Working With The African Silkvein

Hey guys,
Just some words on my session tonight with the African Silkvein. I've had the stone for about a year now. I've only finished five razors on this stone, each time coming off a Norton 8K. I used water only, 50 laps to achieve great shaves off it. I've never slurried it, so there is no feedback from me on that.

Tonight I choose 2 vintage razors to finish on it;

The first was a Wade & Butcher, "The Celebrated", a Max Sprecher restoration.
The second was a Jon. Engstrom Kan-Tan-Ka-Rus "Red Devil"

Preshave: Utterly Smooth
Cream: Taylor Of Old Bond Street Eton College
Shavex alum bar
Thayers Lavender Witch Hazel

Very close, smooth, with no irritation.

Norton 8K, African Silkvein 50 laps water only, stropped with a Neil Miller shell Cordovan & genuine natural linen 40/60

I had been asked to compare the African Silkvein to the Zulu Grey. The only real obvious difference is the speed; the Silkvein is a faster cutting stone. I believe the Zulu to be harder & slower. I have honed more razors on the Zulu & gotten better shaves on a couple of the razors honed on the Zulu. I truly cannot put the Silkvein in front of the Zulu as far as performance; then again,,, my experience on the Silkvein is limited to only a few razors at this time.

The African Silkvein is a nice finisher, with minimal effort.

Thanks for your time,
Hirlau


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Thanks for the review Hirlau. This had caught my interest on the new site MichaelC is putting together. Is this available anywhere else or did you get lucky and happen to sang a prototype?

I'm not sure of the original origin of this stone,,,, I got it from Scott "Shooter" last year. When he comes on, we will have to ask him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

[SIZE=3]...snip...
I had been asked to compare the African Silkvein to the Zulu Grey. The only real obvious difference is the speed; the Silkvein is a faster cutting stone. I believe the Zulu to be harder & slower. I have honed more razors on the Zulu & gotten better shaves on a couple of the razors honed on the Zulu. I truly cannot put the Silkvein in front of the Zulu as far as performance; then again,,, my experience on the Silkvein is limited to only a few razors at this time.
The African Silkvein is a nice finisher, with minimal effort.
Thanks for your time,
Hirlau [/FONT]

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Thanks for the review. It certainly is a lovely hone and that it works is great. Now...how to afford one..
Cheers
~Richard

I have no idea on the market price, I have not seen any listed from a retailer,,, I got this in a private deal with a member,,,

as far as I understood digging through this forum these silkvein hones come from south afrika, same as the Zulu gray, found by the same person as well. But these silkstones were never commercialized on a large scale simply because this vein wasn't big enough. I don't know how many hones were cut from this vein but I guess the majority was sold to whoever was interrested during the couple of months after MichaelC found his vein

forgot to mention that I think it is a very beautifull piece of nature and would love to get my hands on one some day ;)

Very nice
It is definitely the best looking hone I have ever seen
I thought it was a raw cut face in the first pics until I realised in the 2nd it was the silk vein that give it the luscious looking surface
This is the 1st hone that I've seen that gets the HAD stirring in my soul
Lucky dog

Hey Folks,

Just some info about the Silkvein hones - I had originally had like only 25-30 stones cut from a limited section that I had uncovered (after testing and having samples sent out to JimmyHAD and Hibudgl). So at that time I didn't anticipate being able to make the stone widely available given the very limited quantity I had. I've since - years later - uncovered more of the stone and have actually identified 2 'veins' or variants rather of the Silkvein; the original grey coloured as you see in this thread but also a distinctly purple coloured version. They both have the white silky vein structure and appear to perform very much the same, but the colouration is quite different - solid grey and maroon/purple. The purple variant I now have far more of, and it is a noticably softer stone as well. It slurries very easily.

So the reason you don't see these stones on the site as yet, is simply due to not having had a chance to properly photograph them for each size. And also I need to split the listings somehow to offer either Grey or Purple as options.

Price wise the Silkveins will be the same as the pre-defined hone sizes of the Zulu Greys (given their relative rarity, this is how I've structured it). Both hones being natural stones the grit rating of the ZG and SV is quite vague/indefinite - but the consensus is that the Silkvein is a much softer/faster cutter that operates well on or just over the 8k synthetic level. So it can be defined as a 'finishing stone' much like the Zulu Grey - though I would say it's probably a little bit under the Zulu Grey (but it is faster..)

I've got thoughts also to pre-make glued Zulu Grey and Silkvein natural combo stones - as I feel going from a synthetic 8-12k followed by a natural African combo finisher of Silkvein + Zulu Grey - could be a very nice way to go. The Zulu Grey would also add nice support for the softer Silkvein. But I'll likely add that sort of option down the line.

For now, if anyone has further questions or would like to acquire a Silkvein - they are available, but I'll have to arrange things for you outside of the website - so contact me via PM or email.

MODs - if this info needs to be in the Vendors section I totally understand so please advise me and I'll move it..


Cheers guys and thanks as always for the kind words and support.
Cheers,
- Mike

Thought I'd just put up some quick images of the Purple Silkveins - you can see there is a definite colour change - Nature certainly isn't without a sense of variety :)

Cheers,
- Mike


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What a beautiful stone !

Make me think of the BBW, but with different colors.

Where is it available ?

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

The second was a Jon. Engstrom Kan-Tan-Ka-Rus "Red Devil"

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John - I don't want to appear cantankerous, but isn't it ran-tan-ka-rus...?! :)

Regards,
Neil

I think it is,,,, I was a little tired when I posted it,,,,,,,,,,,, :D


,,,,,,,,the Devil made me do it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Those Grey / Black Silkvein pictures make a good sales brochure. Beautiful Stone.