Thread: Hone-stone from South Africa!

Having read Jasper's initial post I began intending to go from bevel set to shave ready. I was honing a Soviet Stiz 5/8 quarter hollow and a Fluid Steel 6/8 full hollow, made in the USA for McPherson of Glasgow, probably by Genco. When bevel setting I use the circle technique I learned from Lynn in this video here and in conversations we've had on the phone. Following the circles standard X strokes are used. I found that the stone did not cut aggressively enough to set a bevel on these two razors. They weren't damaged in terms of chips but they were butter knife dull.

I am particular about having my hones flat and checking with a pencil grid I found that after the first attempt at a bevel set the stone needed lapping. I've come to the conclusion that this stone is relatively soft. It will remain flat within reason if little pressure is used but if you're using a bit of pressure it is a good idea to draw a grid and check every so often as it dishes fairly quickly compared to a Norton or Naniwa.

So I went to a 1200 diamond plate for the fluid steel and set my initial bevel. When I got a positive TNT I switched over to a Naniwa 1k to smooth out the bevel following the diamond plate. More or less a routine I always follow when I use the plate. I went directly from the 1k to the SA stone. Whipped up a milky slurry with a credit card sized DMT and began doing x strokes.

I relied on the TPT and arm hair for a barometer and TBH I couldn't tell you how many strokes I did but it was a lot. I diluted the slurry as I went and eventually got to clean water. When I got to the point where I felt it was as 'there' as it was going to be I stropped and got some HHT with it. I shaved. The shave was smooth, close and comfortable. Took two passes and got bbs to my specs.

The Stiz Soviet razor is another story. I went through the same procedure with the Stiz as with the Fluid Steel but I didn't get as good a result. So in the morning I took the Stiz to the Naniwa 1k all over again. Followed that with a pyramid on the Norton 4 & 8. Then back to the newly flattened SA hone. I did not use a slurry this time. I figured to treat it as a finisher and it worked out well. I did 30 strokes and stropped and tried the HHT. I got fair results and took it back to the SA hone for another 20 strokes. Stropped again and this time got HHT all along the length of the blade. Shave test later will tell the tale.

Finally, the two razors above were, as previously noted, recent ebay acquisitions. I decided to give the SA stone another shot as a bevel setter with a NOS Solingen razor. Also an ebay acquisition but from a seven day set and never honed and by all appearances never used. It is a Kobar full hollow 6/8. So I followed Jasper's description from the OP in this thread and did a heavy slurry with my 325 diamond plate. I did 20 circles on each side and then 10 x strokes twice. Did a passing TNT. Some more x strokes, 10 or so and began diluting the slurry. I did a couple of sets of 20 strokes feeling the edge with my thumb pad and rinsed the hone off. Lapped it one more time .... I know I am crazy .... and started on clean water. Sets of 20 strokes took a few sets and stropped. Some of the blade passed HHT and some didn't. Went back to the hone for another few sets of 20 and stropped again. Better but not HHT all across the blade. It will, however, pop arm hair quite efficiently all across the blade so I will call it good.

Shave test of the Stiz and the Kobar will be tonight. The only way I know to give it a grit rating is by the shave and I would call it comparable to shaving off of the Norton 8k. This is in agreement with Sham's assessment of 8k. Someone else might be able to squeeze more out of it. After all, Lynn doesn't like to judge a hone until he has tried many more razors on it than Sham's 8 or my paltry 3. On the plus side the hone gives noticeable feedback and is a beautiful hunk of rock with the black color and contrasting lines. The only drawback , if it is a drawback, is that it is relatively soft. So if someone asked me I would recommend using this in a finishing/polishing progression rather than bevel setting unless they were honing a new razor with no issues.

Tonight rolled around and I shaved my usual cold water routine with the Stiiz for one side of my face and neck and the Kobar for the other. The Kobar came in first out of all three honed on the SA stone and the Stiz was a close second. The shave equaled or even surpassed what I've gotten with a razor honed to 8k and my skin is bbs and irritation free. That is with one pass on the cheeks and moustache and two on the neck and ball of the chin. So my congratulations to Jasper for finding this beauty and many thanks for turning me on to a piece of it. I've spoken to Lynn about it and I'm sending my SA stone to him tomorrow for his evaluation. I'm sure Jasper would like to hear what Lynn thinks of his lovely hone.

Well, Sham and Jimmy - I just want to say thank you for both your thorough (and time-consuming) experiments, and your very interesting and informative posts. This is really fascinating stuff - and really fun to watch from the discovery through now - though I'm sure Jasper is having more fun. It sounds like it might be comparable to a Tam, the Dragon's Tongue, or the BBW? Though the only one of those I have is the BBW, so what the hell do I know. Interesting that it is so soft. All the naturals I've ever encountered--not that many, admittedly--are hard.

Thanks for the fascinating show, guys.

Sorry to hear about your cut Jasper.

It made me cringe. I also have a reflex habit of grabbing things that fall before I even know it.

That is what scares me the most about straight razors and knives.

I usually end up with the handle on the knives I have grabed.

Made one slip sharpening a japanese knife on a ceramic bowl resulted in a very deep gash in my thumb pad.

I don't want a replay of that. There is something about the feel of getting cut like that. I hate it!

The muscle just seems to burst under the cutting edge of a super sharp edge.

Yeah for sure Silver2, I just hate that feeling - it's very distinct, but luckily it doesn't happen too often... always 'be in the moment' is my moto when it comes to sharp things


And to Jimmy, just once again want to say thank you so much for testing my hone. You and Sham put so much effort into this for our benefit. I only hope you both enjoy your Silkvein hones, and trust they hold a valued spot in your collections.

I'm also pretty excited to hear what Lynn thinks of the hone, so thanks indeed for passing it on.

Guys, so I just need some time to cut/lap the remainder of the stone, sort out some fine packaging for them, and then I'll properly open a thread in the vendors section and allow whoever may be interested to purchase one. I already have a small list of folks interested via PM, and from my estimate I'll only have probably 15 hones, and that's all there will probably ever be, since I only came across this small section of it with no continuance of this exact stone that I can find...

But so wait for an update with regards to sizes, price etc. in the vendors section.
Thanks to everyone who's watched this unfold, I'm sure you've enjoyed it as much as I have.


Oh! and I think this ancient, African land may hold a few natural treasures yet ...but that's another thread

If any interested members could kindly respond to my PM regarding the Silkvein hones, that would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys,
- Mike

Originally Posted by Jasper Kade

If any interested members could kindly respond to my PM regarding the Silkvein hones, that would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys,
- Mike

Not sure if you mean me Mike but PM sent.

Originally Posted by Jasper Kade

Hi Maskwa,
Thanks for the input. I too came to the conclusion that what I have here is a type of phyllite/phyllite schist. I've also read the vikings used this type of stone as a whetstone, so the right properties are there for this to be a good hone, provided the particle size is fine enough.. but from my own testing it certainly has no obvious garnet inclusions that would hinder or diminish honing ability - in fact, I don't think what I have would even fall into the category of 'garnet schist' where I'd imagine one would find these larger particles perhaps... The phyllite I have is mostly a super fine clay matrix comprised of mica and quartz I'd imagine among other trace elements presumably. The main thing though is that the stone is very uniform in it's makeup, there are no irregular bits at all, and when lapped the stones are silky smooth...

Bringing this around again.

If you're interested, I can analyze your stone and give you qualitative and quantitative phase ID on the minerals present as well as an idea of crystallite size. Let me know...

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Update of the hone which i tested.

This is what i find out.
i did hone 8 razor 's using this hone with different hone combinations.
First razor
Wade & butcher 6/8 hallow ground.
set bevel 1k shapton class stones.
used this stone with thick slurry. took me aproximately 30 minute finish the honing.
i did dilute slurry and was doing different pattern of strokes.
Jasper as you said it was very effective if you do x pattern strokes.
edge come up sharp enough i could shave test.
Second razor
Brockstone Mass.
hallow ground.
set bevel 1k shapton, then moved 3 k Japanese stone then used only this stone.
less then 25 minutes edge was sharp enough i could shave test.
3 rd razor was M jung
sharpened just using this stone.
at first dry and made 50 strokes, then 100 then i stop. i was going no where.
start again using shapton 1k and set bevel and finish the work.
4 th blade was imperial razor.
sharpened until 6k and finished on this stone.
wanted to find out how fine the edge will be.
spend less then 10 minutes on the stone. was not able to get more sharpness. stopped and moved to next blade.
Gong razor.
sharpened until to 8k norton then moved to this stone.
blade did get dull but smooth.
Rest razor 's are not important. Except last was Torrey
after i finish on this stone i moved to Japanese stone to find out how fine edge will get.
Edge did get sharper and finer.
conclusion.

Edge comes around 8k level. You can use this blade shave but i wouldn't call this is great smooth and sharp edge.( i may be the perfectionist)
Can you use this stone put edge on straight razor and use some pastes to get great edge ?
Answer is yes.
Stone has very good cutting power (using slurry)except hard to set bevel.
Using this you basically can avoid 3-6k level stones.
I will advice to have some bevel setter and final finishing stone after this one.
I would say it is a satisfactory find.
This is all and again
Jasper Congratulations. if i find this stone i would be very happy.
hope this helps .
thank you and sorry for taking long time.

sounds like my cretan hone

Sounds like an extreme necro post...followed by another from me. :P lol.

That's not the same hone we're currently testing. This post is from 2010 about the Silkvein hones, not the Zulu.

I'm moving this to closed, so no further posts can be made, in order to avoid confusion.