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

[DZEC]

Very nice collection of stones,

[BobH]

Added to the fact you say it is an excellent hone I'd add it is the nicest looking natural hone I have seen.

Bob

[rideon66]

Very nice collection. Your stones performance sounds similar to mine.

[randydance062449]

Thanks a bunch for the pics and identification of each hone.

[Gasman]

Very nice looking stones. Congats on a fine looking collection.

[rideon66]

Also is your mystery stone hard and similar to a Charnley Forest stone? I have a stone that looks similar to your mystery stone and my current guess based on feel and characteristics is that it is a strange CF.

[brightred]

Also is your mystery stone hard and similar to a Charnley Forest stone? I have a stone that looks similar to your mystery stone and my current guess based on feel and characteristics is that it is a strange CF.

i am pretty sure it is not a CF. it is coarse, has lots of glittery particles in it and a very distinct layer structure. the working surface is perpendicular to the layers. i'll take a photo tomorrow and post it.

regards,
hans

[rideon66]

Ok yeah that sounds vastly different than the mystery stone I have. The Fiddich are a wonderful stone though enjoy it. Not 100% how to tell them apart from the Glanrafon yet, but I believe the Glanrafon have spots.

[brightred]

ok, here are three pictures of the mistery stone. it feels and behaves like a dalmore blue. not very fine, absorbs water easily, has many glittery paricles in it, and some cracks parallel to the layers.

second picture from left to right: mistery stone, dalmore blue with swirly pattern, labelled mikado oilstone, all wet. one side of the mistery stone resembles the side of the mikado oilstone (that might be some kind of dalmore blue as well), but the layers look different from those of a dalmore blue with the swirly pattern (many dalmore blues don't have that swirly pattern... confusing).

third picture is a close-up of the mistery stone and the glanrafon/fiddich/llyn idwal.


regards,
hans