Thread: natural duel stone a llyn melynllyn and dragons tongue

Originally Posted by eleblu05

i shaved straight off the LM and the shave was comfortable it was better the second time around when i added the strop to the process question did you smooth out your LM with the slurry stone after the trip to dmt land ? and what was the hone progression on your razor ?

Yes, I did. I built a light slurry. The surface looks and feel smooth.
I don't recall the hone progression on this particular razor, I only wanted to do a touch-up, but it was probably Naniwa 1K - 3K - 5K and then Coticule.

I'll raise a thick slurry next time and clean it up only in the last 10 laps or so.

I have a Dovo a customer sent me to hone, so I think I can use it too to find out something more.

Customs finally cut mine loose yesterday, two weeks on.

I got a big LM (one of the ones that's about 8x3). Lapped the marks out of it in about 20 minutes on a 400 grit atoma while I was on the phone (not before taking it to a chisel with and without slurry to examine the edge).

Interesting little stone! I'll have to wait for a razor to dull to go to it. Can't wait to get the other finer one to see what it can do.

I've got finer stones than the LM on water, but not by a whole lot, and not nearly as cheaply. Anyone microscope an edge yet and get a look at the scratches? I see a polished edge with just a hint of stray scratches here or there off the LM. It has the hard "clank" of an ozuku or translucent oilstone, but it yields a swarf more easily than the ozuku (and, of course, the trans releases nothing).

If I get pictures from a scope before anyone else, vs. some other known entities, I'll post them. I may wait until the finer blue/black hone shows up, though. See how the scratches compare to my japanese stones and some sub-micron honing films.

Originally Posted by DaveW

I'll have to wait for a razor to dull to go to it.

Why? There's nothing wrong in taking a perfectly good razor to the stones, lots of us do it all the time

Anyone microscope an edge yet and get a look at the scratches?

See my post from yesterday, I will post pics from a full progression saturday, I will also do some visual comparison with other finishers later on.

Originally Posted by Zephyr

Why? There's nothing wrong in taking a perfectly good razor to the stones, lots of us do it all the time

You're right.

Call me anal retentive, but also want to mash the slate hone for a while by lapping the back of a chisel, to see if I can knock the "smarts" off of it, if that makes any sense. i think from using it last night, that without a slurry it will hold on to its grit long enough to let me "dull" it a little (for lack of a better word), the same as a good japanese hone will settle in to polishing if you don't lap it for a while and run it on slurry.

Looking forward to seeing other peoples' pictures of bevels under a scope.

Originally Posted by Leon

I'll raise a thick slurry next time and clean it up only in the last 10 laps or so.

I have a Dovo a customer sent me to hone, so I think I can use it too to find out something more.

OK, I reached some kind of a breakthrough with the LM last night when I honed the Dovo from a customer.

The key difference here was the slurry. I raised a thick slurry this time. I used more laps (50) in slurry and less in water (20). The shave was how I like it: sharp and smooth.

OK, I'm a believer now. And a happy one.

Originally Posted by Leon

OK, I reached some kind of a breakthrough with the LM last night when I honed the Dovo from a customer.

The key difference here was the slurry. I raised a thick slurry this time. I used more laps (50) in slurry and less in water (20). The shave was how I like it: sharp and smooth.

OK, I'm a believer now. And a happy one.

I followed your instructions and substituted glycerin for oil and the edge was buttery smooth. Glycerin works for me.

Got my first shave off the big LM this morning, straight water finish to leather (I never do anything else with a razor - always stone to leather to face).

I have to say that the finish level was almost as good as my japanese finisher - close enough that with a little more settling in for the LM and they might be equals. Right now, the scratches from the LM on clean water are just a bit more busy than the japanese stone, but the japanese stone has had the benefit of use without scuffing the surface needlessly - it's settled in.

I haven't noticed any nastiness of the edge, but we'll see later today and tomorrow morning if my face has a delayed burn reaction (which is always the case, razor burn for me always shows up toward the end of the day and is worse the day after the offending shave).

These have got to be the bargain of the good finishers, and with oil, it would only be even finer. Can't wait for the finer mystery blue/black slate to be delivered.

Lovely satisfying "clank" sharpening with the big one, too.

Originally Posted by DaveW

Got my first shave off the big LM this morning, straight water finish to leather (I never do anything else with a razor - always stone to leather to face).

I have to say that the finish level was almost as good as my japanese finisher - close enough that with a little more settling in for the LM and they might be equals. Right now, the scratches from the LM on clean water are just a bit more busy than the japanese stone, but the japanese stone has had the benefit of use without scuffing the surface needlessly - it's settled in.

I haven't noticed any nastiness of the edge, but we'll see later today and tomorrow morning if my face has a delayed burn reaction (which is always the case, razor burn for me always shows up toward the end of the day and is worse the day after the offending shave).

These have got to be the bargain of the good finishers, and with oil, it would only be even finer. Can't wait for the finer mystery blue/black slate to be delivered.

Lovely satisfying "clank" sharpening with the big one, too.

Where could I find one of these hones Dave? purely out of curiosity, I may be tempted to try one to compare with my jnat and coticules

Ebay, just look up "purple slate hone". There's only one guy who has listings that will match that. He's digging them up a hop and a skip away from you - should be cheap since shipping won't be what it is to get them over here to the states.

Originally Posted by DaveW

Ebay, just look up "purple slate hone". There's only one guy who has listings that will match that. He's digging them up a hop and a skip away from you - should be cheap since shipping won't be what it is to get them over here to the states.

A.J.'s a good guy. But the shipping costs are high, even to Portugal, where I would think that it could be cheaper given that it's just 2.000 Kms away. Anyway, I think that big, old, chunky wooden box might have made the shipping cost even higher.

Anyone got a big, old wooden box too? Mine is really old (and smells "old"). Looks to be many decades old. Unfortunately, no labels are visible.