Thread: Advice on where to buy stones.

Originally Posted by BWH1980

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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Miles apart even for the ones just found in Wales. There would be a small community of miners operating a single rock type. Originally these communities would just be concerned with the local need for slate/stone, successful operations with good trade routes could meet demands in local towns/cities or even for export. Exceptional rock regardless of how remote would be in demand as well.

A lot come from the Snowdonia area, but then you have rocks from Yorkshire, Leicester, Scotland and Devon/Cornwall as well. The hones were produced in quarries that were mining for tiles, roofing slates, building blocks and aggregates. The hones are often just extra income, In a similar way to how Inigo Jones currently operates.

Inigo Jones Welsh Slate Gifts and Products Slate printed wall plaques for sale by Inigo Jones

Saw marks are an industrialisation thing. There is a point when hones move from cottage industry to mass cut items. Each quarry would have a different way to cut the rock. With machinery and saws been hand made. This is why saw marks can be telling as there were no off the shelf blades.

WW1 would have put huge demands on hone producers and forced modernisation. Before WW1 full beards, moustaches, and sideburns were common both on and off the battlefield. WW1's trench warfare put shaving at a priority to ensure your gas mask fitted correctly. You would issue rocks and razors like water, They would get cracked/broken/lost in the field and the conveyor belt of troops, deaths, and equipment issue meant that hones needed to be cut fast, well packaged, Available in bulk, and work well enough for a close shave.

The UK's army would have mostly been using straights as these were still in issue at the battle of the Somme 1916. In contrast the USA forces were issued with saftey razors by Gillete.

Military kit through the ages: from the Battle of Hastings to Helmand - Telegraph

Originally Posted by BWH1980

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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When it comes to Arkansas stones, color varies by quite a bit. Not all soft stones are white, they can also be yellow, green, pink, grey/blue, black etc. So there's nothing saying that either the stone or their slurry should be a similar color.

As far as time to lap, there are variables. Smaller stone has less surface area to displace force, so it's easy to exert greater pressure per square inch on it. If the small one happened to be closer to dead flat than the larger of course it would take less time. And 3-4 hours with sandpaper on a rock pretty much screams Arkansas stone to me, I've yet to find a natural hone that matches them in hardness.

Originally Posted by Iceni

Miles apart even for the ones just found in Wales. There would be a small community of miners operating a single rock type. Originally these communities would just be concerned with the local need for slate/stone, successful operations with good trade routes could meet demands in local towns/cities or even for export. Exceptional rock regardless of how remote would be in demand as well.

A lot come from the Snowdonia area, but then you have rocks from Yorkshire, Leicester, Scotland and Devon/Cornwall as well. The hones were produced in quarries that were mining for tiles, roofing slates, building blocks and aggregates. The hones are often just extra income, In a similar way to how Inigo Jones currently operates.

Inigo Jones Welsh Slate Gifts and Products Slate printed wall plaques for sale by Inigo Jones

Saw marks are an industrialisation thing. There is a point when hones move from cottage industry to mass cut items. Each quarry would have a different way to cut the rock. With machinery and saws been hand made. This is why saw marks can be telling as there were no off the shelf blades.

WW1 would have put huge demands on hone producers and forced modernisation. Before WW1 full beards, moustaches, and sideburns were common both on and off the battlefield. WW1's trench warfare put shaving at a priority to ensure your gas mask fitted correctly. You would issue rocks and razors like water, They would get cracked/broken/lost in the field and the conveyor belt of troops, deaths, and equipment issue meant that hones needed to be cut fast, well packaged, Available in bulk, and work well enough for a close shave.

The UK's army would have mostly been using straights as these were still in issue at the battle of the Somme 1916. In contrast the USA forces were issued with saftey razors by Gillete.

Military kit through the ages: from the Battle of Hastings to Helmand - Telegraph

Thank you. I love to learn! It is very appreciated.


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Originally Posted by Marshal

When it comes to Arkansas stones, color varies by quite a bit. Not all soft stones are white, they can also be yellow, green, pink, grey/blue, black etc. So there's nothing saying that either the stone or their slurry should be a similar color.

As far as time to lap, there are variables. Smaller stone has less surface area to displace force, so it's easy to exert greater pressure per square inch on it. If the small one happened to be closer to dead flat than the larger of course it would take less time. And 3-4 hours with sandpaper on a rock pretty much screams Arkansas stone to me, I've yet to find a natural hone that matches them in hardness.

I was originally thinking they were both lily whites, that is what I was referring to by not the same stones.

I knew about the deference in size and automatically assumed it would take a lot less time plus the fact it seemed to have been very lightly used. I did not factor in my direct input on the stone. I can see where that would play a major role now. Thank you.

So a lapping stone should be used then. Lol
That was a lot of work.




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Lapping stone on an Arkansas? Nah. That's what killed my DMT. The best bet for anything Arkansas is loose SiC and a dollar store steel cookie sheet or some sort of glass plate or tile from the hardware store.

Sure a lapping plate will work fast, but you'll also wear out a 30 to 50 dollar plate fast. I'd rather kill a cheap cookie sheet or piece of tile.

Definitely not Lily White, those are as the name describes. White. But I haven't met a soft Arkansas stone I didn't like yet.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Lapping stone on an Arkansas? Nah. That's what killed my DMT. The best bet for anything Arkansas is loose SiC and a dollar store steel cookie sheet or some sort of glass plate or tile from the hardware store.

Sure a lapping plate will work fast, but you'll also wear out a 30 to 50 dollar plate fast. I'd rather kill a cheap cookie sheet or piece of tile.

Definitely not Lily White, those are as the name describes. White. But I haven't met a soft Arkansas stone I didn't like yet.

Thank you Marshal. So in what range would you rate the stone? I'm wondering where it fits in the progression.


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If it's a Soft Arkansas I'd say lower - mid range most likely. I use my soft Arkie for setting bevels, minor micro-chip removal, or cleaning up 1K stria. Could also be a Hard Arkansas , which I would say is upper-mid range/pre-finisher. You'd have to play with it and see where it lies.

Ok thank you I'll do the same.


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