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Moughton Whetstone Hone Stone
This is a genuine Moughton Whetstone from the Yorkshire Dales - a rarely seen razor hone stone. These red and green rocks are from the Ordovician age and the peculiar and very attractive rings are an example of the Liesgang effect, although they are less distinct in this example than others I have seen. The hones come from a very localised area, not found elsewhere, and were once in demand in Sheffield for use in the sharpening of razors, although these days examples are seldom seen. A 1985 field study by W. R. Mitchell mentions the stones use as a whetstone and cites two other sources from the 1700s and 1800s. Other sources specifically cite the fact that the Sheffield razor trade made use of theses hones, but I have not been able to track down a definitive text.
The hone measures 258mm by 65mm wide by 10mm thick - a very substantial size! In fact, it is the largest of it's type I have come across. It has been lapped flat to 600 grit and has had the edges lightly rounded. Although these hones are very liable to split along laminar lines this one is quite solid. The hone is shown wet or drying in all the pictures - it is a much lighter, greener colour when dry.
There appear to be very many minute specks of glittery material in the matrix of the stone, and these probably contribute to the hones cutting ability. As it is used the surface takes on a hard, glassy, reflective look when dry. I have not used the stone much - some sources cite it as a 'fine finisher' which in my opinion would rate at least as high as 10,000 grit, but I think that this hone falls below that - somewhere around 7,000 to 9,000 grit. The results seem very dependent on the shardness of the steel used to make the razor being honed - softer, older Sheffield blades seem to come up better than more modern harder steels. One thing I have noticed with this stone is that the slurry - in some cases - produces a superior edge. Without slurry the scratch lines on the bevel examined under a powerful loupe are very pronounced - with slurry they almost disappear and the edge takes on a kind of sandblasted appearance, although to the naked eye it looks quite shiny.
The hone is quite hard, but nowhere as hard as a Charnley Forest or similar novaculite-type hone stone. Being a mudstone, it is more on a par with a thuringian as far as hardness goes, and gives off copious amounts of pinkish-tinged slurry when it is lapped.
The bottom of the hone is not lapped, but is tolerably flat.
Packaged weight will be around 700 gms.
Somewhere in past discussions on the stone, as you noted above, that Moughtons were used by 'the Sheffield razor trade.' At the time I wanted one because it seemed to me appropriate to hone a vintage W&B, or Greaves, on a stone that the contemporaries of those razors would have used. Now I have come to the conclusion that I may as well make do with my Choseras, and the Suehiro 20k. :)
