Thread: Apache Black Gila

Oh, ok, so we are both on the same page…

“It's all moot anyway, they have barely sold any near as I can tell and don't seem to be adding more.”

Yea…I can see why…

In all seriousness, if he has a known quantity stone or two he can just quarry and sell like his other products, does it really make long-term business sense to be depending on something you may or may not find for revenue?

Originally Posted by Euclid440

So, it is an interesting thread of over a hundred post between the two of you, trying to lap these stones, but given all the work and problems with these stones, where is the benefit?

Just, buy a good high grit Synthetic or one of the proven Natural finishers that have been cranking out great razor edges for hundreds of years and at a fraction the cost? Or a piece of 48 cent lapping film.

Why would anyone spend the kind of money they are asking for this stone?

My lack of experience in lapping stones was why mine took so long. If I had gone straight to the 220SiC, then used my DMT, then the other stones after...it would have been a more reasonable process. I now have my stone exactly where I think it should be. I honed up two razors tonight, and the results are as expected.

A friend of mine sent me a Kropp razor (no clue if that's the brand or what, the razor was made in Sheffield England). It's beautiful...and very, very thin. It was honed professionally on jnats, and is very, very sharp. He told me that it provides a very, very smooth shave (see a trend here? It's a very, very nice razor lol). Realize, outside of that razor and one other he's sent me...one that was honed off of a coticule, and one that was off of the 20k Naniwa(?), I've never shaved with anything that wasn't honed on either an Apache Strata, or an Apache Gila. The Gila is noticeably smoother than the Strata, and the Strata is noticeably smoother than my friends freshly honed Jnat razor. If I can tell that, with my relative lack of shaving experience...that's probably saying something.

The fact that a few other well respected guys are getting excellent results corroborates my experiences as well.

So, even outside of the cool factor of them being a really pretty natural stone from my state...I'd probably still buy one. My face is not razor friendly at all, and I genuinely I like the edge it leaves.

Originally Posted by kcb5150

In all seriousness, if he has a known quantity stone or two he can just quarry and sell like his other products, does it really make long-term business sense to be depending on something you may or may not find for revenue?

When I talked to Terry I asked him about that. He said that the information he got back from the people he sent them out to test was very heartening, and he thought it would be cool to have them available. The Strata and Red's do well enough, but the amount of work he has/had to put into them is probably what's dictating the price on the Gila, as it says on the site I believe. That said, I don't think he's out looking for more, so these might end up being even more limited than he initially intended lol.

I don't think this is Terry's main income, though I don't know that for sure, we didn't talk about it.

Well, I figure Arks are hard enough.

Oh, I didn't mean that as a selling point at all... It just makes for another hone unforgiving of trip ups. It's horrible to lap. Probably the second most miserable lapping experience after some bizarre, almost weightless barber hone I had that abrasives could barely bite into. I did do a tester blade on it tonight, just a no name Sheffield regrind. No big stray scratches or gouges or chipping/catching the surface so at least my work on the rock has made that end usable. Good, strong hht and arm hair treetop. Stone just needs to be worked back in like it was when I first got it. I have a Robeson and a few other things I can feed it later.

Just got a moment to take a video that shows my Gila. I put some other stuff in there too as the video wasn't made just for this site, but the first 5:30 is all Gila.

Originally Posted by kcb5150

I don't know what to tell you... I keep buying coticules and I need more of them like an overweight kid needs that packet of pop tarts from the school vending machine... I was just using about 3/4 of mine till I decided I was going to get some sic and romp through the two areas I had been avoiding. I didn't think it was going to take maybe 1/3lb of 220 grit to do it. Like I said myself if you go back in this, I traded for mine otherwise I'd never have bought one, mostly because I have a lot of said classic german/french/american options. If you have cash to burn, don't want to use a finishing stone that likes to be slurried, like arks, but hate the slowness, it's something to look at I suppose. It's all moot anyway, they have barely sold any near as I can tell and don't seem to be adding more.

Well, as long as you're buying coticules, how would you like a deep rock that isn't that fine, it's almost unused, but ...it looks really good

haha!

I just bought one last night, actually. Not a deep rock, just an old coti. You shouldn't have a hard time moving that, they have a great form factor. Is it not that fine and slow on top of it? That would be a drag.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Well, I figure Arks are hard enough.

If you find them too soft, Owyhee Jasper can usually take you a step up.