Thread: Advice on where to buy stones.

Originally Posted by Iceni

The big one is hard to identify.

It's showing some characteristics of a soft ark/washita. It's also showing motteling like a hindustan might have.

Most but not all hindustans show layer banding like wood grain this one definitely doesn't. Best bet is to do a scratch test on the side and then compare that to a scratch test on your lilly white. If it's softer by a fair margin Hindustan would be a good guess. You can also do a rather unsavory test of sucking it. A hindustan is porus enough that you can feel air moving (and often oil been sucked out). A lilly white will not give that feeling or fill your mouth with oil! Hindustans will also try to slurry if you sharpen a knife with a bit of pressure and the slurry has a feeling of very fine sand. A well used one will often show signs of dishing. You already have a lilly white so testing it shouldn't be much of a problem for you.


The slate looks very good. I'd want to shave test from it and see if the edge it gives is any good. It looks like it could be a decent enough finisher, It certainly looks very fine and doesn't have any signs of toxic inclusions or been porous.

You should lap the big one, It needs the edges chamfering a touch as well. The slate looks like it might be flat, and it's already got a nice surface. So just drop a straight edge on it and check for light bleed. If it looks reasonable test it before you think about lapping it, as the polished finish might be hard to get back.

Finally got the time for the scratch test. It appears to be the same. Similar look, and feel. Would you agree?



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Yeah I would, had it been hindustan it would have gouged a lot more. And you would have commented on how soft it felt

Originally Posted by BWH1980

The slate I believe could be a finisher. I put the Dovo I have to it and could see a marked deference in the abrasion pattern under my 30X loop. I found a tri-stone set on Etsy. It appears to be the middle stone of that set. He has it list as Purple Llyn Melynllyn with a 12k grit.


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Doesn't look quite like a Purple slate (Llyn Melynllyn) to me, but maybe it looks different in the hand than in the photo? Here's a few shots of mine for reference:







Dry, wet, and with slurry. The purple tinge should be fairly apparent as in the last photo, I don't know why the camera didn't pick it up in the first two. I've also got a Black Welsh slate that imparts a better finish, and the old Salmen's Yellow Lake (The English translation of the Welsh 'Llyn Melynllyn') was another good Welsh slate finishing stone that was often grey/black and commonly found with green splotches if I remember right. Those fellas are hard to come by, and I regret letting the last Salmen's I saw up for auction get snagged out from under me.

From BHW1980's pix, the lighter, pepper-surfaced stone looks like a Washita or soft Arkansas. The slate looks nice. Maybe a UK Cambrian silkstone? Doorsch might know...

Nah, the slate isn't a silkstone. The other stone may be a Washita.

Originally Posted by eKretz

Nah, the slate isn't a silkstone.

What would you posit in its place? I agree that the seller's pix are fairly purple, so some colo(u)r-balanced daylight shots may be in order. Grain does seem pretty tight there, apart from the rare inclusion.

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

What would you posit in its place? I agree that the seller's pix are fairly purple, so some colo(u)r-balanced daylight shots may be in order. Grain does seem pretty tight there, apart from the rare inclusion.

Without key identifiers slates are near impossible to give a location to. As a rock it appears worldwide and in just about every colour combination you can imagine. For a silkstone variant I would want to see a sleeve and have dimensions that are imperial, and common to other silkstones. Most are in the region of 8x2x1 or 8x2x1/2.

There is absolutely nothing stopping that stone been a locally found stone in the USA. Or an imported one. The only thing you can do is test it and be happy to call it a slate of unknown origin.

Originally Posted by BWH1980

Finally got the time for the scratch test. It appears to be the same. Similar look, and feel. Would you agree?



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Got them lapped last night 3-4 hrs for the big one ouch.
Now I'm questioning if they are the same,
1. Color - smaller is clearly white, while the big one is really yellow. Age?
2. Slurry - small one produces what seemed more of a green ( I'm sure the sandpaper played a role as to the color but should have been the same)
3. Time to lap - the small one lapped real quick, seemed softer.



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Silkstones usually have a slight amount of "figure" in the surface (like chatoyance with certain woods) in addition to the other identifiers (cardboard sleeve or box and most are 8" x 2" x 1" though there are smaller variants as well). Sawmarks are also often distinct.

The slate in question could be anything. Vermont slate, Dragon's Tongue, Llyn Melynllyn, Yellow Lake, etc. Could be a no-name slate too.

Originally Posted by eKretz

Silkstones usually have a slight amount of "figure" in the surface (like chatoyance with certain woods) in addition to the other identifiers (cardboard sleeve or box and most are 8" x 2" x 1" though there are smaller variants as well). Sawmarks are also often distinct.

The slate in question could be anything. Vermont slate, Dragon's Tongue, Llyn Melynllyn, Yellow Lake, etc. Could be a no-name slate too.

Thanks for your knowledge.
I was thinking saw marks as well. As I assume they probably mostly come from the same quarries.


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