Thread: I Found It Over There

A lot of us know the arc of Michael C and the Zulu, a fascinating and I hope the most successful unearthing or finding of a finishing hone of significant quantity in modern times? Well I think there are other members out there who have tried to find suitable rock for finishing razors. I know generally there is an outline for the typical geologic strata that these stones are found in and I recall a post by Neil Miller that was excellent in this regard.
My question is: has anyone had any luck? If you were not looking for a commercial size deposit it seems like it might be fun....then again, maybe not.

As a veteran of many Geology Field Trips I can tell you it ain't fun. Poking around old mines and quarries, long hikes, bad roads, no roads, watching for snakes, being bitten up by bugs, poisonous plants, dragging all kinds of gear with you, private property issues, ornery critters and people, bad weather, etc.

But, if you live in the right part of the country and do some studying and get the maps and are lucky....you never know.

Finding stones is not difficult at all. Really. Silicon oxide is the most common substance on earth's crust, and what makes stones cut.
For me, I have found many stones, and I'm talking about quality stones, not something that reminds me a hone. Nothing in huge quantities, but enough for me, stones from bevel set to finish.
But, lapping them is much more difficult than finding them.
Also, slate is an abundant geologic formation, and most of them are suitable for razors. If it looks like a slate, you could have found something good. Don't search for fancy stones with purple dots with white swirls in a turquoise colored matrix. Fancy stones are by far the most common I see on threads about stones they found. Dull colored are just as good, probably better.
For all I know, sidewalks on South Africa could be nicely decorated on Zulu grey flagstones.

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.

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!

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.