Thread: Are natural finishers available from the whole planet?

The only natural finishing stones commonly discussed are the japanese, chinese, british, german, belgian and so on.

But is there suitable rocks to mine from all over the world (for finishers) or are there only a few select locations that has the right type of rock/mountains?

Or can you find suitable rock all over the planet but no one has mined/discovered it yet?

I recently found out about a finnish stone called vaastilaa or similar, but it was a slow grinding type and only about 3-4k or so iirc.

Scandianvia is quite rocky and I wonder if there is anything with potential from there.
Also southern europeans except belgians and germans (ok not really that south but still)?

What about african or australian stones? Or south american?

There are also Black and Translucent Arkansas as well as the Apache Strata from America. The Zulu Grey is from South Africa. There are a few French and British stones too.

It would certainly seem like there could be finishers from all over, but the difficulty would be finding them.

I think my Friodurs would prefer an Antarctic hone. Could somebody get on that for me please?

Originally Posted by jigane

I recently found out about a finnish stone called vaastilaa or similar, but it was a slow grinding type and only about 3-4k or so iirc.

It's Wästilä, and the manufacturer sells two types of stones. I bought a combination stone, which I have played with only a bit. One of the stones seems to be only available in the combination. The main stone (the one available on its own) is rather course, and I haven't had any luck yet with it on razors; it seems rather scratchy on the steel.

The other side is much finer; I have tried finishing a razor on it (after a coticule), and the shave was fine, although it could be smoother. So far, this was a one-off try-out, so I found it encouraging but really cannot say too much about it or draw any conclusions.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I think my Friodurs would prefer an Antarctic hone. Could somebody get on that for me please?

Couple more years of defrosting and you may get your wish :<0}

And let's nit forget the SHG or the Shaun stone. Tc

It depends on the local rocks.

Naturals that are common worldwide have a few factors in common. They were better than anything in your local area, Faster, smoother ect. Someone was digging them up and selling them on a commercial scale, And the price of a bought hone was cheaper then the time invested in looking for material and cutting it yourself.

Provided you have time to go looking, and then time again to make a rock into a hone shaped object then you are at least on the right track. Not all rock is equal, and if there was anything of commercial value about in large quantities someone at some point will have tried to sell it, So look for old document in your area and see if there are any mines locally that were used for hones or that made a side business out of hones. Provided you live in an area that was populated more than 100 years ago someone will have gone looking and if there is anything to be found they would have found it.

The UK is fortunate in it's geology that in a small area we have lots of different era's and grades of rocks. This gives a great scope to go looking for new stuff, If where you live is more uniform then you may have to travel some distance to fine suitable base materials.

Scandinavia produces a lot of Schists. And those are common stones to be found as sharpening stones for swords and axes across the Viking world. They transported the stone across huge distances to Iceland, Britain, France. And while local stones were available the demand for that stone is seen through the Viking era almost like a secondary currency.

I like the Zulu quite a bit.

Probably decades ago no one had any idea that a decent hone would be found in South Africa. Can't help but wonder what will be found in another 10-20 years....

Originally Posted by Iceni

It depends on the local rocks.

Naturals that are common worldwide have a few factors in common. They were better than anything in your local area, Faster, smoother ect. Someone was digging them up and selling them on a commercial scale, And the price of a bought hone was cheaper then the time invested in looking for material and cutting it yourself.

Provided you have time to go looking, and then time again to make a rock into a hone shaped object then you are at least on the right track. Not all rock is equal, and if there was anything of commercial value about in large quantities someone at some point will have tried to sell it, So look for old document in your area and see if there are any mines locally that were used for hones or that made a side business out of hones. Provided you live in an area that was populated more than 100 years ago someone will have gone looking and if there is anything to be found they would have found it.

The UK is fortunate in it's geology that in a small area we have lots of different era's and grades of rocks. This gives a great scope to go looking for new stuff, If where you live is more uniform then you may have to travel some distance to fine suitable base materials.

Scandinavia produces a lot of Schists. And those are common stones to be found as sharpening stones for swords and axes across the Viking world. They transported the stone across huge distances to Iceland, Britain, France. And while local stones were available the demand for that stone is seen through the Viking era almost like a secondary currency.

I'm currently in norway and I have noticed there is not a flat piece of land here longer than 100m, its all mountain. You're either going up or down. So there has to be some usable rock here I think. But I never heard of any stones coming from here.

I'm guessing some types of rock is more suited than others as finishers too. Like the coticules with its garnets for example. I actually travel to several quarries where they mine and crush rocks here (they usually make gravel out of it).

Originally Posted by Phoenix51

I like the Zulu quite a bit.

Probably decades ago no one had any idea that a decent hone would be found in South Africa. Can't help but wonder what will be found in another 10-20 years....

yeah, me too..