Thread: An interesting Rock from the Potomac River

Last year I went to the DC area. We went kayaking on the Potomac River. I'm always searching for slate as a honing stone (see what you guys have done to me!) and found this rock. I had to lap it and burnish it, but it was totally worth it. It's unbelievable how it puts an edge on a razor. Take a look at the pictures, you'll be surprised.

This is how the stone looked straight out of the river


This is how it looks after I lapped it


Here's the size compared to a straight razor


Here are the sides. Notice the layering of the stone?



In closing, this stone really puts a smooth crisp edge on my razors. I just can't believe that it works this well.
Thanks for looking!

Nice find. I love finding good rock for hones. It is very pretty with all the variegation of colour. It works well to, so a spectacular find.

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Don't tell anybody exactly where you found this!
Then you can go back and get some more!
Can I be the first in line to buy one?

Looking at the stone's picture right out of the river, I've got to hand it to you for recognizing its potential.
A mighty fine find indeed!

Pete <:-}

Originally Posted by randydance062449

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Don't tell anybody exactly where you found this!
Then you can go back and get some more!
Can I be the first in line to buy one?

Randy - I plan on returning next year. I will go to the same spot and see if I can find one for you and I'll send it to you. These are gifts from nature, so there's no charge!

In 1834, a dam on the Potomac near Williamsport was completed and below the dam there is tons of rocks. That's where I found this stone. If I make it up there again, I'll try and find you something!

nice stone, what did you use to lap it?

Originally Posted by Johntoad57

Randy - I plan on returning next year. I will go to the same spot and see if I can find one for you and I'll send it to you. These are gifts from nature, so there's no charge!

In 1834, a dam on the Potomac near Williamsport was completed and below the dam there is tons of rocks. That's where I found this stone. If I make it up there again, I'll try and find you something!

That would be great!

Originally Posted by tintin

nice stone, what did you use to lap it?

I used 60 Grit sanding belts at first. I went through about 10 of these. Then I brought it up to 80 grit and used about 5 belts. At this point all of the high points were level. Then I proceeded to use 220 grit belts to semi polish the stone and make it smooth. Then I changed to liquid polishing compound from a rock tumbler. It was a heavy grit, then to a medium grit, and finally to a fine grit. I used a drill and polishing pad for this.

Needless to say, it took me all day long to get this thing to a decent point. Then I burnished it with the tip of a polished railroad spike for about an hour. The picture shows the end result. It works really well, and I'm delighted that I was able to get this done. I have been wanting to find something like this for a long time.

makes me wonder how many potential razor hones are out there in the wild waiting to be discovered. I am always looking at flea markets for interesting hones but no luck yet.

Wow since 1834 this stone has been lying there at the dam and you picked up the lynchpin rock and now the dam is gonna fail taking out Washington DC.