Thread: Norwegian slate

Did another test of the new hone today.
I used the same razor for both hones, a C. V. Heljestrand Mk 4. It was shave ready from yesterday. I attempted to test it against a dragon's tongue.

On both hones, I first did 50 laps on water (no slurry) to redial, then 25 on glycerin to set the appropriate edge. I then stropped 10 linen and 50 leather before shaving both times. First I applied the dragon't tongue, and shaved half my face wtg, reapplied lather and then went atg, one pass each, no touchup. I then rehoned to the norwegian slate, rinsed my face and reapplied lather to eliminate lather dryout affecting the test, then shaved the opposite with the edge from the norwegian slate, wtg, reapplied lather, then atg, no touchup.

I was meticulous about beard prep before I started, as I wanted to minimize effect of different beard prep between the sides. I prepped my entire face for 10 minutes plus before I started the test, first with water, then with lather. I think this should suffice to achieve maximum beard swelling even for the first side.

My findings: Both hones gave a very nice wtg shave, and removed most of the hair in one pass. Against the grain showed some difference, the dragon's tongue gave a little pull or discomfort, whereas the norwegian slate still felt smooth. I finished my shave there, no touchup on either side.
I rinsed off the lather and applied my high-alcohol splash. Both sides were fine, no horror show from either side, but still significantly more burn on the DT shaved side, almost none from the other.
30 minutes after the shave, the skin has had a little time to dry and the beard has dried out, checked for stubble. There is more stubble on the DT shaved side than on norwegian slate side, although both has little and only atg. Still, significantly more on the first side.

Verdict: It seems to me the norwegian slate has the DT trumped. Of cource, there is a chance my test was flawed, although I did my best to reduce the differences. I'll test it against the Llyn Mellynllyn tomorrow, time permitting.

Originally Posted by str8fencer

Did another test of the new hone today.
I used the same razor for both hones, a C. V. Heljestrand Mk 4. It was shave ready from yesterday. I attempted to test it against a dragon's tongue.





My findings: Both hones gave a very nice wtg shave, and removed most of the hair in one pass. Against the grain showed some difference, the dragon's tongue gave a little pull or discomfort, whereas the norwegian slate still felt smooth. I finished my shave there, no touchup on either side.
I rinsed off the lather and applied my high-alcohol splash. Both sides were fine, no horror show from either side, but still significantly more burn on the DT shaved side, almost none from the other.


Verdict: It seems to me the norwegian slate has the DT trumped. Of cource, there is a chance my test was flawed, although I did my best to reduce the differences. I'll test it against the Llyn Mellynllyn tomorrow, time permitting.

Very nice detailed review and test, now you guys need to go back and buy the whole bucket of these hones and share them with us!

This may be of interest.
ScienceDirect.com - Journal of Archaeological Science - A survey of British metamorphic hone stones of the 9th to 15th centuries AD in the light of potassium-argon and natural remanent magnetization studies

Mike

Hmmm now I have to go and hunt for Swedish slates

Did another test this evening, the norwegian slate against the Llyn Mellynllyn. I used the same razor as last time, a C. V. Heljestrand Mk 4. It was shave ready, I only refreshed the edge; On both hones, I first did 50 laps on water (no slurry) to redial, then 25 on glycerin to set the appropriate edge. I then stropped 10 linen and 50 leather before shaving both times.
First I applied the Llyn Mellynllyn, and shaved half my face wtg, reapplied lather and then went atg, one pass each, no touchup. I then rehoned to the norwegian slate, rinsed my face and reapplied lather to eliminate lather dryout affecting the test, then shaved the opposite with the edge from the norwegian slate, wtg, reapplied lather, then atg, no touchup.

Like last time, I was meticulous about beard prep before I started, and so prepped my entire face for 10 minutes plus before I started the test.

My findings: Great shaves from both hones, smooth and without pull both wtg and atg. Both were shaved very smooth, and neither provided any burn from the alcohol splash. 30 minutes after the shave I did the stubble check, I cannot say there is a significant difference.

Verdict: I am having a real hard time discerning any differences between the sides, so I had to resort to unbiased help; I went to SWMBO for her stubble verdict. I just told her I wanted her to tell if she could feel any difference between the two sides. She also was unable to pinpoint any difference; "both sides are shaved very well". So, this test placed the norwegian slate very close to the results from the Llyn Mellynllyn.

Of cource, there is a chance my test was flawed, although I did my best to reduce the differences. I kinda feel I should redo this test, to eliminate any potential difference from shaving with my dominant vs my non dominant hand. I'll see if I can find the motivation for that It is too early to conclude, but so far it appears that the norwegian slate can be used as a finisher, and I am very happy about that.

They were $3 and you guys didn't buy one for me?


I bet they suck!

Originally Posted by Blix

They were $3 and you guys didn't buy one for me?


I bet they suck!

I think we all suffered from a bad case of brain farting in the exitement of finding a possibly decent Norwegian hone, or else we would have gotten the whole bucket, or at least made sure to get some contact information to the seller.

The only one who showed some mental presence was Sten who got two

Originally Posted by Zephyr

The only one who showed some mental presence was Sten who got two

Indeed.
For the life of me I cannot understand why we didn't get the whole bucket..
Heck, I ate hot-dogs for about the cost of said container

Originally Posted by Zephyr

I think we all suffered from a bad case of brain farting in the exitement of finding a possibly decent Norwegian hone, or else we would have gotten the whole bucket, or at least made sure to get some contact information to the seller.

The only one who showed some mental presence was Sten who got two

Hehe, a last hone count I think I'll manage, and I can always try yours. I'll see if I can get your Welsh stones back to you soon, so you can compare.

Originally Posted by Birnando

Indeed.
For the life of me I cannot understand why we didn't get the whole bucket..
Heck, I ate hot-dogs for about the cost of said container

Yes, and if you did get the whole bucket the seller would probably give you a deal making them even cheaper!!