Thread: Welsh Thuringian

Well today I've received a few hones from AJ, primarily to do a direct comparison of the performance of the Green and Purple from the Tri Hone Set but he has also sent me the possible cutlers green and a Calcite rock posibly from Belgian (not a BBW) to have a tinker with. I already have and am a fan of the Dragons Tongue (from Inigo Jones) and I am keen to see how these perform.

Firstly I understand why he has used the description possible cutlers green as the description that I am aware of for them is forest green with blue speckles and this one matches the description, I still have reservations about the term as nobody actually knows what they look like but that's personal.

Having had discussions with AJ about the source of the slates I am happier about the the terms Dragons Tongue and Llyn Melynllyn, I know that there are variations with Dragons Tongue hones available from Inigo Jones implying that they are quarried fro various seams and I'm pretty sure several quarries produced Yellow Stone hones in Snowdonia, certainly from my discussions it would appear that AJ is sourcing the stones from the appropriate areas to warrant calling them DT's & LM.

Testing will start tomorrow with the comparison of the Green and Purple ones (LM & WT) so I'd better buy some more wet and dry paper and get lapping tonight

Here is a picture dry and unlapped (by me) although you can see some smears where I licked my finger and rubbed a couple of the stones to get a better idea of colour. LM, WT, Poss CG, Calcite.

[QUOTE=Jeltz;944243]Well today I've received a few hones from AJ, primarily to do a direct comparison of the performance of the Green and Purple from the Tri Hone Set but he has also sent me the possible cutlers green and a Calcite rock posibly from Belgian (not a BBW) to have a tinker with. I already have and am a fan of the Dragons Tongue (from Inigo Jones) and I am keen to see how these perform.

Firstly I understand why he has used the description possible cutlers green as the description that I am aware of for them is forest green with blue speckles and this one matches the description, I still have reservations about the term as nobody actually knows what they look like but that's personal.

Having had discussions with AJ about the source of the slates I am happier about the the terms Dragons Tongue and Llyn Melynllyn, I know that there are variations with Dragons Tongue hones available from Inigo Jones implying that they are quarried fro various seams and I'm pretty sure several quarries produced Yellow Stone hones in Snowdonia, certainly from my discussions it would appear that AJ is sourcing the stones from the appropriate areas to warrant calling them DT's & LM.

Testing will start tomorrow with the comparison of the Green and Purple ones (LM & WT) so I'd better buy some more wet and dry paper and get lapping tonight

Here is a picture dry and unlapped (by me) although you can see some smears where I licked my finger and rubbed a couple of the stones to get a better idea of colour. LM, WT, Poss CG, Calcite.

Interesting! looking forward to your findings!

I decided that the names "Purple WHIG" "Greenish WHIG" and "Grey WHIG" were a little impersonal and didn't really tell much about the stones so I re-named mine to "Larry" "Moe" and "Curley"




Actually I am still quite happy with the results they give...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I decided that the names "Purple WHIG" "Greenish WHIG" and "Grey WHIG" were a little impersonal and didn't really tell much about the stones so I re-named mine to "Larry" "Moe" and "Curley"




Actually I am still quite happy with the results they give...

Me too! I've used them on a couple of razors and I've had extremely good results. My best results have come with using each in succession coming off the Norton 8k. I have two smallish coticules that I've tried using as an intermediate step between the 8K and the DT, and that progression doesn't work well for me...... Given the edge that these produce, I'm thinking the cotis may wind up for sale shortly.

An impatient test after laping: Taking an already honed razor taken to Naniwa 12K and giving it 20 laps on slurry, then dilute and another 20 then rinse and do 40 laps on just water.

Observations in order of tests.

WT: Good edge on leg hair dry shave, fair HHT not as good as Naniwa 12k
LM: Good edge on leg hair dry shave, good HHT similar to Naniwa 12k
poss CG: Better leg hair dry shave, better HHT a little better than Naniwa 12k good feedback while honing.
calcite: couldn't raise much of a slurry, no real change on the Poss CG

Not very useful as they tended to reflect an improvement as I went along.

However the WT did seem to bring the edge down with a slurry from the Nani 12K. However its apparent that any of the 1st 3 could produce a shave able edge given enough work.

Next to take a razor through the same progression on each of these stones.

Rune loaned me his DT and LM and I had my first go at them today.

I just winged it and went by feel, made a slurry and did 30-ish laps, and then a few dilutions to clear, repeated it on the next stone, I just kept an eye on how the razor undercut the water as I diluted.

I have to say the edge I got was really nice, wonderful shave today

Originally Posted by Jeltz

An impatient test after laping: Taking an already honed razor taken to Naniwa 12K and giving it 20 laps on slurry, then dilute and another 20 then rinse and do 40 laps on just water.

Observations in order of tests.

WT: Good edge on leg hair dry shave, fair HHT not as good as Naniwa 12k
LM: Good edge on leg hair dry shave, good HHT similar to Naniwa 12k
poss CG: Better leg hair dry shave, better HHT a little better than Naniwa 12k good feedback while honing.
calcite: couldn't raise much of a slurry, no real change on the Poss CG

Not very useful as they tended to reflect an improvement as I went along.

However the WT did seem to bring the edge down with a slurry from the Nani 12K. However its apparent that any of the 1st 3 could produce a shave able edge given enough work.

Next to take a razor through the same progression on each of these stones.

Can I get some clarification on this post - did you use the same razor on all 3 stones and in the same order as above? If so, I'm confused because I thought the WT was supposed to be the ''finest'' but you seem to have used it first and then worked backwards to get a better result.

If I have this wrong, please put me right as I ordered the so-called WT just recently.

Yes I used the same razor.

As I said it was an impatient test, my view is that starting with slurry will tend to bring the edge to that of the stone better.

The razor has been recently honed and finished on a Naniwa 12K.

The reason I started with the WT was to see if there was an improvement from the 12K nani which it it really was equivalent to 15k should be the case.

It was more about getting a feel fro the stones and I will be doing a proper test of each stone in coming weeks. Starting today with the WT.

I worked on another of my razors yesterday afternoon. It had previously been honed using a Norton 1k for bevel setting, and then finished using the one-stone method on a coticule. While the coticule edge was nice, I decided to go back to the 4k stone and work my way back up. After the 8k, I went to the DT for 50 laps, followed by the LM for 50 and then the WT for 100 (micro-sized stones, hence so many laps). After that I stropped 75 on linen and 100 on leather. HHT and leg hair tests showed a drastic improvement, and this morning's shave was the smoothest I've gotten from that particular razor yet.

I know that there have been some mumbling in different places regarding the efficacy of these stones to finish a razor's edge, but I continue to be impressed with the edges that I'm getting from using them. The progression I've been using produces an edge that's wicked sharp and super smooth. I can confidently say that my HAD has gone into remission.

Originally Posted by myersn024

I know that there have been some mumbling in different places regarding the efficacy of these stones to finish a razor's edge, but I continue to be impressed with the edges that I'm getting from using them. The progression I've been using produces an edge that's wicked sharp and super smooth. I can confidently say that my HAD has gone into remission.

Well, I'm convinced and I only have a LM. It has become my finisher now.
Also, I've successfully used it with lots of slurry coming off a Nani 1K. That was a pleasant surprise.