Thread: hello, my name is beryl

I'm also known as Be3AL2(Si6O22) and I used to live at the Strickland pegmatite Quarry in Portland, Connecticut until this crazy man kidnapped me from my home and tried to grind me down and turn me into a hone but I'll teach him and his razors a lesson.

Well there it is. Have I tried it yet? no I still have to dress up the edges a bit and do you really think I would try it on one of my good razors anyway? I'll try it on one of my junkers and keep you informed.

Hello Beryl!
Keep us posted about your steel consumption!

I played around with the stone today using an old Silver Steel razor 3/8s. Not exactly a top condition razor but from what I see using the Beryl as a low grit hone is an exercise in futility. However as a high grit final polisher it works great. It put a mirror finish on the edge and spine very quickly which makes sense since it is a very hard rock. I'll continue to play with it. Its really odd sized and the honing surface is really only about 5 inches long and in places barely 1.5 inches wide.

Originally Posted by 0livia

Hello Beryl!
Keep us posted about your steel consumption!

Interesting experiment, please keep us updated, who knows you may have found the new stone of the moment!

Whilst it is difficult to apply a grit rating to natural stones, and seeing as you've only used it on one razor so far, what would you consider to be a fair figure for an approximate grit equivalent? I'm thinking of the Beryl graver's stone I linked to in the other thread, the seller had that one listed as an 8K, do you find that your results thus far put it above that figure or not?

Kindest regards,
Alex

Cool experiment. Thanks for doing this. Please do a shave test off of that stone and a strop and share your opinion on the shave.

Chris L

Originally Posted by ChrisL

Cool experiment. Thanks for doing this. Please do a shave test off of that stone and a strop and share your opinion on the shave.

Chris L

Slow down there buckeroo. This is more an estoteric test. Right now the razor I played with is not fit for shaving. However based on my use so far I would say the stone is at least 8K but probably higher. How far higher I don't know. Its very fast so it might be a function of both but just based on the degree of polish is way higher than the Norton 8K and Higher than the Coticule or my Vintage Escher so I'm sticking my neck out here and estimating between 12K to 18K maybe.

The other issue is though it a solid chunk of rock as you grind away there are actually tiny cavities (vugs) in the rock with microscopic gem quality beryl xtls which are nice to look at but terrible for honing so really I need to do more lapping and try and get to a surface without the vugs if I can and also the honing surface is really not very large and its very irregular. So would I use it on a good razor? Not now.

Hmm...that stone looks edible.

Mac