American Made Sharpeners: Nano Hone

When Nano Hone founder Harrelson 'Hap' Stanley talks about his history with sharpening, it didn’t start with steel. He started with lacquer.

Before creating some of the most thoughtfully designed sharpening systems on the market, Hap spent more than a decade apprenticing in traditional Japanese lacquerware, where polishing was everything.

Working with delicate surfaces, sometimes embedded with gold or silver, he developed a deep understanding of abrasives and flatness. From semi-precious stones to the end grain of wooden charcoal, he learned to manipulate materials with incredible precision.

“The process of creating super flat surfaces and polishing them out was very interesting to me,” Hap says. “Lacquers also use a variety of specialized tools that need to be sharpened. So, I learned to sharpen those tools.”

Hap with a Japanese ash serving board he carved and lacquered during his apprenticeship. 

That experience, along with 16 years working for a Japanese sharpening stone maker, led him to launch Nano Hone in 2016, blending deep tradition with modern design.

Solving the Problems Sharpeners Actually Face

Like many sharpeners, Hap ran into the same issues over and over:

• Stones slipping around during use

• Difficulty keeping stones flat

• The constant mess of water and swarf

Instead of putting up with these problems, he designed his way out of them.

“When we started Nano Hone, I spent a lot of time designing our stone holder. We call it a stage,” he says. “It couldn’t have springs, wheels, tiles, or knobs. It had to be easy to clean. And it could not move around at all.”

After more than 20 prototypes, he nailed it, creating a rock-solid stone holder that’s now used by thousands of sharpeners around the world. It’s become a signature Nano Hone innovation: thoughtfully minimal, refreshingly effective.

From Lapping Plates to a Flatter Foundation

Nano Hone’s very first products were a series of lapping plates, designed to solve one of the most overlooked problems in sharpening: keeping your water stones flat. Unlike other tools where a little wear might go unnoticed, sharpening stones need to stay perfectly flat to deliver consistent results, especially when you're refining precise edges on woodworking or carving tools.

Nano Hone’s lapping plates, three of which remain bestsellers today, are engineered to quickly and reliably restore that flat surface. Built to last and easy to maintain, they form the foundation of a sharpening setup that’s both efficient and precise.

What's Next: Sharpening the Future

Nano Hone continues to push boundaries with its diamond resin technology, which Hap describes as both versatile and easy to maintain.

“We’ll be able to polish really complicated shapes with it,” he says. “It’s also very clean and easy to use.”

It’s the kind of forward-thinking innovation you’d expect from someone who has spent decades refining surfaces down to the micron level.

Sharpening Advice from a Master

For those just starting out, Hap offers some practical advice:

“Try not to fight with your edge. It’s easy to get frustrated when things don’t go as expected. Step back, reevaluate, and sometimes drop back to a coarser abrasive before moving forward again.”

If you're interested in learning more about Hap's sharpening techniques, check out our video Sharpening Masterclass with Nano Hone.

Whether you’re flattening water stones or refining a razor edge, Nano Hone sharpeners reflect a lifetime of insight, and a deep respect for the craft of sharpening.