had to learn a lot about the process. Even after honing for a couple of years and standing in front of our MBB1660 for hundreds of hours I was still ordering different stones and trying new things to shave off time. Towards the end of my time there I ordered some stones that caused me to cut the honing time on bare aluminum in half! So the "right" stones make a big damn difference. Lots of learning.......

Oh and the oil makes a big difference too. I was using the honing oil that Mcmaster sells for a while just cuz it was cheap and easy. Changed over to Sunnen oil and it was a major upgrade and really was about the same price, maybe even cheaper.

You might think that I am getting a kickback from Sunnen after reading this, but I am really impressed on how good they are at this process. Then again, having five or so years experience with honing is not shit. I'm sure there are other companies doing this stuff that I don't know about??

After searching I found the stone and guide foot used in this tool in the Sunnen catalog. It is still confusing but now I can call Sunnen and discuss my needs. Thank you for all the advice on the honing oil and the stone and experience.

Thanks again.

Yep, a company like Sunnen that specializes in honing will have all the right oil, stones and technology to make honing almost anything painless. When I was younger I tried different oils and such, nope, not the same. Even there bore gauges are top notch. Designed to withstand the harsh abuse they are put through in a production setting. I don't think any other gauge would stand up to the constant contact with oil and abrasive grit that they do.

Bill