Thread: If I were to consider looking...

How much would I expect to pay for a cutler's green?

Or a charnley forest?

And where might one consider looking for such hones, if one were so inclined?

Purely hypothetically speaking of course...

I would say to contact Sham, but he has sold the bulk of his,

There are a couple of guys in the UK who should be responding to this.
A_S & Adrspach

There was a Charnley Forest that sold in the classifieds last week for $300, IIRC. It sold very quickly and the ad was deleted.

Neil Miller has a Charnley Forest hone for sale on his UK web site right now, or he did yesterday when I looked.

Hi,

re Hawkeye5s' suggestion, here is the link to Mr Millers 'hone' page

He has a couple of CFs.

www.strop-shop.co.uk for Hone Stones & Abrasives for Sale

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

I snagged my CF on eBay. I was quite lucky to get it actually, if the bid had gone up once more my snipe would have bounced..!

IIRC, I paid about £200 for it, but its a big stone (10"x2.5") mounted on a huge wooden base and its in very good condition. At least thats my justification and I'm sticking to it lol..!

Hello Jim,

As far as Charnley's are concerned, once you know what you're looking for (grey/green stone with maroon blotches), they are relatively easy to find. You'll often see them listed on ebay without being identified as a Charnley Hone. Antique tool dealers are also a good place to look as many often have Charnleys, although when a seller knows exactly what it is they are selling the prices goes up accordingly. Despite the cottage industry style in which the hones were extracted and prepared for retail, they were one of the most heavily exploited of the British hones, so there are lots out there.

Last time I spoke to adrspach, he had paid a visit to the Whittle Hill area and found that what remains of the quarry is on privately-owned land. I know he left his contact details with the landowner, but I haven't spoken with him since then.

The Cutler's Green on the other hand is a different story. Even when there was a supply of these hones for the retail market, they were still quite rare and the exact location of the quarry has been lost to the ages. If you are looking for one, the sparse blue dots are a diagnostic feature. A member here had one for sale at around $300 if memory serves, but that was a long time ago. Apart from that mine is the only other one I've seen, and that cost me 120 GBP from a tool seller at the Cardigan Antiques Market, he didn't seem to know much about the hone save that it was very rare. Most of his other stone were in the region of 10 to 25 GBP, so there was an obvious mark-up on these hones even from a non-specialised seller a year or so ago.

You could try contacting the Caernarvonshire History Society, they don't have a website, but they did publish an article in their 1976 transactions about the Welsh hone industry.

EDIT: Here are their contact details,
Caernarvonshire Historical Society
Contact: Secretary
Gwynedd Archives, Swyddfar Cyngor, Caernarfon LL55 1SH
Tel No: 012486 679095


Kindest regards,
Alex

Yes I was in Whittle Hill quarry a few weeks back as I am trying to colate practical information about different sources of CF. I can not imagine that there were too many hones comming from this location as the quarries are very small holes now completely useless as they are partially filled with water, debris and mess.
But to answer the question which started this thread. There are many types of CF. So far I had in my hands five different types. Not all of them are still in my collection, but I do know where they are that I can get them if I need them for comparison. I know everybody is looking for those olive green with red/purple/brown streaks. But even they vary in quality (grit) and they do not have to be the best of CFs. Some of them have single layer/direction of inclusions and some have more. Usually you can notice this before and after wetting the hone.
Back to the price. If I say for general size 8x2x1 (just to make it easier), reasonable condition, no boxes included my guestimates of market price would be:
Green with black ish dots in streaks (there is one in wiki) about £80-100.
Clear olive green £130.
Green with single layer £130-150.
Green with more layers £180-200.
Green/Blue (have not seen yet in that size but I would expect to go) over £200.
You can get lucky and get it cheaper but there are not many ugly ducklings waiting anymore and usualy when you buy these stone they are unrecognisible due to layers of muck on them, then you have to clean them and lap them which is not that simple as these are hard babies often previously used for chisels and gouges therefore badly dished.
Last warning lately I have noticed tendencies of vendors on teebay to state Charnley or Charnwood even thought it is very questionable.

As about the Cutlers Green. I did not have one in my hands and A_S is right about half year ago there was one for sale for $300. Also there was another (possibly the same hone) mentioned here by somebody who bought it from a watchmaker who has another one. If anyone in UK has one I am interested to see it.

I think I may have one, I have a hone in another thread 'HAD Authorities..'

What do you reckon it is?