Thread: welsh slate hones

sorry if this has been asked before but has any one used the below and are they any good.
i can not afford a nanwa or a bbl
ATRACTIVE PURPLE/GREEN FINE RAZOR HONE LLYN MELYNLLYN SHARPENING STONE | eBay

They do work well as many members have pointed out. Please try the search function next time before you post.

This might be a liitle more helpful for you...
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...-hone-set.html
And yes, many members here have had a pleasurable experience with these hones..myself included.

What's a bbl?

My serious answer would be to wait another month, and buy a synthetic combination water stone. King has a 1/6 I think for a good price. I've never used the welsh stones, but I'm no stranger to natural stones. And the plain truth is, no matter what you can do on a natural, you can do it faster and more easily on synthetics.


Doesn't mean I'll be gettting rid of my natural stones. I just hate to see people buy a natural stone first. You aren't doing yourself any favors..I promise.

thanks i did search but the amount of info made my head spin after a few recomendations i have asked santa for the
Japanese Waterstone 1000 / 6000g ICE BEAR+ Nagura Stone
is this enough to shave with or do i need a 8k/10k naniwa as well
decided against natual stones for my first hones
thanks dave
scrap that idea found a naniwa 1/3k for bevel setting

Originally Posted by regularjoe

What's a bbl?

A Black baby Lizard

Originally Posted by regularjoe

What's a bbl?

belgium blue stone

You can shave off the Ice Bear 6k , but you will want to get a finishing stone of some sort. And at this juncture, I refuse to make a recommendation. lol. There are a ton of them. People have their favorites. There are many affordable alternatives. I've never used a Naniwa finishing stone. Maybe someone who has used one will tell you how they like it for finishing. Something to consider are pastes and sprays. Those are very affordable, and while I can't promise anything, seem to add a level of comfort to the shave. I just started using them, so it's a little early for me to say they'll do the same job. A friend of mine said the .5 diamond spray was awesome. But I've never used it myself. I'm using green paste, which is also .5 micron, if I remember right.

Common abbreviation is bbw:Belgian Blue Whetstone. We knew what ya meant though.