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Been looking for a fine natural hone in the wild for a while now and i think i found one! (got to love the 127 garage sale). Don't have any idea what it is though. Here's what i know, it's 9 inches by 2 1/2 and seems very smooth and heavy. haven't lapped it yet (and it needs it) it's a bluish green with some black swirls. I'm dying to know what you all think.
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We would be much better able to give an opinion when the stone is lapped and wet. The form factor is good for a European hone.
Good luck!
~Richard
I lean more toward a natural slate stone. Very common once upon a time. Some of them can be very smooth, and reach into the realm of "finish" hone, but most of them will be mid level. They do provide excellent feedback
Here's some pics with slurry while i was lapping and some after 1k wet dry. doesn't seem as polished as the unlapped side. Need i go finer?
Attachment 242599Attachment 242600Attachment 242601
Sure is pretty. Don't know what it is though. But test it. Best case scenario. You found a finisher for your razors. Worst case scenario. You found a finisher for your knives.
I would love something like this one.
Looks like a Llyn Idwal hone.
Sebastian has a nice example that looks similar on his flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/razorlovestones/13786024045
https://www.flickr.com/photos/razorl...n/photostream/
It's a chunk of the neighbor's patio; that black spot was made by a skateboard. :beer2:
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I think it's a Welsh stone, and I've once heard it's name, can't remember it and apparently the gentleman who told me doesn't remember either.
This stone's appearance is strange and most of the time people think it's something else. It might have dark lines in it, thin dark spots just like TOS and enough of them to mistake it with one and plenty of other variations of lines or dots. You might even see flaking like novaculite hones in it. It's still extracted by one (old I think) man who doesn't sell online but on his local market, so it doesn't have to be an old stone.
I used to have two pieces, both finishers, hard ones but not overly so like the classic Llyn Idwal (from the picture with thick slurry, I'd assume yours isn't glass hard either) without inclusions. Used with oil or something like that, the edge is very good, both very sharp without being harsh.
It's one of the most regularly appearing "unknown hone" and one that never came with labels or a huge background to become famous like plenty of UK hones, but it's a good type of stone.
Pics of the side and ends, might help.
Here's some side pictures of my neighbors patio. Is there some thing else i should do to further refine the surface?
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If it came from an American seller, my guess is that it's a green piece of Vermont slate. Enjoy.
If it is flat after lapping, then you smoothed with a 1K, that may be as fine as the stone gets. You might have a mid-level grit performer to use on occasion. I have a nice piece of green slate that performs somewhere between a 4k & 8K.Quote:
Originally Posted by tintin
Either way, its a nice stone that can be used in the progression.
Mid range slate, could have came from Home Depot or such, I myself have been trying different slates from different sources, so far most are worthless and should go back to the garden to be used as a border.
my vote is on Llyn Idwal as well!Quote:
Originally Posted by Iceni
that sounds a lot better than a piece of the neighbors patio!:) is a Llyn Idwal a mid range hone or a finisher?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bram
Llyn idwal is not a type of slate. It's more like Novaculite. I can tell you that's not a llyn idwal based on the slurry.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
Actually yeah it really looks comparable to some of the Idwall Stones ive seen....on the other hand the slurry looks quite typical for a Slate type stone. Idwall is a type of flaked Novaculite, and in most cases ive seen they slurry more whittish....Quote:
Originally Posted by Iceni
Working on an Idwall stone feels more grainy then when a slate is used. In most cases the honing feeling on a slate is very smooth...a Vermont Slate could also be a possibility....
@Blake: Thanks for using the pics as a reference...
here you can seee the typical flaking:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8722/1...72ebce_c_d.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7586/1...d3d958_c_d.jpg
some Slurry shots where you can see that on my three examples the slurry is white/grey:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8582/1...6df68f_c_d.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7468/1...a4b390_c_d.jpg
