Welsh hone stones

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02-26-2009, 12:11 PM
Jason01

Welsh hone stones

I thought I might as well start a new thread rather than tagging onto the end of the Dragons Tongue thread, apologies for repeating some of this but I thought it worth putting together.

I collected a bunch of stone from an old Welsh hone quarry recently and out of all this rock

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...2007/slate.jpg

that I carried off the hill I have managed to salvage only a couple of pieces worth making into hones, most of the saw cut surfaces of my salvage were at 90 degrees to the cleavage planes, so effectively the cut surfaces were the sides of hones not the tops and most of my pieces are too narrow to be useful or in some cases they have extensive pores. I had to spend some time with sand and a paving slab to get a piece flat enough to lap and this is the result

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...honelapped.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...onelapped2.jpg

Finished to 1200 grit and wet, it may look like the surface is rough but its glass smooth, the patterns from the original sediment show beautiful chatoyance. This piece is pretty massive and would make two nice stones if I ever get it cut, works fine as it is though and the weight makes it nice and stable.

I have had a brief honing session on this stone but I have little experience so cant really say much about its performance but it seems to cut faster than a Chinese 12K and it seems to leave a very nice finish. I'll do a proper revew in a few years ;)

Heres a close up of my slurry stone, showing some banding, from the same spoil heap but quite different in apperance

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...007/slurry.jpg

The spoil tip up in the hills that they came from Mill spoil tip containing partly formed hones:: OS grid SH7254 :: Geograph British Isles - photograph every grid square!

I didnt take any pictures when I was there unfortunately but the old building where they cut the hones has been reclaimed by the forest, the waterwheel pit is still visible, the place is quite beautiful and surreal.

And finally in case anyone is interested, here are OS grid ref's for all the hone quarries I have been able to trace in North Wales so far, some of these are worked out. Idwal is probably one of the more famous and easily accessible at the head of Ogwen valley, it is completely worked out I believe.

Moel Siabod SH723541
Melynllyn SH705653
Idwal SH648604
Nantgwynant SH645505
Dolwyddelen SH743528
Cwmyffynan SH648560
02-26-2009, 12:30 PM
kevint

I salute your efforts. This kind of stuff is fantastic, and I love seeing it.
02-26-2009, 12:58 PM
Jason01

I had a lot of fun doing it, North Wales is a place Ive been very fond of for as long as I can remember and I had no idea about the hone quarries until I joined this forum :)
02-26-2009, 01:16 PM
JimR

That is a BEAUTIFUL stone. Wow. Jealous here.
02-26-2009, 01:22 PM
Jason01

I'll probably go back later in the year and I'll have a better idea what to look for. I have one spare piece that Ive promised to somebody on here but if I manage to get some more nice pieces I'll offer them up in case anybody else wants to try them. Not sure when it will be though.
02-26-2009, 01:29 PM
JimmyHAD

Please enter JimmyHad on the want list for the elusive stones from Wales. :bow
02-26-2009, 04:34 PM
kevint

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Please enter JimmyHad on the want list for the elusive stones from Wales. :bow

That's what I'm thinking.
02-27-2009, 10:49 PM
Oldengaerde

:tu

Stunning!

Beautiful in both colour and pattern! And extra nice as you created it yourself from an unseeming piece of rough rock. Would be great if it turned out to be a fine polisher too - though it doesn't really matter, does it? It would still be a drool provoking wannahave at grit 400...
02-27-2009, 11:04 PM
Croaker

Very nice looking stone! Hones from that quarry must have been used to sharpen knives, swords, and other implements since way before the dawn of recorded history. Maybe even one was used on Excalibur...the following is from Wiki...
"One theory holds that Caliburn[us] comes from Caledfwlch, the original name for the sword, which is first mentioned in the Mabinogion. In Culhwch and Olwen and the Welsh Bruts, Arthur's sword is also called Caledfwlch (derived from caled, "battle, hard" + bwlch, "breach, gap, notch")."
Thank you for sharing these photos!
02-28-2009, 01:10 AM
littlesilverbladefromwale

Show off:p
You are correct though. The Welsh inhabbited the UK before the Germans.sorry I mean the English.
KIng Arthur probaly honed his edges on some nice local Welsh rock.
M:jedi:
02-28-2009, 02:25 AM
ChrisL

I also would love a chance at a rough uncut chunk of welsh rock that would once cut be a suitable size for a razor hone. I have access to a diamond wetsaw so I would finish cut it/them myself.

Please keep us in mind. Thank you for showing these.

Boy, wait until Howard Schechter sees that rippled stone. He'll want one for his collection to be sure. Who wouldn't?

Chris L
02-28-2009, 03:49 AM
Neil Miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlesilverbladefromwale

Show off:p
You are correct though. The Welsh inhabbited the UK before the Germans.sorry I mean the English.
KIng Arthur probaly honed his edges on some nice local Welsh rock.
M:jedi:

Ooh - controversial! Some modern scholars believe that both Wales and England were originally colonised by the Iberians (Spain/Portugal/France)! My father-in-law is Welsh and found no difficulty conversing with the inhabitants of Brittany when he went to France.

As for Arthur - a romano-english myth!

Regards,
Neil
02-28-2009, 05:38 PM
Jason01

Dont worry guys, when I can get some more pieces I'll spread them around for the cost of the postage. Cant promise theyll all look like that though, its surprising how much variety of hardness and texture there is even amongst the few pieces I collected and theres no telling how the grain will look unil theyre lapped.

That piece seems like a useful polisher to me, though as you say Oldengaerde it doesnt really matter, just nice to have.
02-28-2009, 06:49 PM
JMS

I would love one of those beauties! Would you kindly add me to your list please?
02-28-2009, 08:18 PM
littlesilverbladefromwale

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Ooh - controversial! Some modern scholars believe that both Wales and England were originally colonised by the Iberians (Spain/Portugal/France)! My father-in-law is Welsh and found no difficulty conversing with the inhabitants of Brittany when he went to France.

As for Arthur - a romano-english myth!

Regards,
Neil

They recently tested Welsh and English DNA
They discovered that most of the UK apart from the far corners of Britian seems to have been ethnicaly cleansed some point in the past, as the DNA from the samples taken in England differed from this Islands long standing residents - Brythonic Celts. Welsh and breton are Brythonic languages, that 's the reason they say a Welsh speaker can get by quite well in that part of France. And we let them win a game of Rugby now and again too, just in recognition for being related:o
The Greeks used to send survey ships around the coast of Britain in about 400BC and knew about us!

Sorry to go:OT :D
03-01-2009, 04:34 AM
Neil Miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlesilverbladefromwale

They recently tested Welsh and English DNA
They discovered that most of the UK apart from the far corners of Britian seems to have been ethnicaly cleansed some point in the past, as the DNA from the samples taken in England differed from this Islands long standing residents - Brythonic Celts. Welsh and breton are Brythonic languages, that 's the reason they say a Welsh speaker can get by quite well in that part of France. And we let them win a game of Rugby now and again too, just in recognition for being related:o
The Greeks used to send survey ships around the coast of Britain in about 400BC and knew about us!

Sorry to go:OT :D

Very interesting! But in the Steve Martin school of Applied Idiocy we are taught to question all things - for example, it could be possible that the true welshmen were inexplicably lured into the sea, possibly in a laverbread-picking tragedy of epic proportions, and the country was then recolonised by the former inhabitants of Atlantis, who thought they had discovered America? This would go a long way to explaining the DNA mismatch. Atlanteans, of course, could master any language - that is clear. What is not so clear is why they chose one which leads to the extravagance of double-sized motorway signs... :gaah:

You know I'm only kidding!

Regards,
Neil
03-01-2009, 05:35 PM
littlesilverbladefromwale

Interesting.
After Englands performance against Ireland, I wonder what the relation is?
It can't be very close as they only let them win by a point.
Acording to one site, the Brythonic celts found in France and near Galicia in Spain were people who fleed the UK during the arrival of an Invader!?
So, did they come here or we go there?
M
03-06-2009, 12:57 AM
Oldengaerde

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason01

Dont worry guys, when I can get some more pieces I'll spread them around for the cost of the postage.

Yes please! ;)
03-06-2009, 02:45 AM
rastewart

Fine-looking stones and a great story! Wales is one of those places I hope to get to before I die. (Failing that, maybe afterwards; it seems like a corner of the world notably hospitable to wandering spirits.)

If you're actually putting together a list, I'd also like to be on it. But this shouldn't turn into some big obligation on your part. I'm also subscribing to this thread, just in case.

Thanks for sharing the pictures and information here!

Rich
03-06-2009, 09:31 AM
nerobot

That is a lovely hone! Really nice pattern on it. Would love to get my hands on one. Thin kI need to take a trip down to my Welsh Grandmother-in-law...........

Steven
03-17-2009, 06:12 PM
Jason01

For reference I just wanted to add a correction to my earlier assumption re the patterns in my Welsh stone, Having spoken to my Geology mate about this he tells me theyre probably not from the original sedimentary deposition but to quote him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The texture you're seeing I think is crenulations. They are
microfolds formed when the rock was deformed/metamorphosed.
I suspect that new minerals that grow during metamorphism
may also orientate in response to the stress direction.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A small point maybe of interest to some.
07-23-2009, 07:09 PM
adrspach

3 Attachment(s)

yor slurry stone reminds me this from idwall which I showed in another thread. But it has place here. Therefore just pictures.
07-23-2009, 10:09 PM
PuFFaH

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlesilverbladefromwale

Interesting.
After Englands performance against Ireland, I wonder what the relation is?
It can't be very close as they only let them win by a point.
Acording to one site, the Brythonic celts found in France and near Galicia in Spain were people who fleed the UK during the arrival of an Invader!?
So, did they come here or we go there?
M

Thats right, the ones that ran away from the romans ;)

PuFF
07-24-2009, 03:46 PM
littlesilverbladefromwale

Where as we ambushed the Romans in the Fforestfach (translation = small/little forest) area of Swansea while they were on their way to a fort in Lougher:tameshigiri:Someone found the remains of a roman sword in their back garden there.
The Romans never got very far inland in Wales;)
Some would say even the Romans pre-date the English.
07-24-2009, 03:50 PM
JimmyHAD

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlesilverbladefromwale

Where as we ambushed the Romans in the Fforestfach (translation = small/little forest) area of Swansea while they were on their way to a fort in Lougher:tameshigiri:Someone found the remains of a roman sword in their back garden there.
The Romans never got very far inland in Wales;)
Some would say even the Romans pre-date the English.

The poor Romans didn't know what to think when they came upon those blue painted warriors. :eek: Good to 'see' you Marcus. :tu
07-24-2009, 08:27 PM
littlesilverbladefromwale

Hi Jim. Still hanging in there.
I expect they'd been to the pub earlier too, If I was a Roman I would have taken the boat:)