Potential for new hones...
So I live and go to school in Ithaca New York, which is famed for the saying, Ithaca is Gorges. Get it? lol. Anyway. We have very deep gorges and plenty of slate in various strata. The other day I was hiking with my girlfriend and to her confusion decided to chip a 12" by 3" by 1.5" chunk out of the cliff face! I estimate it to have been about 20m from surface level, and I chose it basically on a whim, but mostly because the surrounding weathered rock was very smooth, and it has a purple tint (maybe similar to BBW). Anyway. My choice was random after all.
My question to the geologists and honemeisters, is, how can I tell good stone from bad, after I lap it? I am willing to sacrifice an ebay special or a few to test this, but how will I know the difference between it honing the razor, eating the razor, and doing nothing (no cutting particles)? I know slate itself is too soft to be a hone, but typically the inclusions make it work (for example, the garnet in belgian stones, and something in Charnley's and other UK slate hones). Also, does anyone know what types of mineral to look for? I have a family friend who is a retired geology professor at Cornell and my grandfather is a mining engineer, so if I know what to look for they can direct me as to what type of rock/which layers to look in.
I live in a frat (Alpha Sigma Phi, Iota chapter if anyone cares) that is nicknamed Rockledge because we are literally five meters from the cliff into one of the deeper gorges, and one of my frat brothers is an avid rock climber/repeller, plus there are tons of gorge paths, so I have access to hundreds of strata to test. The usual send it to someone with experience won't work because shipping hundreds of rock samples will be expensive. I'm asking to see if I can find "likely's" to be sent out to honemeisters for final testing.
Before anyone says this won't work, I already know. I'm going on the off chance I'll be lucky, plus I think it will be fun, so play along please. (Also, if a mod thinks it would be better in advanced honing, feel free to move the thread)
Thanks for any help.