Thread: Plain old slate to sharpen knives

I happened to stumble across a few nice pieces of slate. Being ever curious, I rubbed a spoon on one & it left quite a scratch pattern on the stainless steel. So I lapped a few of them just for grins.

As expected, every rock is different, but they are all surprisingly good for knife sharpening! Much too coarse for razors (except maybe for the coarsest of bevel-setting), but fine for kitchen and pocket knives.

So I bought a diamond abrasive hacksaw blade at the hardware store for $7 and went into the small independent manufacture of genuine Massachusetts slate hones My GF has a nice 2" x 12" x 1" slab on her counter top now, next to her kitchen knives, & I'm working on sawing another slab off the same chunk.

It's kind of fun to see what personality each stone is going to have. My best one is a light gray piece with brown & black swirlies in it (no idea what the inclusions are). It's a small piece, suitable mainly for pocket knives. I have another one about the same size that's nearly black. It's coarser & more aggressive.

I will never be able to look at a rock the same way again, and now neither will you

The Dragons tongue hones are rumored to be some kind of slate if memory serves. I never heard how they fared in the str8 forums.

Nice project!

The Dragon's Tongue I have is not too coarse.
A little below the blue belgian.

Slate itself is actually quite soft. What makes it a hone is the abrasives it has in it and what shape they are.

This thread...among others... has inspired me to go rock hunting locally for kitchen stones and/or bevel setters.

Originally Posted by 0livia

Nice project!

The Dragon's Tongue I have is not too coarse.
A little below the blue belgian.

Slate itself is actually quite soft. What makes it a hone is the abrasives it has in it and what shape they are.

Slate is metamorphosed shale. For the most part whatever variables the shale had as far as grit size and shape are pretty much
homogenized out once its subjected to all that pressure. Most slate I've seen is usually shades of grey or red depending on the basic minerals making it up.

Sorry but I have different informations about this.
Here we go

Great info, Olivia! IDK anything about geology, but the slates are pretty soft (they flatten relatively easily on dry sandpaper that's meant for wood). There is also a noticeable difference in grit coarseness from stone to stone.

I took a picture of my first slab in the "My Homemade Shiznit" thread in the Gallery. That piece is now my GF's official kitchen stone. I have had good luck (believe it or not) sharpening cutlery on an ordinary red brick (after lapping, of course) but I find the slate is finer, more consistent, and is free of the little voids that bricks have. So I like the slate better, & I have retired the brick.

Also please note, the slate I am using is not Dragon's Tongue, Water of Ayr, or anything of the sort. It's ordinary junk that people use for walkways and roofs. I imagine those Welsh hones are a lot finer than the slate I am using.

Welcome!

That must not be a bad quality.
You can even use one of these little slate boards we used to learn writing on back then.
After a good lapping cause they are mostly covered with black slate paint.
They cut really easily
and you can put a piece of them on the back of a paddle strop or on a wood case.