Thread: Dragons Tongue Hone anyone?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

The only other native hone from your neck of the woods that I am aware of is the Charnley Forest. This is of course an antique now. I managed to acquire one from a UK antique dealer but it is too slow cutting for my tastes.

There is also the Scottish Tam O'Shanter and the Dalmore Blue. These may still be mined on a limited basis. I'm not sure. They are more suited to honing razors and some people like them very much. I have a set of them and I am still using them once in awhile but I haven't really gotten to know them well enough yet.

Then there is the Water Of Ayr, also a Scots hone and one that I am actively seeking in a 6x2 or 8x2" size.

If anyone orders the DT from Ingo-Jones be aware that it may take some time to receive it. Mine took about 6 weeks from the time I ordered it until it came to my door. I am in the USA so if you are in UK perhaps it won't be as long. I have the impression that they process the hones as the orders are received rather then keeping a large stock readily at hand.

I received my DT here in the USA in about 5 days. I was very surprised at how fast it arrived.

Originally Posted by mhopper

I received my DT here in the USA in about 5 days. I was very surprised at how fast it arrived.

How about that ! I guess that after the surge of interest they got from forum members ordering en mass they stocked up.

I was doing a bit of nosing around and found this link to an online encyclopedia with a nice capsule of some of what this thread has been going over here.

Interesting!
The coticule is described as German razor hone?
But Ratisbon is in Bavaria...

Originally Posted by Makar

The industry supplied a local market, and by the 1960's had died out. Altogether there had been some 8 to 10 hone mills, so it was a sizeable industry, but it was never listed in Mineral Statistics and little is known of its production. It has recenty been revived, using suitable stone from the slate mine at Aberllefenni and processing the stone in a manner somewhat similar to that described in Part II for the Water of Ayr Hone works in Scotland, except that planing machines appear to be used in place of the lathes. Its product has the trade name 'Dragon's Tongue'". (p12, 13)

Wow. My school owned a building in Aberllefenni and ran school trips there! I'm sure I even went on a visit to the mine works. Us rowdy London kids gave those nice Welsh people hell at times (we weren't quiet at night like they were), maybe I should make amends by buying a Dragon's Tongue. I never would have thought nearly 30 years ago that one day I'd be buying a chunk of their slate to sharpen what I shave with.

What does the Dragons tongue hone look like when its wet? Is it a typical blue grey welsh slate, any other colour?

Ive been able to track down locations for half a dozen or so old Welsh hone quarries and I managed to visit one yesterday, near the top of a well known welsh mountain it hadnt been worked for 100 years, the shell of the buildings where they cut the slate are still just about standing with the water wheel pit still visible, it was all very overgrown like a Mayan temple in the jungle and it took me a while to locate it. Next to the ruins was the spoil heap for rejected hones and offcuts, I managed to bring a reasonable amount away, despite protests from my back, I probably shouldnt have been quite so greedy, a bit of slate soon gets heavy!

The stones are not what I would normally expect of Welsh slate, they dont have the usual easy cleavage planes that made slate a natural roofing material and the fractured surface in many of the specimens has a vitreous lustre, kinda glassy and greasy somewhat like schist but this stuff is harder! When dry it is dark grey but when wet it takes on a greenish hue with some lovely banding and fine mottling from some black mineral maybe biotite mica but Im not sure, the banding is reminiscent of my Chinese 12k. Having got my specimens home I realised why a lot of this stuff was on the spoil heap, they didnt cut it and throw it away without good reason it will be a challenge to find a really good hone without faults from this lot but Im hopeful I have enough to get at least one. So far Ive only been able to cut a slurry stone with my small capacity wet saw, enough to examine a lapped surface though, its hard, fine grained, uniform and glazes easily. I dont know how Im going to get this stuff cut! I'll try and post a picture later. It occured to me that it could be what was generically referred to as cutlers green stone?

Here is mine (not lapped yet, I've been lazy) half wet and half dry.

Thanks Jimmy, its difficult to capture the subtleties of these stones in pics, heres what Ive got, the little slurry stone is about 2 1/2"x1", Ive edited the slurry stone pic in photoshop to try and get it closer to what I see as opposed to what the camera rendered it as but I still dont think its very accurate. Here they are anyway





The milky white irregular shape on that one is a shallow fracture, but I got fed up grinding it. Looks like granite!

Interesting. Maybe you will end up with some sort of super stone out of the pile. I know Bart has posted of finding Belgian yellows and blues in and around the old quarries.

The stones look just fine! flatten one top and one side, round the edges and your set. I would gladly buy one from you as is! I am serious! Plus a small stone to use as a slurry stone. Let me know.

Anyway, seeing as we are on the subject of Gods country - Wales, how do you all think we are going to do against the Evil Empire - England? the match is just about to start on telly now!