Thread: Tam O'Shanter

Aye - Ayrshire but now living in the highlands. I worked at Culzean castle on the Ayrshire coast as a Ranger for eleven years after Ayr and then moved up to Nairn about four years ago. Nairn is sooo dry by comparison - I like it up here. Mind you - tempted by a bit of foreign work in the near future, but that's prob because of the time of year! Really interested to see how i get on with this new venture of shaving with a razor. And would like to look out for scottish blades - sounds a bit 'No mean city' - Glasgae razor gangish, but I imagine there are some nice razors with a bit of Scottish history like the one you show. I have got to be careful with this though as my wife is still concerned about my fountain pen collecting. If this turns from a useful purchase, saving cash on disposables, to another collection she may use one on me!

cheers
Stephen

My Uncle is from Ayr, live in a wee village called Coylton. Nice wee town.

Ah .. fountain pens as well another passion of mine and a few other members here . Thankfully I've managed to curb my spending on pens - a couple of Watermens's a Schaeffer a Parker and some nice left handed nib pens from 'anything left handed '

I'd be really interested in finding some razors of Glasgow descent if they existed .
I'm working on a really battered razor I bought from Ebay which came from an old barbers in Carluke the box states 'The Kirkton Razor' W.Fleming Hairdressers Carluke - The razor is actually a Hamburg Ring it's been in my todo box for about 2 years I'm just getting round to see if it's worthwhile restoring .



Garry

I am so pleased that you've joined SRP! I don't know who dredged up that old post of mine about Ayr but I stand by my words and still want to come there for a visit. I believe there's something very special about the place. If you've any questions about shaving or honing, please feel free to email me.

Originally Posted by poona

My Uncle is from Ayr, live in a wee village called Coylton. Nice wee town.

I used to go out with a girl from an even wee'er place out the back of Coylton called Trabboch. I had some nights in Coylton pubs - twenty five years ago people were much more territorial and I was an outsider! The girl I was going out with was not a bad looker either so that didn't help. 'Culton' (as they pronounce it) lads were fairly tough.

Originally Posted by Garry

Ah .. fountain pens as well another passion of mine and a few other members here . Thankfully I've managed to curb my spending on pens - a couple of Watermens's a Schaeffer a Parker and some nice left handed nib pens from 'anything left handed '

I'd be really interested in finding some razors of Glasgow descent if they existed .
I'm working on a really battered razor I bought from Ebay which came from an old barbers in Carluke the box states 'The Kirkton Razor' W.Fleming Hairdressers Carluke - The razor is actually a Hamburg Ring it's been in my todo box for about 2 years I'm just getting round to see if it's worthwhile restoring .



Garry

I have a danitrio and a Nakaya as my top ender pens, also a Platinum Maki-e which is not bad. A superb stub nibbed parker 51 and a Pilot 823 custom are great writers - so is my Sailor 1911. I have to say that I do like my Pilot/Namiki VP's though - they are my workhorses. I have an ice blue and an orange LE and a lovely raden. I am doing a Masters degree right now after taking redundancy - the pens help me to get down to writing! Forums like this are a major distraction though as I have always been interetsed in things I know nothing about - something about learning curves I think.

I've heard mentions of the Water of Ayr stones before. What are they like, and are they still being mined? They don't really seem to come up for sale much, and there's not much talk about them so I'm curious.

Originally Posted by bjrn

I've heard mentions of the Water of Ayr stones before. What are they like, and are they still being mined? They don't really seem to come up for sale much, and there's not much talk about them so I'm curious.

I've never heard of then but hey ... my knowledge could be held on a postage stamp
I only heard of the TOS when you guys started talking about them .. To think i'm from Ayrshire as well

Garry

Check with Simon, "Coully", for info on the stones of Scotland. He has a book on the subject, very interesting. Send him an email.

The water of ayre stone and the TOS are not mined anymore.
The TOS are cut from the remaining stock of stones quarried before the mine was closed a few years ago. There is not much left.

I have several of the TOS and think highly of them. I use them after the 4k and some people shave off the edge they create.
Use a slurry.

Hope this helps,

Yes, Simon Coull is the go-to guy for Scottish hones. He knows a lot about them and he regularly sells the TOS here.

There are three Scottish stones that I know of, all mined near to one another. There's the Tam O'Shanter, which is about 6K. It's next to impossible to overhone with it, and it's great for removing microchips or simply for removing scratches after 4k or DMT 1200 before going on to finishing hones. It's also apparently good for brittle razors, to prevent microchips.

Then there's the "Dalmore Blue," which is a very beautiful looking hone, about 4K from what I can tell. Faster than the TOS.

And there's the "Water of Ayr" stone, a fine finishing hone which looks and feels like a thuringian. Not as fine as the vintage eschers in my estimation.

The Tam was traditionally for jewelers and watchmakers, the Dalmore Blue "for carpenters and joiners," and the "Water of Ayr" was for "razors and scalpels."