Thread: Stones I've cut but not yet finished¬

The darker one is the one I would be testing. Put a light slurry onto it from one of your thuri's and just work the razor over it. You should feel it breaking down pretty fast.

I'm not sure the darker one is diorite, I'm almost certain it's a volcanoclastic siltstone now and it has been welded due to having been deposited very close to cooling diorite.

To see the sparkle look at the edges of the stone rather than the honing face. The stone polishes to a degree where the sparkle is lost in the reflection, So look for unpolished or broken/uneven parts to see the sparkle. I have one here that shows it very well if you want pictures of that.

I'm still working on a blurb for your site, I'm actually finding it hard to describe both stones. I'm no geologist, And working out the correct terms and classification for the stone in a piece of shortened text is mindbogglingly difficult!

I hope that HCF doesn't have toxic inclusions. I know I put it in as a protection stone for the darker one. In it's own right the HCF is interesting.

I'm loving those PDF's you have found on the Charnwood region. It's very humbling to think these rock could contain the remains of some of the first multi-celled organisms on the planet. I had no idea the region was as important to geologists as it is!

Dont mind i really appreciate any input...the rest will come in any way...we do not have to put anything to it which is not correct or unknown, just the known facts...

I will try both stones the next week, iam very busy at the moment...sorry...

Don't worry about a time frame.

I'm still waiting for an opportune weekend to lap the HGH from rezdog he sent me months ago! Mine came cracked and I have to work another face, I'm at a stage now where I can take on his stone and not risk damaging it. I'll need an angle chopping out of it then the non polished face is actually the longer one so I have to recut that to be the honing face. should leave a 5 1/2 x 2 honing face to play with.

Originally Posted by Iceni

Don't worry about a time frame.

Couldnt wait too long to do the test....i used a very nice 8/8 Filarmonica 14 Doble Temple José Monserrat Pou where the etching was lost during the use from the last owner. But i really like how the edges come of this nice straight!!


The razor lost a lot of sharpness and smooth ess during the last shaves so i thought i will try this nice Diorite Stone you sent me, i tried two steps with this stone....

1. Step: used that stone just with plain water using X- and paralell Strokes and look how the edge will perform...i think i did about 80-100 strokes with water, afterwards i stropped about 70 times on the leather strop...afterwards a very good HHT 4 was possible...hair just popped not noiseless but very easy, smal pieces of the hair could be chopped on sequence over the whole edge...

The shave was very smooth and comfortable...so i wasnt shure if it is really needed to use a thuringian slurry on this stone...compared to the thuringian it was a bit less smooth but very good...

2. Step: just tried to use thuringian slurry and created a light milky slurry on the stone, as the edge was already prepared on step 1 i only did further more 50 strokes with slurry and about 20 with plain water afterwards...then 60 times on the leather strop...

Concerning the HHT there was no upgrade, i stayed on a very good HHT 4....The shave got a bit smoother but it was also possible to feel from my experience that its no razor which was honed with a "Thuri" only procedure...

On both tests the bevel gets really mirror like finished....

So, to give a statement i have to admit that iam well suprised from that stone however it is called (Diorite or whatever)....its a very easy to use stone i would guess its impossible to really do anything wrong if youre a bit experienced, comparable to the use of thuringian stones. Another competitor in this size to put in a longer travel bag ;-)

So Blake are these findings comparable to the ones you did personally? What were youre results with plain water ?

.its a very easy to use stone i would guess its impossible to really do anything wrong if youre a bit experienced, comparable to the use of thuringian stones. Another competitor in this size to put in a longer travel bag ;-)

I'd agree with this. The stone is actually very nice to use, Very little burnishing on water, And reasonably tactile. It's also very hard and probably less prone to a breakage in your travel gear. It's also fine just with water and very wear resistant, meaning it's reasonably maintenance free on the move.

The HHT is an odd one, It's razor dependent as to how well it passes. The Bismarck 7/8 extra hollow I did on it was passing the HHT at about a 2 without stropping. After stropping it went up to a very solid 4.

The 6/8 Joseph Rodgers 1/4 grind was a much harder razor to get to pass directly from the stone. It took a lot more work, and would only pass at HHT 1 before stropping. It could be the angle of the edge that affects this razor. It needed a little crox and 150 on leather to go up to a HHT 3. This razor always feels a lot more heavy on the shave even on the thuri.

I've not managed to produce a wire edge with mine yet. I'm still working on testing this fully but I think it's working closer to an arkie than anything else I've used. I have an arkie to test it against and it too doesn't produce a wire edge at all.

Compared to the light green thuri it's no contest, The thuri is light years ahead in terms of smoothness. But with the thuri slurry on these I think it makes a surprising compromise between sharp and crispy and smooth. All of the shaves I've been having using the second system you mentioned have been very pleasant.

There is more of this stone to be cut. I have 1 more ready to be finished, and then the second block to cut and work.

Dennis you might be getting a free stone if this last bout cleans up well.

I'm glad you think the stone is alright Sebastian

Iam suprised and its more then being "alright" its a very good stone [emoji106][emoji106] this shows how good the community is working and how all the Rockhounting guys (Shaun, Dennis, Blake and all the others) are good in finind nice "New Age" stones!!


i will do further tests...and official here "Thank you Blake for providing me the stone for testing and for the Flickr Page" !!!

I'm sat telling my missus about your response to the stone.

And I quote "That was the wrong stone wasn't it?".

It's just put a smile on my face to think that yes it was a total mistake even picking up those rocks!

Awesome man, I can't wait! Glad y'all are getting great results.

It makes me wonder. There are three of us that are pretty actively looking, and all three of us have been finding some really nice hones. Each of us are in a different country, how many really nice hones are out there. Are we lotto winners or are there that many more wanting to be lapped.

It makes me wonder. There are three of us that are pretty actively looking, and all three of us have been finding some really nice hones. Each of us are in a different country, how many really nice hones are out there. Are we lotto winners or are there that many more wanting to be lapped

I think the process of making a hone in general is faster than it was 20 years ago, nevermind 1-200 years ago.

We have diamonds, electric saws, And the ability to get all the equipment at home. Historically a hard to cut stone would be avoided. If it couldn't be guillotined or sand cut, Or required special attention when working then it would have been avoided.

Certainly all of the rock I played with bar the real CF has been hard as hell. It would be a slow slow process to work these stones without diamonds, perhaps even impossible.

There is also another factor at work, Hones were only made to be finishers for a small percentage of use. Most people wanted something with bite that was fast at the other end of the spectrum. And I think we have all failed to find a consistent natural bevel setter. So when SIC and ALU oxide stone became available then the hone market shifted very quickly to these new low grit miracle stones. And only the very best, or widley used finishing stones found a solid market.

I certainly think that we have the correct methodology, But the stone we pick is not commercial grade. We have to select our cuts and work round the problems to make a few stones that are unique, with unique properties. In some ways we have gone against the norm. And found solutions to problems that never existed if we were a little less thrifty. In other ways we have found something that is new, That gives us more hoops to jump through to get to a final goal.

For me I like to be a caveman for a few hours. There is nothing more natural that sitting with a rock in your hand grinding it down like a man possessed! It's not the final product it's the process that is fun.