Thread: Hone-stone from South Africa!

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.

Fantastic! Great evaulation Sham, very thorough - much appreciated!
Will be so interesting to see what Jimmy experienced with using my hone...

I must say, I'm pretty excited about being able to bring a unique, beautiful and practically worthwhile hone to the community's attention. Ain't HAD just a son of a gun

Jasper, any stone that looks that cool, and from such an exotic place, can't be bad.

What do you call it, exactly? Does it have a geologic name? Simply the KwaZulu-Natal Slate? The Welsh have their "Welsh Dragon's Tongue" slate, maybe this is a "South African Giraffe's Tongue", due to the color?

Well now that you've asked

I'm calling them 'Silkvein Razor Hones'. I think geologically they are a form of silica rich phyllite which is a metamorphosed slate.

The silken white veins are the prominent visual feature...

I'm a graphic designer, so it's my job to brand things, so I'll have some fun creating some custom packaging for these guys

Cheers,
- Mike

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.