Thread: I Found It Over There

That's why they used to say "the roads in the U.S are paved with gold" Everyone used a straight in those days.

I too am a rockhound. There is a lot of rock in my yard, some it makes it to hones and some of it makes it to hone shaped rocks. If you enjoy the thrill of the hunt it is awesome. I have a few floating around out there in the possession of others. Perhaps in time I will dial in on just the spot. Rock changes very fast, I have one hone that I like a lot, and go back to that same rock face trying to find more, but no luck. I don't have a bevel setter. I have a great intermediate, very fast, and a couple of fairly nice finishers. My issue is finding soft rock. Most of mine a fairly hard and require a DMT to generate a slurry, the up side is they cut well and smooth out with water to polish well, for the most part. I have more duds than great hones. Sometimes they will just always be rocks.

I have spent a little time looking for a hone in my area.The Glenwood Formation is a layer of Shale along the Mississippi around here. I researched it found it, tried it, and it was a bust as far as honing. BUT I had a lot of fun and learned a few things along the way!

Oh just CRAP, now i have another thing to hunt around for and hoard up in piles ...

Where do i go to learn more about the specifics of the geologies to consider? There is a layer of shale in the area.

And chert and flint and limestone and sandstone and geodes if i go up and down the elevations. I'll has to get me a cutting method.

I gave up trying to find knappable flint for use in my lock. The rocks are sparky but fracture in a linear fashion, not conchoidially- making it impossible to knap. It is very hard and sparky though. I still look for lock-sized chips. Flatted a tire on the stuff recently too-right through 8-ply tread.

Could make some nice square/smooth fire-ring rocks ...good for keeping your cowboy coffee warm by the fire!

There are a lot of difficulties that I am not properly equipped for (besides mentally). YOu have to be able to cut and finish a stone, much less find them. I've found quite a few stones that I thought I could try out...but to my dismay they aren't so easy to finish up to a flat surface to even put a razor to. That's an investment right there.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

There are a lot of difficulties that I am not properly equipped for (besides mentally). YOu have to be able to cut and finish a stone, much less find them. I've found quite a few stones that I thought I could try out...but to my dismay they aren't so easy to finish up to a flat surface to even put a razor to. That's an investment right there.

I have a Stihl TS800 and a 8" wet saw, both running diamond blades. They are remnants of jobs of days gone by. Otherwise the outlay for my goofing around with rocks would be insane. The DMT plates alone are pricey. Anyone who rock hounds for hones is in it for the hunt.

Pre-game at the pitch. I found it over there:

Originally Posted by shooter74743

There are a lot of difficulties that I am not properly equipped for (besides mentally). YOu have to be able to cut and finish a stone, much less find them. I've found quite a few stones that I thought I could try out...but to my dismay they aren't so easy to finish up to a flat surface to even put a razor to. That's an investment right there.

That's a Flaw right there when you pick up a rock don't ask Is this good for a razor right away. They takes ages to get them that flat with out
serious cutting and flatting tools. Flatten a tiny spot and take it to a big tool like a axe or a knife where you can work one flatten area over the blade. And see how it cuts steel. And if it's a fine polish on the bevel of the axe then you well at least it's good for axes. then look for more. I gave up and flatting for the time being.

I live in an area that is covered with a lot of shale and slate. My methods are fairly barbaric, I hit the rock with a large hammer and break a piece off, I examine the broken piece, it needs a little bit of sparkle but no crystals larger than a sparkle, fine grain and no voids. If it has all of that and isn't too hard to break a piece off I take it home and cut it. Thats the easy part. Then it needs to be lapped. I lap by hand because a wet sander is expensive and not justifiable at this point. I lap on three progressions of DMT plates. I have discovered that lapping is everything. If the rock isn't flat and smooth you will never know what it really can do. There is also novaculite which is used for making hones. I haven't found any that I know of. My geology knowledge is very rudimentary. Happy rockhounding!

For me, I take them on a shop that cut and sell marble and granite. They always do it for free
For lapping, I have some 1.5m/6ftx20cm/8" pieces of sandpaper. Piece of cake to flatten when they are nicely cut.

For finding out what rock has potential to be a hone, try the spoon trick. Rub a somewhat flat piece of stone with the back side of the spoon. If there are scratches, the stone can cut.
Something else I have observed; many times, when there are lines of quartz in the same rock, it's not suitable, even if the piece you have doesn't have any of those lines. They have inclusions that many times are not visible. If you go far from those lines, there might be some hope.