glanrafon or whatever it is: a finisher!

[brightred]

i bought this hone from a ebay seller who advertised it as "llyn idwal". it did not look like the typical llyn idwal to me, more like a hone that has been id'd as glanrafon (a welsh, abandoned quarry) or fiddich river stone (scotland). it was sold by the still active company wm. marples & sons of sheffield (shamrock brand).

i carefully pried the stone out of the box and lapped it flat on one side. hardness seems similar to a medium hard japanese hone. when i did a few laps on it with a test razor with water only i felt some light cutting action. lacking a matching rubbing stone i raised a slurry with a worn atoma 1200 plate. the slurry is a very light green. it turnded dark gray very quickly. it feels fine and quite creamy under the blade, not coarse or scratchy. i diluted the slurry down to water only. under 10 x magnification the bevel looks hazy with very light and shallow scratches (again, like after honing on a japanese stone). the blade passed a HHT 3 or so without stropping. after 12 strokes on linen and 60 strokes on leather the razor passed HHT 5 easily.

i shaved with this razor this morning. the shave was close and very smooth. i have sensitive skin, but there was no burning sensation after the alum stone or the after shave. perfect!

this new stone is quite similar to a really good japanese stone (which i usually use), as good as any coticule (or escher) i used, better than tam o'shanter or water of ayr. i don't have a lot of experience with british oilstones like llyn idwal, yellow lake or charnley forest, but i'd say this new one is better. this comes as a big surprise because the last thing i expected was a hone that is among the best i have used so far!

some of my british hones in the last picture, upper row from left to right: labelled mikado, personally sourced "real" yellow lake, moughton, glanrafon/llyn idwal or whatever, mistery stone, charnley forest, labelled water of ayr, dalmore blue. in the middle: fine tam o'shanter, purple welsh slate (also sold as yellow lake, where it does not come from), llyn idwal.

regards,
hans