"Welsh Slate" another cheap, natural finisher.
1. I am by no means an expert so keep that in mind as you read this post.
2. If you are about to buy your first finishing hone or refreshing hone get a Naniwa 12k as you will judge most finishers from that very stable benchmark.
3. Perhaps this post should be under hones, but I thought beginners might like it better. It is a cheap way to get your foot in the natural door that is not the C12k.
I have just recently purchased a Welsh Thuringian from a certain someone off the Bay.(I don't know if I am allowed to say whom, since it may violate rules of the forum?) It is not actually a true Thuringian, but a welsh slate finisher. He is advertising these hones as 15k plus. It is a natural stone so one cannot easily assign a grit number to it, but I will say it improves a 12k edge and would liken it to 12k followed by Crox. The edge feels far less harsh to me though than something that has been hit with the Crox after the 12k. I used it recently on my most blood thirsty spike with great, smooth results.
The hone is a very cloudy grey-black color with somewhat of sheen. The feedback is hardish but not the glassy feeling of a C12k. It is not in the least bit porous seeming with water running off everywhere. I am planning to see what happens when I put a little oil in the mix soon. The stone was relatively flat when it arrived, but not perfectly. A few minutes with the DMT and I was ready to go. It does come with a small slurry stone, but I have yet to try it with slurry. It does not seem to need an extreme amount of laps to see results from this hone.
It's price is very competitive if you are looking at the C12k. I almost didn't order it though since the shipping seemed outrageous and would nearly double the price. I contacted the fellow, and he gave me a cheaper shipping option. The size I purchased was an 6x3 which I am super happy with. I debated grabbing the 8x3, but honestly after using it I realize width is far more important to me than length.(Up to a point of course) If you are considering grabbing a C12k I would say give this hone a very serious look.
