Thread: Any stone can hone?

Hi there,
I live in Chile and here there are a lot of stones and rocks.
I have no experience with natural hone stones. I have only Naniwa stone, and happy from them.
I went to a quarry near my home and found several stones. Just randomly chose one that interested me for having a flat face.
I quickly polished his flat face and even without having completed the work I used a kitchen knife for honing it. The result was excellent.
The question is:
Do I complete the lapping and use it with one of my straight razors?
I'll be very grateful for your opinions.

I'm not an expert at all, but I guess technically you could if it was smooth and well-lapped. However, the grain would vary so the grit would be different throughout the stone. Plus you wouldn't know what grit it would be close too.

Originally Posted by 100fuegos

Hi there,
Just randomly chose one that interested me for having a flat face.
I quickly polished his flat face and even without having completed the work I used a kitchen knife for honing it. The result was excellent.
The question is:
Do I complete the lapping and use it with one of my straight razors?
I'll be very grateful for your opinions.

First, if it worked on a knife does not mean it would be good for a razor. I have seen knives honed on blocks with good results. The level of finish of the edge is not comparable to a razor edge. My advice is not to try it on a good razor, but that is just me.

Yes you would have to lap it to try it on a razor.

Not all rocks can hone razors. This is no due to somebody not being able to lap them smooth enough, but due to their own natural characteristics ie. grit size, abrasive medium and so on. Often fine suitable rock has damaging inclusions which can bugger up all your sweaty work.
For you the task is to lap the rock and test it if it works GREAT if not nevermind. There are still many exciting rocks left for you to explore. Good luck and keep us updated.

Really just about anything can be a hone when you really think about it. The question is are there better choices? You know if you put your razor under running water long enough you'll have the sharpest razor in the world. The kicker is the wait.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Really just about anything can be a hone when you really think about it. The question is are there better choices? You know if you put your razor under running water long enough you'll have the sharpest razor in the world. The kicker is the wait.

there goes the water bill

Would it go faster if you used hard water

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Really just about anything can be a hone when you really think about it. The question is are there better choices? You know if you put your razor under running water long enough you'll have the sharpest razor in the world. The kicker is the wait.

would i want the edge up or down for that experiment? seriously, you you want the water hitting the edge or the spine and running to the edge

I hope there will no wastage of water, please.
I know that honing a razor is very different of a knife. And I love my razors.
But my experiment with this stone is for me very interesting.
I will tell you what happens when I finish a good lapping and of course if I expose a razor to it.
Stay tuned.
Best regards to all.

na im just curious as to how you would use water to sharpen, im on a well so i wont be wastign hundreds of gals of water on a razor.