Thread: Green Vulcan hone.

Hello everybody.

I got real inspired by some of the people who find great rocks in the nature, and use them to make fine hones.

I just travelled to Tenerife where I thought there might be a good chance to find some suitably rocks.

By the foot of Mount Teide I found this rock. It was located in some rock formations where green lava had filled the canyon. Over millions of years the softer rocks has eroded and only the hard rock remains.

I took these two rocks with me home, and shaped it in a suitably form and lapped it for hours, until it was completely flat.

Last lapping was done with 400 grit water paper.

I tried to set a bevel on a old Biedermeier razor, I have a lot of these razors.

First I raised a slurry on the hone. The hone is medium-hard. I used some pressure in the beginning, and used circles with less and less pressure.

After about 60 circles there was a acceptable edge, with I refined using lighter and lighter strokes, and diluting the slurry. I lost count on the circles, but after a hour I had refined the edge with only water and no pressure.

I estimate the grit to about 6-8 k. I will try to shave with it later.

Next time I will take the time to find a larger rock!

It's definitely a fine hone. Regretfully some minor holes appeared in the hone, while it lapped it, but they do not interfere with the honing.

Now the big question is what mineral makes the rock hone? Perhaps some of the colleagues in here have a guess?

I included som pictures of Teide, and the Green Vulcan Hone, l as I call it :-)

Enjoy.

Looks nice....there are different Abrasives in natural Stones it mostly depends on the nature of the stone and how it was created...

Check back Henk Bos Grinding and Honing Part 2, it explains alot about the different types of stones and their nature and abrasives...

Just guessing-Chlorite,epidote,olivine pyroxine. All green igneous rocks.

It's so cool you guys know so much about rocks. One thing is to read about stones and there honing qualities, it's something completely different to identify a stones composition, just by looking at it. I wish I could do that.

Perhaps it will come with enough time and practice.

I can see and feel if a stone, looks promising as a hone, but sometimes I go wrong. I once found a kind of slate stone, with some crystals in it, that I thought could be used as a hone.

I spend hours working and lapping the hone. Then I went to bed and when I came back in the workshop the next day, the hone had split in three parts! I could have cried :-)

I only have a diamond saw, so all the shaping is done by hand.

Apart from the text mentioned above, do you have any suggestions to books about stones with honing qualities?

Originally Posted by Kristian

Apart from the text mentioned above, do you have any suggestions to books about stones with honing qualities?

I would ask the question a bit different :-) The question is, on what stones you want more information, i think i can throw you to dead with literature about hones....you should start with the ones you are interested in...as already mentioned the Grinding and Honing parts 1-4 are a good way to start and sort out which ones are interested...

If you have a direction heading towards feel free to contact me by PM...and feel free to visit my Flickr Page for further Information, in the comments to each Picture/Stone you can find Literature Sources to the stones....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/98611381@N05/