Thread: Slate Hone ?

We've discussed slate before and as I recall the consensus was that it's ain't that great as a hone. It's metamorphosed shale and made up of really small particles and is usually found in stratified layers so it can be split really easily. It comes in different colors too depending on the trace stuff it has in it. If you polish it you can get a really nice luster on it.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...discovery.html

I think the consensus was there are many slates most of which we know under different names. A lot of them are of high quality like e.g. Eschers and Coticules.

Originally Posted by Piet

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...discovery.html

I think the consensus was there are many slates most of which we know under different names. A lot of them are of high quality like e.g. Eschers and Coticules.

Typical coticules are no way slates. Not even close.

Originally Posted by zib

I was a vendor for Ardennes. Their Coticules are backed with Slate/Schist. I was told it could not be used for honing...My two cents....Good Luck...

The back of Coticules is often just strong dark stone that
has no quality. Sometimes on older hones they used
what is now known to be blue water stone and it has good
sharpening qualities (sharpening is not honing). Some natural
combos exist...

Today the good blue water stone has a market of
its own so the rock on the back is just backing.
Sometimes it pays to experiment on a junker
blade to see what you got. They do not sell
the back -- the Coticule material on the top is
the difficult stuff to find and a good one is worth it.

Has anyone tried to use chalk, like schoolroom chalk as a nagura. I did and it works although it is not fine enough to create a razor worthy edge. I guess in a pinch though, a chalkboard and a piece of chalk could be better than nothing. alx

This thread got me thinking about razor sharpeners and their lust for great finishing stones. If you were sharpening almost any other type of tool, you could get away with being creative using anything from slate to cement blocks. But really the choices for us are mostly limited to historical rocks that have been tried and true or relatively recent discoveries in manufactured abrasives.

Alx, we have not used chalk in schools for some time now, if you like I will send you a whole chalkboard and a big box of nagura chalk from surplus and trade you for one of yours

Hey Kingfish
An appealing idea, but I think the shipping would kill the deal for you. alx