Nanohone NL-5

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Danzo

Danzo

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The wife got me a nanohone NL-5 for Christmas. I’m not a pro sharpener by any means, hell I don’t even like doing it, but it’s something that’s gotta be done. All I have to say is that this thing kicks ass. It cuts so fast, and all those gaps makes it so it doesn’t stick like glue when you’re flattening. Huge upgrade from atoma plate, and the JKI version with the diamond pattern.

Is it worth it though? At triple the cost of an atoma? Big yes. My guess is it will outlast 3 atoma plates. We shall see

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Keep us posted about the longevity of this plate...! Is it difficult to round the edges with this plate?
 
Have an nl-4 myself, yup it's amazing, blows away every other plate I've tried. Worth the price? Absolutely. Wish I had one of these 10 years ago.

Also you totally can use the NL4 on basically everything too just that it may leave a slightly coarser surface like using an Atoma 140 on a 6-8k grit stone. Doesn't seem to have any negative impact unless you are only trying to polish to a mirror otherwise your high grit seems to cut faster/work quicker but slightly less polish until the surface smooths out again with use.
 
NL4 works fine in edges, corners are a bit tricky but works okay :)
 
Yup yup! Happy to help on that. Another option if you really don't want to use it for edges or corner is grab a cheap DMT travel plate or little keychain thing and just use that for corners/edges. I use my NL4 just fine but if you went with an nl5 or one of the diamond button ones it's a cheap way to cover those parts of stone and not worry about it.

Can't say enough good things about the NL4 especially if you can get them on sale sometimes then it's more like $60-70 more than an Atoma which is outstanding for how much better the NL4 is.
 
I also have the NL-5. They're nice, but I'll say I thought they'd not wear so fast. Admittedly I did use mine to level my JKI diamond stones (1 & 6k), as well as my Gesshin 400. But I still thought it would hold its bite a bit longer. I do like it, and don't regret spending the dough. Just my 2 cents
 
I hate to be that guy... but it does say on their website not to use them on diamonds...

Only the button ones are okay for diamonds but the NL4 and NL5 should not be used like that. Might explain the wear rate? I've used the NL4 on no joke, like 30 naturals to flatten and a bunch of random synthetics and seen no wear to report.

I do give the surface of mine a gentle toothbrush scrub every now and then just to clear any junk out but haven't noticed anywhere

sorry just wanted to put the info out there, don't mean to be a dick at all
 
Fair assessment snake. I only use my NL-5 on my chosera 600 and up. Anything below that i just use my other plate or a flattening stone from amazon.
marc4pt0 said:
I also have the NL-5. They're nice, but I'll say I thought they'd not wear so fast. Admittedly I did use mine to level my JKI diamond stones (1 & 6k), as well as my Gesshin 400. But I still thought it would hold its bite a bit longer. I do like it, and don't regret spending the dough. Just my 2 cents
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I was under the impression that the whole depth of the stars were the grit compound, and you can cut until the whole thing is flattened. Am I wrong here?
 
SolidSnake03 said:
I hate to be that guy... but it does say on their website not to use them on diamonds...

Only the button ones are okay for diamonds but the NL4 and NL5 should not be used like that. Might explain the wear rate? I've used the NL4 on no joke, like 30 naturals to flatten and a bunch of random synthetics and seen no wear to report.

I do give the surface of mine a gentle toothbrush scrub every now and then just to clear any junk out but haven't noticed anywhere

sorry just wanted to put the info out there, don't mean to be a dick at all
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No no, you're totally correct. In fact when I spoke with them on the phone before buying they SPECIFICALLY said don't use on diamond stones. Especially the jki ones. So I was totally forewarned. Yet I was still surprised the little time it spent doing the No No's it lost some of that initial bite. It still works well, but I notice it doesn't have that "new" feel. If that makes sense.

@Danzo yes, the stars are the part of the working element. But there's also a bit of grit on the stars as well, if I recall correctly.
 
marc4pt0 said:
No no, you're totally correct. In fact when I spoke with them on the phone before buying they SPECIFICALLY said don't use on diamond stones. Especially the jki ones. So I was totally forewarned. Yet I was still surprised the little time it spent doing the No No's it lost some of that initial bite. It still works well, but I notice it doesn't have that "new" feel. If that makes sense.

@Danzo yes, the stars are the part of the working element. But there's also a bit of grit on the stars as well, if I recall correctly.
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yeah there's grit on the flat of the stars. But you're saying once that's all worn out the cutting is happening in the edges of the stars only?
 
Okay cool that makes way more sense marc, I figured you would have done your research but wanted to put it out there for anyone else looking at these. I did the same in talking to them personally before ordering my NL4 to ensure none of my stones were on the "no list" which really is a pretty small list all things considered :)

Glad it still works well just not as well so to speak. That totally makes sense on the feeling, a brand new Atoma 140 has a particular feel compared to a well used one. I imagine it's a bit like that, I have an old beat up Atoma in my beater kit and a nicer newer one for home. It's very clear how they feel different yet both still flatten and cut nicely overall.

Glad you are liking it. I may add the NL5 or a button one someday just because I love trying stuff but yeah i think anyone would be set with either an nl-4 or nl5 barring special cases.
 
SolidSnake03 said:
did the same in talking to them personally before ordering my NL4 to ensure none of my stones were on the "no list" which really is a pretty small list all things considered :)
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I was surprised and a little disappointed when I read that Cerax stones are on the "no list". They are certainly not the hardest stones out there, and also don't have diamonds as abrasives, so I didn't really understand this. Does anyone know why? Otherwise I might ask Nano Hone directly.
 
Yeah the Cerax are one of the only mass market stone lines I can think of that people would have that aren't diamond but shouldn't be used with them. I remember on the phone he mentioned the ceramic parts of that stones construction/mixture can cause premature wearing on the plate? Think it was something along those lines but I'd contact them to be sure.

Their customer service/help line is super useful and I ended up chatting with Hap for a while about the nanohone stuff and comparisons to Shapton etc...
 
So the nanohone website says diamond resin and sintered ceramic, the Cerax and Spyderco Ceramics are probably the most common that people might have in those groups.

I would suggest just calling nanohone and checking with them but for myself who has a mix of naturals, king stones (deluxe and hyper), Chosera, Sigma Power and Gesshin it works great.
 
Anyone has some experience with NL 8? I ve couple of Vitriefied Diamond stone and not sure how to flaten it without mess...
How long does hold on diamonds stones - on web they say you can use for this purpous...
 
SolidSnake03 said:
So the nanohone website says diamond resin and sintered ceramic, the Cerax and Spyderco Ceramics are probably the most common that people might have in those groups.

I would suggest just calling nanohone and checking with them but for myself who has a mix of naturals, king stones (deluxe and hyper), Chosera, Sigma Power and Gesshin it works great.
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I think they mean sintered ceramic like the Spyderco. Cerax seems like an odd line to exclude. Nanohone told me they could be used for Crystolon and India stones.
 
Admittedly Hap was dropping more info on me than I could catch/keep up with so you might be right about the Cerax. I knew absolutely he mentioned the Spyderco Ceramics being a no unless you use the diamond buttons because they are really rough on the NL4 and NL5. I thought he mentioned Cerax but you might be totally right that he distinguished between those two.

I can 100% say that he specifically said don't use them on the Sypderco ones.

I would suggest just calling nanohone to check. The Suehiro Cerax are much softer and easily worn/flattened/used up than the Sypderco so there may be something to that difference. I don't own either anymore or I'd test it a bit for you :)

Never got on with the Spyderco and I like the Chosera feel over the Cerax but both are still nice.
 
I (FINALLY!) have one of the NL-5's coming tomorrow from MTC from and order that was placed in early December! I'm looking forward to trying it out on the Shapton Glass and the new Nanohone stones I have coming.

SeattleBen said:
Am I correct then that the diamond plates and cerax are the only stones that you ought to stay away from with these plates?
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You don't lap diamond plates like DMT or UltraSharp. Just use them and throw them away when they wear out. They are flat and consistent, but they don't last forever.

Again not to beat a dead horse, but you never use diamond plates on VF diamond stones as you are basically rubbing diamonds against diamonds, which is bad for both surfaces. You lap (dress is the more appropriate term) with Sic powder as that cuts the binder and exposes new, fresh diamond particles. I've heard 120 Sic works well, but you may need something like 60/80 for the coarser stones.

Finally, @Danzo, or anyone else that has used the NL-5, how does it work for chamfering the corners? I have a smaller 140 Atoma that I use, but if this will do it faster/cleaner, than I'm looking forward to that as well!
 
Dakota Day Trader said:
I (FINALLY!) have one of the NL-5's coming tomorrow from MTC from and order that was placed in early December! I'm looking forward to trying it out on the Shapton Glass and the new Nanohone stones I have coming.



You don't lap diamond plates like DMT or UltraSharp. Just use them and throw them away when they wear out. They are flat and consistent, but they don't last forever.

Again not to beat a dead horse, but you never use diamond plates on VF diamond stones as you are basically rubbing diamonds against diamonds, which is bad for both surfaces. You lap (dress is the more appropriate term) with Sic powder as that cuts the binder and exposes new, fresh diamond particles. I've heard 120 Sic works well, but you may need something like 60/80 for the coarser stones.

Finally, @Danzo, or anyone else that has used the NL-5, how does it work for chamfering the corners? I have a smaller 140 Atoma that I use, but if this will do it faster/cleaner, than I'm looking forward to that as well!
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id use something else for the edges and corners if you have it. the pattern makes it so it doesn't feel great.
 
it looks to me like the regular nanohone plates are just steel plates with plated on diamonds, so just like a dmt or atoma the diamond layer is quite thin.
if you want diamonds all the way through you have to get the button plates, but those are like 600€.

also, most if not all diamond plates gets destroyed or at least worn out a lot faster when flattening coarse stones. you are taking off very big/coarse abrasive chunks and those will remove the diamond layer. if you want to kill a diamond plate in the shortest time possible, use it on your coarse stones!

i'm quite impressed with the dmt diaflat. i have the finer model, and it has survived for quite some time. 2 years. and i have flattened missarkas (4 stones all sides) and those are like slightly porous spydercos. then i have flattened all my other stones, including my 220ies. and then a 100 grit SiC stone.
i have flattened a few knives with it too.

i think the plate now behaves like a 3-400 or so. it feels rougher than that but its not very fast anymore. no bald spots yet. its good for 1k and up, maybe even 500.

they all wear out. i just got a new atoma 140 to abuse. a lot cheaper and i guess it will work quite well.
 
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