Thread: UK Blue-Green Stone ID

I have quite a few mystery stones which I've posted in another thread, but there's one in particular that I would really like to know more about as it's a top quality stone, and I think very pretty.

This is a very hard and fine slate, and excellent finisher. Merely from the colour I guess it's probably Welsh but I've no idea, the green-blue appearance is more apparent when wet, when dry the stone looks more grey.





It has some weird and pretty patterns down the side too.



This picture shows it above a Glanrafon; the two stones are similar-ish but not the same, the mystery stone is probably marginally harder and finer. It's not an Idwal either.



I only know of one other person who has what I'm certain is the same stone, so they're not that common. But would be very keen to hear if anyone knew anything about it...

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I wish I knew, then I could go on the hunt for one!

Originally Posted by randydance062449

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I wish I knew, then I could go on the hunt for one!

Rather nice isn't it! Combination of good looks and being a great finisher makes it one of my very favourites .

This example of Tom's btw is the only other I've seen that I'd be pretty sure is the same thing: https://sharprazorpalace.com/hones/1...-uk-stone.html

Dude! Now you're just giving me hone envy.

Seriously though, I have no information but it looks and sounds very similar to a big chunk of nephrite I have. It (the nephrite) is definitely not a slate.


Although it is a metamorphic rock. It does have that mottled green color similar to those stones you have that...are... Not as cool as mine

Interesting pattern on the side.

I wonder how deep the water was and how long a storm blew or the tides changed to lay down that pattern.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Dude! Now you're just giving me hone envy.
Seriously though, I have no information but it looks and sounds very similar to a big chunk of nephrite I have. It (the nephrite) is definitely not a slate.

Although it is a metamorphic rock. It does have that mottled green color similar to those stones you have that...are... Not as cool as mine

Nephrite / Jadeite are actually one type of hone that I've never tried at all. Though I know a couple of experienced razor people who rate them quite highly for final finishes. You a fan?

The pattern is certainly not dissimilar. And certainly if you'd told me that was an Idwal I'd happily believe it based on the looks.

Originally Posted by 32t

Interesting pattern on the side.

I wonder how deep the water was and how long a storm blew or the tides changed to lay down that pattern.

I wondered that... I assumed it was caused by water, but tbh I don't know enough about the formation of UK slates and the initial deposits to know whether that was actually the case, or just me assuming it because the stone itself just looks kinda like the sea.

Originally Posted by cotedupy

I wondered that... I assumed it was caused by water, but tbh I don't know enough about the formation of UK slates and the initial deposits to know whether that was actually the case, or just me assuming it because the stone itself just looks kinda like the sea.

My new word for the day, Metamorphism.

Originally Posted by 32t

My new word for the day, Metamorphism.

'Lithification' is another good one, in terms of the geological formation of various sharpening stones.

So when I got back to Australia last month, I discovered something quite interesting and unexpected about this stone... I already had one.



Well now I definitely have to bloody find out what they are eh!

The smaller stone in that picture (it's actually slightly heavier because it's thicker) was another mystery stone, which I got on Australian ebay in the middle of last year. At the time I didn't use SRs, and the stone is next to useless for knives, so I hadn't really used or thought about it much. It was only after giving a proper lap and clean about a month ago that I noticed it was the same as my New Favourite Hone.

The other thing I was reunited with on my return was my USB scope, so I looked at them together next to my Glanrafon. The reason I did that is that something about them made me think that they were either a type of Glanrafon, or at the very least Welsh and probably quarried quite close by. But the scope revealed that although the two mystery stones were very definitely the same thing, they were very definitely not a GR - they were more finely grained, and more compact.

But much as I'd tried to investigate them, I kept coming up with nothing. And the only other person who had what I'm fairly sure is the same stone, was likewise in the dark. Here's his:



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Last week I did something that I'd been meaning to do for a while, and bought a Dragon's Tongue stone from Inigo Jones. And then I emailed them, on the off-chance that someone there might know something about my mysterious and beautiful Blue-green stones. I'd read (probably here) that one of the directors - Roger - was incredibly knowledgeable about this kind of thing. Now in his mid-70s, and having worked in the Welsh slate industry for more than half a century, our man clearly knows what he's about, and replied a couple of hours later to tell me this:

'The Green stones come from the Nantlle Valley where there used to be several quarries operating but now all closed, one quarry was called the Dorothea quarry and that slate might have come from there.'

Bingo!!!

The Nantlle Valley (Dyffryn Nantlle) is in the west of Snowdonia National Park, set around a lake of the same name - Llyn Nantlle. What was particularly interesting about this news is that my random humnch was correct... the Glanrafon quarry lies just to the north of the small village of Rhyd-Ddu, which is at one end of the Dyffryn Nantlle. Dorothea is at the other, with a few more quarries in between. Though the valley isn't big in the grand scheme of things - from Dorothea to Glanrafon is just five miles.

So seeing as most whetstones from Wales are named for the lakes they're near, I think we'll this one the Llyn Nantlle. Which will cover our bases even if the stone wasn't from the Dorothea quarry, but another next door.

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The Llyn Nantlle stone is a very hard, and very fine blue-green slate, appearing more grey when dry. With distinctive dark lines and patterns on the surface from the original bedding planes. From the examples I have it is very similar to the Glanrafon; equally slow, but perhaps marginally finer. And it's a very good razor finisher.

Here another picture of the Llyn Nantlles, alongside a couple of other Welsh green stones: Idwal, Glanrafon, Nantlle, Nantlle.



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So there's my little contribution to preserving the pool of knowledge regarding historic UK sharpening stones. There are hundreds of old types of UK whetstones from disused quarries, where information about them has simply died out over the years. It's just lucky in this instance that there are still some old-timers like Roger left around with the breadth and depth of knowledge to be able to help.

Three stones generously gifted to me by thp001 about 6 months ago.

Thanks again Tem.

Hard Ark right, Purple Llyn Melynllyn center and Dragons Tongue left (black).