Thread: Coticle or Llyn Idwal as a finisher?

Originally Posted by Vasilis

The price of a stone has a little to do with its honing qualities.

Thankyou. I agree, and believe the price of a natural stone is often far more influenced by the reputation of the vendor.

Originally Posted by Vasilis

Thank you. Nice to meet you all. Unfortunately, I don't have a camera, but you can see the stone from the link;
eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace
I don't think it's Charnley forest(although I can't guarantee it isn't), WOA, TOS, Arkansas or anything like this. I would guess it is Llyn idwal. Yellow lake stone is very different, also known as Llyn Melynllyn, two variations if I'm not wrong, one slate, and another one, with different composition. I can give you a review on the slate type if you would like to, in another thread.

That ones on my watch list too

I disagree with you. There are many quite cheap hones with good honing qualities and they are cheap because they are still quarried unlike CF, Jnats and others.

It's true. The Chinese 12k is one of my favourites. The charnley forest when it was still quarried it was very very cheap, that goes also for the escher. It's stock market. When the mine closes, if the stone has a reputation, the demand rises but there aren't new stones to cover the market's needs, and the price rises for the already circulating ones. This is not the only factor, just an example. An expensive stone is not a better stone. And every cheap natural stone, the next 30 or 50 years will become very very expensive, so, collect as many as you can! (few of the Jnat mines are still operating, but the Japanese natural stones have become a legend, that's another factor that changes the price)