Thread: Italian Hones?

Hi everybody,

I'm gonna travel to Italy for work and I was wondering if there would be good local hones suitable for maintaining razors.
I haven't found anything on the forum, but there has to be something - after all, the Italian shave culture requires sharp blades!

There was some kind of "Italian Frankonian" on ebay once. Looked interesting, but the price was beyond my means at the time. Attached are some of the seller's photos. On the lower end, there is also the Lombard stone sold by Opinel. It's marketed as 4k, and fomatted as a scythe stone; but the face will work well with razors, and it can be more agressive with a fresh lapping from the start; then it smooths over quickly.









Here's a link to the Lombard stone: https://www.knivesandtools.fr/fr/pt/...elle-24-cm.htm.

opinel is a company in Italy that mines a natural hone there. One of my friends has one that works fine on pocket knives, but is a bit coarse for razor sharpening. They may have finer stones, I really don't know anything more about them. Maestro Livi could probably answer your question.

In Italy, bushdoctor, a member here and really cool guy does have a fine stone suitable for razors, but the stone itself probably isn't from Italy.
The Opinel stone should have more than one types, because the one I have, really small, is in the 700-1000 grit estimated grit and I'm using it for some quick repair on mainly cheap knifes before immediate use.
The Pietra serena is also a good stone, from Tuscany. It's fine, finer than 1-2k maybe 4-5k without slurry and legend has it there is a razor finishing quality, but I couldn't find anyone who has seen it. It's also used for decoration because it's a beautiful and hard/tough sandstone.
One of the most famous stones from Italy though with some 200 years of history, ligatofratelli.com - English there are two types, a quite coarse, and one in the 1k range. Should you be able to get one or even better a combo from some hardware shop there, it's worth it if you sharpen your own knives.

Thanks everybody.

I think I have too many stones for knives already. At least, that's what my wife thinks

I found a pic of the Opinel stone. It looks coarse on that photo, and that matches what Vasilis says. Same impression for the scythe stone.

I saw that Ligato Fratelli has some hard arkansas - maybe they have some super-hard ones. Worth asking.

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

There was some kind of "Italian Frankonian" on ebay once. Looked interesting, but the price was beyond my means at the time. Attached are some of the seller's photos. On the lower end, there is also the Lombard stone sold by Opinel. It's marketed as 4k, and fomatted as a scythe stone; but the face will work well with razors, and it can be more agressive with a fresh lapping from the start; then it smooths over quickly.









Here's a link to the Lombard stone: https://www.knivesandtools.fr/fr/pt/...elle-24-cm.htm.

this stone looks very like mine.....i can see it with the mud on your stone it's EXACTLY the same with mine.

I saw a thread some years ago about such a stone, but as far as I remember we did not reach a conclusion on where it came from, they are really really rare, and there is also the chance it was imported from Germany, although the box does say it's from Italy.

it is posible that the mention of: Germany is better than: Italy....everybody of the Straight razor world know that i't s more rewarding.
to my point of wiew.

Originally Posted by paloma

it is posible that the mention of: Germany is better that Italy....everybody of the Straight razor world know that i't s more rewarding.
to my point of wiew.

Actually, I think Japan (maruka and other high grade) is tied with France (La Lune stone) for the first place. Then it's Germany and Belgium. For me at least, by no means I'm trying to say that any of the above stones are superior or inferior compared to some other.
As for this specific stone, if it does come from Italy and we can find the location of extraction, it would be awesome.
For the then buyers now, I don't think Thuringians were seen as they are today; some 15 years ago you could get one 20x5cm with less than the equivalent of today's 20 euros.

Originally Posted by malaverdiere

Thanks everybody.

I think I have too many stones for knives already. At least, that's what my wife thinks

I found a pic of the Opinel stone. It looks coarse on that photo, and that matches what Vasilis says. Same impression for the scythe stone.

Check out the link I gave in my first post. I've used it and a smaller one on a paddle, and it's not that coarse. The surface smooths over quickly; slightly finer than a Saurat Pyrenees "lisse" stone by way of comparison. Not a finisher, but between bevel-setting and finishing. The Opinel-marked stone is sold throughout Europe, however, so it may not be as Italy-specific as you would want.

Originally Posted by paloma

this stone looks very like mine.....i can see it with the mud on your stone it's EXACTLY the same with mine.

Maybe it is your stone. How does your box look? The stone as shown isn't mine. Price went far to high on the 'Bay, back in the day. Edit: Oh yeah, I get it. You're talking about your purple rock mountain. Might not be too far from this one was sourced, if indeed in Italy.