Hones gone crazy

All this talk lately about people experimenting with all kinds of stuff to hone their razors.

When I did that shaving brainbuster about the 3 pigs there was the one who picked up a rock in his yard and used it to hone and I thought I was kidding but there was a post from a guy at B&B who did exactly that.

Has everyone gone crazy?

You know I have a fair sized chunk of Beryl which is perfectly shaped to use as a hone. Its around 7.5- 8 on the mohs scale, its what emerald is (Beryllium aluminum silicate). I think I'm going to lap that puppy and try it out. I guess I've gone crazy too.

Have fun!
... and keep us posted :)

Hey, there's nothing wrong with crazy! I think we're a little crazy sometimes. :rolleyes:

So about that chunk of Beryl....it would be interesting to see how it turns out. Oh, and pictures are always welcome by me!

Stones and hones...it truely is a beautiful thing. Definately be cool to see that stone and hear how it works for ya.

Mac

I've BEEN crazy

and we talked about it

remember that piece of sodalite and quartz I was trying to hone one a couple years ago????

I don't believe you, you should post pics... :)

Here are my thoughts. Hones HAVE to be sedimentary. Its not the hardness of the particle, its teh size of the particle. Coticule is basically slate, with garnet particles. DMT's for instance aren't using a solid diamond (not only because its very expensive) they are using diamonds of different sizes. So If your solid beryl is going to be any good as a hone, you better find a way to texture the surface to your purposes. The only way I can see a metamorphic or igneous rock being used well as a hone is if you lapped it all the way up to like, 6k or 8k so its as smooth as glass, then used it as a final polisher. But good luck. If you lap it on a DMT XX, it'll be a very rough hone. On a DMT C, a smoother one. etc. The other thing I'd like to say is that if you lap it to say, 400 grit, doesn't mean it will be a 400 grit hone. Anyway, I'm interested to see the outcome!

EDIT: Now that I think about it, even man made hones are sedimentary in a way, Silicon carbide or alumina or some other grit substance BOUND BY polymers, clay, etc.

EDIT AGAIN: Also now that I think about it this is probably why barbers hones have mixed results and have no definite grit because they are far more solid, and why things like J-nats get smoother over time- because you are not releasing new cutting particles because the stone is too hard, the ones that are there smooth out.

Only problem is slate is not sedimentary its metamorphic. It starts as shale which is sedimentary and once its metamorphosed all those particales are further packed down and reduced to form the slate. Slate is very heavy dense stuff. If there were garnet xtls in the slate I would think they would be very deformed or made different by the heat and pressure. Usually when garnet is metamorphosed it becomes a different mineral the name escapes me, maybe garnierite but its usually massive stuff no xtls.

Sorry I meant shale. I keep mixing those up.

There is a Beryl Hone on ebay right now, the seller is claiming it to be equivalent to 8k Natural Beryl Polishing Stone Graver Sharpening Tool - eBay (item 120446717540 end time Aug-09-09 20:41:49 PDT) Was thinking of ordering one for myself, but I think it may be a bit narrow for my personal taste.

Kindest regards,
Alex

On the subject of using semi-precious stones for hones, here's one made of crushed Ruby, no grit comparison is given here though Ruby Polishing Stone Lathe Graver Sharpening Tool on eBay (end time 14-Aug-09 12:11:27 BST)

Well ruby is just corundum which is aluminum oxide so whether its ruby or sappire or common alumina the effect is the same. Most commercial "ruby" is really common alumina opaque and tinged pink so technically its ruby but practically its not. They also can do synthetic xtls too.