Thread: Slate Hone ?

Sorry if this has been covered before.

I have been offered a thick, flat piece of slate (it used to be a snooker table base).

I was told by the guy making me the offer that his grandfather used to hone his razor on piece of slate.

Any thoughts on this before I try it and ruin a blade.

Give it a shot. You won't hurt the razor if you use light pressure and you know how to hone. Not sure of which hones are composed of slate but pretty sure that some are. One of the geologist members will no doubt add to the discussion.

This kind of slate come from my area,are used for pool table or in building construction, but believe me
isn't good for hone a razor. Give him a kick in the ass .

For razor use you want a stone to be homogeneous without any coarse impurities. If the slate offered looks clean you could give it a try with a (cheap) razor. The grit could be anything between 6-12k. If it's not suited for honing it might be useful for backing a thin stone.

Ask him for pictures

What the gentleman remembers as slate could also be some form of hone like a thuringian.
But you never know.

The Dragon's Tongue hone is Welsh slate its the mica that, apparently, does the cutting. IME its a tough one to use, however I find it works best with oil.

Originally Posted by mowfow71

Sorry if this has been covered before.

I have been offered a thick, flat piece of slate (it used to be a snooker table base).

I was told by the guy making me the offer that his grandfather used to hone his razor on piece of slate.

Any thoughts on this before I try it and ruin a blade.

Go for it...
The trick is learning where it fits in a
stack of hone stones. I have seen
slate that is smooth as silk and slate
that was very sandy.

Old blackboard slate could be deluxe.
Snooker table slate depending on the
age could be great or not so. The
eight ball bar table slate that I have
seen is on the hard and nasty side.
Since this is snooker table slate
the odds are good. Try and get
a couple of slices if you can.

Originally Posted by Jeltz

The Dragon's Tongue hone is Welsh slate its the mica that, apparently, does the cutting. IME its a tough one to use, however I find it works best with oil.

Well if its wesh I have to look in to a Dragons tongue, maybe I could go full on welsh and wet the stone with Felin Foal or Brains beer but im worried I might end up spending hours licking it :-)

Will definatley look in to that though thanks, just hope I dont end up with HAD the RAD is bad enough .

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...

Just what we need; another hone licker. Did Dylan put you up to saying that?