Thread: Anyone have a Silkstone ? What's the story ?

Holli, great purchase, and you definitely have me beat!!

I really just wanted to know if anyone had used or knew a lot about these Charnley hones, and since the original post was about a Silkstone (another British natural, if that's the term to use), I thought I'd ask. I didn't mean to get anyone annoyed by mentioning the price I paid, which is admittedly a lot for a hone.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by JeffE

Holli, great purchase, and you definitely have me beat!!

I really just wanted to know if anyone had used or knew a lot about these Charnley hones, and since the original post was about a Silkstone (another British natural, if that's the term to use), I thought I'd ask. I didn't mean to get anyone annoyed by mentioning the price I paid, which is admittedly a lot for a hone.

Thanks!

IME that isn't a lot for a hone. YMMV. I have paid a lot for more than one hone and I have no qualms about it although the prices will remain between me and the sellers.

Actually, I just got the CF in the mail! It's cool -- the surface feels like a pair of really well worn khaki pants, not like an Escher or an Asagi. I think you use it with water, so I will give it a try on some blades tonight!

I know you can use a CF with water, but I've heard you can get better results with oil. Never played with the one I had on loan enough to find you, though.

I do have few CFs in my collection and I use them with water. They are great finishers and figures on them are so beautiful. For grit it is difficult to establish as I found is easier for mwe to hear the difference between two of them rather than see it. For price you reported I would expect something like figured CF size 8 1/2x 1/2 with not much damage to it.

Well, that's pretty close, actually. My CF is 8 x 1.9 x 0.9, and it doesn't appear to have any chips or damage to it at all. On the bottom of the hone, most of the surface is lapped smooth like the top, but the last inch and a half or so toward one end is natural rock "skin" -- like the surface of a rock. All of the other 5 surfaces are completely smooth planes with no chips or breaks. Hard to judge the color -- it's like an greyish olive green, and there's a very subtle grain structure to it that's a little bit easier to see on the sides than on the top surface.

Bottom line is that I was worried when I bought it, but this thing is great looking, and as soon as I can make a nice wooden base for it, like for a Japanese stone, I'm going to put it on display in my bathroom. Oh, and use it for finishing razors too (almost forgot that part!!)

Originally Posted by JeffE

Wow, great answer!! Now that is some useful information. Alex, would you also mind my asking if you have similar info regarding the Charnley Forest hones? I just bought one without even knowing what I was bidding on, but the price (around $150) seemed at least reasonable for the size of the hone. Do you like them, how do you use them, do you know where they come from, and so forth?

And sorry for hijacking this thread!!

If you haven't already read it, I posted this article on Charnley Hones a while ago. As has already been mentioned, those with more knowledge and experience than me have endorsed thue use of the CF as a razor hone. I really like my Charnley Hones, more so than some of the heart-stoppingly expensive Nakayama Hones I have. Charnley Hones are generally employed as oilstones, but I would try yours with water, with slurry and possibly with a soap lather before trying oil. If you do decide to use oil, avoid Linseed as this is known to harden the stone excessively and it's use is contraindicated in the older literature. I use some of my Charnleys with Circle Cut Safety Cut Cutting Oil, I've tried a number of different oils in the past, but this is the one I get the best results with on all the different oilstones I use. That being said, I find that the slurry I get from a Charnley is the most effective I have used, it refines the edge quickly and effectively without the dulling effect you can sometimes get with slurry on other stones; if using a Charnley to finish, I find I get a better edge going from slurry to water vs. plain water alone. Soap lather is also worth trying with an oilstone, I know that some of the threads on this forum have seen members get mixed results using lather on various hones, but I came across an old magazine article which mentioned using Palm Oil soap, instead of honing oil, to create a light lather on the hone surface, not only is this cleaner than oil, according to readers who wrote into the magazine it produces a better edge than oil alone. I've tried this with my Charnley's but I still find that I get better results having first raised a slurry.

One thing that I would say about Charnley Hones in general, is that if you have the chance, make sure to examine the hone in person. Obviously, this isn't going to be possible with an ebay purchase, but the first two Charnleys I bought had rough looking, glassy inclusions. I bought the stones anyway, thinking that I could lap past the roughness, but the inclusions, although they looked bad, had no discernable effect on the edge. Conversely, the next two I tried looked to have a uniform grain, the red blotches seemingly differing from the rest of the stone only in colour, yet they damaged the edge of the razors I tried on them quite badly.

I find that the green coloured Charnley's I have tend to be slightly faster cutting than the Whittle Hill ones, although the Whittle Charnleys are finer. In the early 1900's the good reputation of Charnley Hones was compromised by the availability of an inferior green variety, that was at one point, more readily available than the stones coming out of the Whittle Hill quarry. A lot of the negative comments in the literature are based on this particular type, and in general I would say that these reports exaggerate the slow cutting speed and excessive hardness people began to associate with Charnley Hones in general based on this inferior type. I have perfectly good green CF's, so again I would recommend trying a Charnley in person before writing it off due to colour or inclusions.

Although the hones coming from the Whittle Hill Quarry are generally considered to be the best quality, I now know that the people who wrought and prepared the hones for sale, considered the hone coming from the Thringstone Quarry to be the best. What I don't know (yet) is how to distinguish a Thringstone Hone. I've spoken to several researchers who have all told me, that in their opinion, Thringstone hones should be petrologically distinct, unfortunately none could tell me how.

Hope this is of some help.
Kindest regards,
Alex

IME with a couple of Charnleys I've also gotten good results beginning with slurry and diluting to water. Referring to finishing, not setting bevels or anything like that. I haven't used oil on mine but I have used a couple of drops of dish soap. I'd love to know where mine originated. It is the usual gray/green with the reddish purple streaking. No discernible feel from the reddish bits. Mine came in an old hardwood case with an ancient stropping leather glued on top. Cool old hone and about 10x2".

Dang, that is excellent information, guys!!! Alex and Jimmy, thank you so much! Got to head home now, but I really appreciate the information, and I will post about using the stone tomorrow. Thanks!

I must be lucky, my dad has given me his best CF after I borrowed it for a while. He sad it would suit my razors. Nice. Took back his India oilstone as it was to course

Also got a Silkstone though it needs lapping (have done a bit of lapping but it needs a bit more but ran out of W&D 600)



No idea how much they are worth nowadays, was offered a couple of carborundum stones in exchange by a local builder once for it but told him to take a hike.