Thread: South African Hones....

Originally Posted by MichaelC

Hi Martin,
No not at all, the stone is very dense and heavy - it would be easily strong enough to hold it's own if it was a thinner cut.
I simply had them cut like this as that is the thickness of the raw slab and it was just easier to have the diamond blade cut blocks out without having to further cut those blocks in half... (though that is exactly what I will do the next time around).

Cheers,
- Mike

Thanks Michael,
Makes sense ! I would think this block would easily make two stones for sure! What in the future for this stone?

Originally Posted by MichaelC

Hi Guys,
As promised here are some nice clear shots of the 'Zulu Grey' that I've been using. You'll notice the stone has this lovely fine speckling which sort of reminds me of a close up view of some tams and other scotch hones,but different

That's a good comparison of the surface characteristics of the Zulu hone. The speckling does remind you of a Tam O Shanter hone.....And as Michael pointed out, this is one durable hone. It's literally a brick. I took mine up to 1200g wet and it has nice smooth surface. It gives you nice feedback.

I just got hung up this hone, I didn't do much with the others. Soooooo, Stay tuned.
More to come on Stones 1 and 2.

When would we all be able to get our hands on this stone?

I believe Michael is working on that now if I'm not mistaken.

Originally Posted by feelgeorge13

When would we all be able to get our hands on this stone?

Guys please PM or email me with this sort of talk and let's keep the thread focused on Show and Tell. Thanks guys.

This is a great thread and thanks to all for testing and comments. I contacted Michael and have ordered a Zulu-Grey. It seems to be a real world Esher. I plan on replacing my Jnat as a final finisher and try single stone honing. I am moving away from the Norton 4/8 into an all natural progression and have been looking for the correct stone - I think the Zulu-Grey is it.

Ok, This hone just does not disappoint. The other day, I had a blade I needed to take down to the 4k level, It didn't need a bevel set, but it was just dragging and pulling along my face. I felt it was bit beyond the normal touch up. I grabbed my Shaptons GS 4, 6 and 8k, did some work and finished on the Zulu Grey or #3 hone. Again...Just a superb shave smooth shave. Even my wife hears me from the bathroom going "WoW" and that's the best way I can describe the edge off I get off this stone. WOW.....Of course, Disclaimer, YMMV.

If you do not know how to hone, This hone is not going to make you a honemeister. I just want to be clear on that. It's not just the tools guys.
And by no means am I saying I'm some kind of expert. It is was it is. I will say this, This is one of the easiest hones I've used. Not much playing around. Straight forward honing. Create a slurry, Dilute, etc....

zib - I see you are in Jax - I too live in Jax. Have you tried the Zulu-Grey as a single hone solution - working up from an already set bevel to finished just on the Zulu-Grey?

No, but I'm sure it'll work. It's actually 1 hone of 3 I'm testing. I believe it to be the finest and hardest of the 3. I'm still testing the other two. I've been using the Zulu strictly as a finisher,coming off an 8k edge. If you want me to hone a blade on it for you, I will. Drop me a pm...

Hey Richard, I have a question for you. What type of razors have you been honing on the #3 in regards to hardness? I ask this because I will use different finishers for different razors according to their hardness.