Thread: Unusual Vintage Sharpening Stone ID

Beautiful stone. I'd love to see one in person.

Try using the stone with a very fine slurry once you have a good edge, then try using the stone with just water and/or oil, Smith’s or Ballistol to refine an edge, also try varying your pressure.

Originally Posted by Desrtrat

I picked this Fiddich River up some months ago. Said to have been purchased many years ago from a barber during a trip to England. It was mounted in wood and had a broken corner. Very friendly edges but not the keenest, it's been a joy to use and shave off of.

So I can not fully tell from a pic as it has more to do with hardness and feel of the stone. Though from your assessment of the edge and looks I would guess this maybe the harder Glanrafon from Wales which I believe were sold as Charley Forest stones. I have two of them. I also have two of the Fiddich River Stone from Scotland which are much softer like a hard coticule or thuringian or even a jnat. The edges are a finer off these, but both are very friendly shaves.

I also have one of the black and red stones from the link thread Neil speaks of being the upper layer Fiddich. Much softer stone edges lot like a coticule .

Originally Posted by rideon66

So I can not fully tell from a pic as it has more to do with hardness and feel of the stone. Though from your assessment of the edge and looks I would guess this maybe the harder Glanrafon from Wales which I believe were sold as Charley Forest stones. I have two of them. I also have two of the Fiddich River Stone from Scotland which are much softer like a hard coticule or thuringian or even a jnat. The edges are a finer off these, but both are very friendly shaves.

I also have one of the black and red stones from the link thread Neil speaks of being the upper layer Fiddich. Much softer stone edges lot like a coticule .

I have been wondering about the identification also.
It's harder than my coticules and softer than my Thuringian or JNATS. The feed back is not buttery smooth, it very much reminds me of finishing concrete with a steel trowel. My intuition says it should be a coarser stone than it actually is.

Hard to say looks Charnley like, I am not familiar with the Fiddich River stones.

As for performance, the unknown grit in the stone and how it is manipulated with technique determine performance.

There are a couple post on B&B with some good photos, but doubt they will help much as the stones look similar and none all that similar to yours.

Without a stone being marked, it is impossible to say. To me all that matters is performance.

Originally Posted by Desrtrat

I have been wondering about the identification also.
It's harder than my coticules and softer than my Thuringian or JNATS. The feed back is not buttery smooth, it very much reminds me of finishing concrete with a steel trowel. My intuition says it should be a coarser stone than it actually is.

Yes your description sounds more like the Glanrafon from Wales even though it is labeled Charley Forest Not Charnley forest it is a different type of stone than the normal Charnley Forest stone. I believe it is a slate but feels different. I would say mine remind me of my synthetic Shapton 1.5K in density and feel, but much much finer and gives a nice shave. If done right though the edge does remind me of a nice Charnley forest edge, but like a Charnley Forest it takes a lot of laps.

I have a Coti that looks somewhat similar.




Very hard, and dense. Took quite awhile to lap it flat, with 80 grt. Honed up a razor on it last night, the shave was very close to what I get from my B/G barbers gem.

Outback that coti is a stunner. Simply gorgeous. The manganese is like art work. Glad it is really hard you don't want to lap much more on her.

Originally Posted by rideon66

Yes your description sounds more like the Glanrafon from Wales even though it is labeled Charley Forest Not Charnley forest it is a different type of stone than the normal Charnley Forest stone. I believe it is a slate but feels different. I would say mine remind me of my synthetic Shapton 1.5K in density and feel, but much much finer and gives a nice shave. If done right though the edge does remind me of a nice Charnley forest edge, but like a Charnley Forest it takes a lot of laps.

They for sure are not fast. You had it figured from the start too, impressive.
Thank you for your help!