Thread: Hone-stone from South Africa!

Originally Posted by Jasper Kade;579738
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(I'll address the selling of the stones etc, once I hear from Jimmy and Sham, just makes sense to not jump the gun here, and when we hear back and if it's all good, then I'll start a thread in the vendors section or wherever and let you guys know how I'd like to sell them and what the process will be...)[/I]

Cheers,
- Mike

Many thanks Mike, PM sent.

I notice that you have the stones cut with that pretty stripe effect going the long ways. What about a stone with the grain going perpendicular to the stroke path?

This is going to be exciting. Thanks again for posting the pictures.

Originally Posted by Magpie

I notice that you have the stones cut with that pretty stripe effect going the long ways. What about a stone with the grain going perpendicular to the stroke path?

Yeah I specifically cut with the grain as it seemed the logical thing to do. I did give it a bit of thought and just felt that since the stone is made up from these differing veins of material however similar/dissimilar they may be, that the razors edge deserves the benefit of both parts simultaneously rather than a stroke hitting full-edge into one vein and then the other... know what I mean? Just seems to make sense to have the stroke fall inline with the grain rather that cutting across it. I did also test both ways and the stroke with the grain just feels smoother. Also, other natural stones I've seen where there is this type of figuring, the stone has been cut with the grain, so again it just felt right to do so.

Do you guys agree or do you think there is merit in cutting the other way?

I prefer it the way you cut it so far, for me this will be a working stone not a mantelpiece.

The direction of the grain looks just fine.

Direction of grain LOOKS fine, but I'm curious as to if it has any effect on honing properties.
He had mentioned that using the rubbing stone had a negative impact, so Im curious as to the stone maybe having striped composition not just color. In which case the feel may be different with the grain vs against it.

any new info on these babies?

Great post and great stones!

I am a Geologist by trade and I can share the official name of that stone with you.

To my trained eye it looks like a phyllite schist. A phyllite shist is a fine grained rock characterized by a glossy sheen. It can also have a wavy texture.

Phyllite is the latin term for a "leaf-stone".

Be warned though, as we all know, these sharpening stones are all about grain size. I have seen phyllite schists with large (up to 1/8 of an inch) sized garnet grains impregnated throughout. You can see the larger ones, but the odd small one could be there on the surface somewhere. In fact it is common. Garnet is harder than steel. So, what I'm saying what looks like a fine grained stone(hone), may have coarse grained material throughout. But, you should be able to identify them with a hand lens.

Also, you could send me one and I could have a very close look at it to identify it better for you.

Did you happen to find the stone near the Port Shepstone, Valley of a Thousand Hills, Durban, region?