Thread: Norwegian slate

Today, Sten(str8fencer), Rune(Zephyr) and I went to what is supposed to be Northern Europe's biggest thrift market here in Oslo.
We were looking for the usual stuff, without any plan other than to walk around and keep our eyes open.
The only one capable of that it seemed was Rune, he spotted stuff all over after us old farts had passed the stand by with a less than keen eye
So, once we learned that, we started following in his steps for the rest of the day..

The weather wasn't all that nice, it was snowing and was a bit nippy to be honest.

Well, we found a few razors in decent knick, but that is another post from Rune or Sten.
What we also found was a slate hone, or rather a bunch of them.
At first Rune, the eagle-eyed, found one.
Then when we passed the same place a bit later, the one Rune bought had been replaced with a new similar one.
Hmmm, strange right?
So we asked the fella if had any more of them.
Sure, he said, a bucket full actually.
I bought one, and Sten a couple I think.

Now, to the point of this thread.
The seller told us the stones were from a place called Sande in the county of Vestfold here in Norway.

I have now tested it on 4 different razors, and with four different approaches.

1. A Filly EPBD already shave ready was given 40 laps with water only.
The resulting test was very pleasing, quite capable of a good shave.

2. Another of the same make was reset on a 1K Chosera, then honed with slurry for about 150 laps, then dilution to water. about 30 laps on water only.
This one delivered ok, but no more. I will have to test this much more before concluding.

3. A third of the same razor was honed up to a Norton 8K, then finished on the slate. Slurry with dilution. about 80 laps before diluting thru about 50, then 30 on water only.
This approach worked out fine. a fine shaving edge, not stellar, but fine.

4. A fourth of the same make was done exactly as number 3, only this one was finished on slurry, with just a little bit thinner mix at the end of the honing.
Same result as number three really, a tad more keenness to the edge perhaps.


I will have to do lots more testing with it before concluding on this rock, but I must say it was a very promising start.
Especially when I tell you that the price was about $3 per stone.

To think we left the seller with about 20 more at the same price is starting to annoy me just a little bit...

Her are some pictures of it, along with a few more rocks for comparison.

At the top is a Chosera 1K, then from the left:
A BBW backside, a Oozuku, A Y/G Escher and finally the Sande? slate.

Damn your impatient I haven't even lapped mine yet

It's interesting what you've experienced so far, I'll lap mine later tonight, and hopefully test a couple razors on it tonight or tomorrow.

I'll post here when I got something usefull to come up with.

You should have bought the entire bucket

Sounds like everyone had a good time. Please, no Vestfold Thuringia threads LOL.
Mike

Okay, I've lapped mine, and a few things comes to mind immediately:

- It's quite soft, lapping went very fast

- The color and grain is very equal to my Dragons Tongue.

- It builds up slurry very fast and the slurry looks a lot like the one from the DT

These initial signs make me think it is a slate in the same area as the Welsh Dragons Tongue, my DT it out on loan at the moment, but as soon as I get it back I will do some comparing, in the meantime I'll see what it is capable to do

New update tomorrow

And might I recommend not referring to it as a NHIG

You know what jumped out at me in the OP? "The weather wasn't all that nice, it was snowing and was a bit nippy to be honest."

Two things: (1) Oh really? Cold and snowy? In Norway? Surely you jest!!

(2) If Birnando is saying it was a bit nippy I can only imagine how cold it was. To me, a bit nippy means I might have to wear underpants with my shorts....

No seriously, they look like interesting stones. Nice score!.

James.

great score. i am beginning to get HAD more and more each day lol

Originally Posted by MODINE

Sounds like everyone had a good time. Please, no Vestfold Thuringia threads LOL.
Mike

Agreed, we don't need no more confusing names. With this in mind, I decided to name mine a Vestfhuringan.

I decided to do my testing on a Heljestrand Mk 4. (presumably somewhat harder steel, hollow ground). I set the bevel on a chosera 1k, did naniwa 3k, and then on to the slate. Medium slurry some 25 laps, diluted to medium light slurry 25 laps, then 25 on very light slurry. Cleaned stone, 25 laps on water and finally finished w 25 laps on clean stone and glycerin. Stropped 10 linen, 60 leather. I did not want to overdo on the stropping, just what I usually do to better compare to other hones.

The shave was nice. Clean and sharp, cuts well, no pulling on atg. I am pleasantly surprised at the smoothness. I'd venture on a guess at grit just yet but so far it looks like it might be useable as a finisher. I intend to test it against the welsh slates and see how it holds up against those, starting with the DT.

Oh, and I really am thrilled to have found a norwegian hone that might be useable, that is so much fun