Thread: American Slate

Originally Posted by Suile

So wait the tunnel goes under future 86.
south of Sullivan air port.
is it near Wurtzboro mountain road.

It's been 40 years since I've been there so I don't remember but the folks there certainly know. if you go I would first check that the thing hasn't been sealed off.

Pardon my ignorance; do these slates perform like razor hones?

finished lapping them today will start some honing tomorrow

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's been 40 years since I've been there so I don't remember but the folks there certainly know. if you go I would first check that the thing hasn't been sealed off.

40 years since ya ben there that's longer amought of time that i ben alive.
Perty sure there was a earth quake in new york since then.

Here is a rock that is not done flatting.
but Well i stop cause it has a nice look to it.
but then again i might finishing flating it so i could use it for
razors. I have used the flatten area to makes big chef knives seriously sharp.
only flaw it has is by the saddle soap there is a spot that's mediun.
I picked it off the ground due the color. Then heavy weight of 5.5 pounds.
made me want to find out the grit of the rock so i started flatting it.
cool rock pile find it's a keeper. there are nice rocks to find in the world.
I like how the sides where just shaped by natural i would never cut it with a saw or chisel.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Pardon my ignorance; do these slates perform like razor hones?

Well, that't actually a good question, I've been trying to explore the world of slates lately. That purple one I have with very fine grit but also quite slow.
Actually Coticules are very similar to slates, in how they are formed and behave. But it really depends on the slate itself like every natural stone everyone is different. The purple one i have from twillingate is good, but the slate i have from The Blow Me Down Mountains in NL dosn't seem to do anything for the razor. Slates are sedimentary rocks that undergo changes in heat and pressure, beneath the earth to form this slately like rock, depending on what made up that original sedimentary rock determines what you get in the slate.

Most razor hones are abrasive particles of varying size, (which determine grit size) bounded in a softer mineral matrix. Much like man made stones with grit bounded with resin, glues, cements, lacque or whatever. So if you have a slate that happens to have a grit in it thats harder then steel (like garnet), in a very fine size (5-30 micron say), bounded in the slate rock with a cement of some kind softer the steel, then you may have a good razor hone on your hands. A lot of variables that nature sometimes gives us in exactly what we like.

The Purple slate i have has good grit but the matrix holding it all together is a little hard so i often lap to reveal new grit.

Well i hope that was in some since of order,
Nathaniel

Slate is shale that has undergone metamorphism. The particle size defines slate and there is usually minor differences between one slate and another which is why they come in a variety of colors from red to grey and in between. If the particle size is different you don't have shale to begin with, maybe mudstone or siltstone depending on the micron size of the particles.

Just experimenting with one of the welsh yellow/green varieties of slate ( admin please if you thing this is inappropriate here just erase it) so far flattened it. But as it is from one of the top layers in the quarry and it splits too easily. I will have to probably use something like lacquer for sides that if I am successful it does not fall apart in near future.