Welsh Slate Hones

jaycey

jaycey

Joined
Tuesday October 11, 2011
Location
London
Has anyone invested in any of these Welsh slate hones popping up on eBay?

I am mainly looking at something 10k+ to supplement my Coti.

I know theres some discussion elsewhere about them, but was wandering if any of the UK shavers have tried them yet?
 
I think I know the ones and what seller you are talking about, I would be a bit cautious with his grit ratings as I seen him selling a dragons tounge that he said was about 10000-12000 grit .
 
With buying a vintage "Real Stone" off eBay or any where else is there any way to tell what it is without taking it to some Wise Old Hone Meister who's seen and sharpened everything???
 
I have one (the only one of four I thought worth keeping) - all were vintage and the real-deal (although the quarry owners in that part of the world bought in stones from other quarries - and still do - so those purple honing stones sold as Llyn Melynllyn are not all necessarilary from the quarry of that name. I have seen two types with the same name, and an acquaintance of mine has seen four types, all different, all branded L. M.).

I use mine for sharpening my leather knives. I have used it on razors, but I prefer a sharp rather than a soft edge, and in my experience they give the same soft/sharp edge as a yellow coticule, except a bit softer than a good mid-range hard coticule.

As far as the particular seller is concerned, some of the hones he has sold have been mis-named, one or two have not been suitable for straight razors and most seem to be quoted as falling in the 12k - 15k range, which is beginning to look a bit like a blanket description now. I am sure his stuff is good and he is stating what he believes to be so and he is correct - most of the time. However it doesn't hurt to have a bit of extra knowledge about what you are buying.

The LMs I have tried fall somewhere around the 10k range - one was a bit coarser, one was a bit higher. I wouldnt go as far as 15k though, though I believe if you use some finesse, get to really know the stone and perhaps use oil you will be pushing into the 11k - 12k range - maybe.

On another forum they are testing these stones (using some queer technique of counting strokes on the hone rather than by examining the edge of the razor - very odd in my estimation!) and the results are following true to form for a hone that has been newly re-discovered, ie it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Regards,
Neil
 
Neil Miller said:
On another forum they are testing these stones (using some queer technique of counting strokes on the hone rather than by examining the edge of the razor - very odd in my estimation!) and the results are following true to form for a hone that has been newly re-discovered, ie it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Regards,
Neil
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Cool, I've never honed on sliced bread :p and bet we could increase the grit rating by toasting ;) Better not mention that there or the value of Hovis might sky rocket.

The grit ratings that AJ puts are bizarre to say the least and totally wrong as natural stones don't have a grit rating.

If people are finding his Purple LM's to be fine finishers that is great and entirely feasible, as far as DT's go I find that with water it improves the edge after a synthetic 6k and using oil produces a slightly crisper edge than water. I am of course talking only about mine as there seems to be quite a variation in these stones.

I use it in a progression before a green finishing hone or Naniwa 12K, that said its not really necessary as I can also go straight from the 6K to the 12K with a light slurry and it works well.
 
Guys, thanks for your replies, it has confirmed exactly what I suspected, especialy the sliced bread part:)

The 12k Naniwa is looking alot more tempting now.
 
It's the old band wagon scenario, someone has re-discovered something that kind of fits the bill, and more importantly is as cheap as chips in comparison to 12k Naniwa's and the like, and it's created a bit of a feeding frenzy.
I have to laugh at the mysticism surrounding hones and honing, "only when you have mastered the elusive 4/8 pyramid, and achieved fulfillment on the altar named Coticule, Grasshopper. Then it will be time for you to go".
I am going to post the 'dust yonder blade with Crocus powder and let the wind do the rest' method on one or two forums, Just watch the sales of Crocus powder go ballistic on e bay.
Am I going to buy a DT, or a LM, or the combo? Probably, why? Because they are cheap enough to experiment with, the worst that can happen is I've got a nice finisher for my chisels.
 
osdset said:
It's the old band wagon scenario, someone has re-discovered something that kind of fits the bill, and more importantly is as cheap as chips in comparison to 12k Naniwa's and the like, and it's created a bit of a feeding frenzy.
I have to laugh at the mysticism surrounding hones and honing, "only when you have mastered the elusive 4/8 pyramid, and achieved fulfillment on the altar named Coticule, Grasshopper. Then it will be time for you to go".
I am going to post the 'dust yonder blade with Crocus powder and let the wind do the rest' method on one or two forums, Just watch the sales of Crocus powder go ballistic on e bay.
Am I going to buy a DT, or a LM, or the combo? Probably, why? Because they are cheap enough to experiment with, the worst that can happen is I've got a nice finisher for my chisels.
Click to expand...

...don't go forgetting the magic wiffle dust...

Regards,
Neil
 
Almost got one today thanks for this post (Had to be guided here by another member is another story) Need to work more on my searching skills
 
Well I got into discussion with AJ and he seems a pretty decent chap. I'm reassured that the LM slate has been sourced from the appropriate area so and he's cutting these down himself and selling them on.

As for the performance, well the purple and green are both pretty close to a Naniwa 12k Superstone but with a lot more work. The Green just has the edge but whether its really like a 15K I can't say. However suspect it will be my go to finisher for a bit.

I also have his "Possible Cutlers Green" to try and will have a play about with it later,
 
Having followed the debate on SRP I decided that the price being asked was worth a punt so I got the larger single stone - the so called Welsh Thuringian as opposed to the 3 stone offer - and following some advice fron Jeltz, I have managed to get some very good results including a first good HHT. I have not managed that on a Coticule yet but that is undoubtedly down to me inexperience. I have to say that the width of the WT is easy to work with so my opinion is that it's well worth the money - at the moment!!
 
Well over the last few days I've played about with these 2 stones using a light oil with PTFE called GT85. I used both to touch up the edge on good shavers which had just gone off the boil a little.

The green (WT) was used on my Dovo Pima Silver Steel and the purple (LM) was used on my Thomas Turner Lancet Edge. Both are excellent shavers and both just needed a little refinement on a blade that could have carried on giving good shaves a while longer but I want great shaves so I refresh the edge more often that may be strictly necessary.

Again both stones produced a similar edge with oil with the green hone being my preference by a slight margin. The edge from oil is more engaging or crisper where as the edge from water is mellower, to be honest that is down to personal preference.

As I see it there is so little between these stones although I do think the green (WT) gives a very slightly more refined edge.

One thing that I am sure on though is that both are great value finishers and IMO more useful than a C12K.
 
Jeltz said:
Well over the last few days I've played about with these 2 stones using a light oil with PTFE called GT85. I used both to touch up the edge on good shavers which had just gone off the boil a little.

The green (WT) was used on my Dovo Pima Silver Steel and the purple (LM) was used on my Thomas Turner Lancet Edge. Both are excellent shavers and both just needed a little refinement on a blade that could have carried on giving good shaves a while longer but I want great shaves so I refresh the edge more often that may be strictly necessary.

Again both stones produced a similar edge with oil with the green hone being my preference by a slight margin. The edge from oil is more engaging or crisper where as the edge from water is mellower, to be honest that is down to personal preference.

As I see it there is so little between these stones although I do think the green (WT) gives a very slightly more refined edge.

One thing that I am sure on though is that both are great value finishers and IMO more useful than a C12K.
Click to expand...

Out of interest how many passes did you use? Also, will use of the GT85 oil preclude use of water in future? I guess you could always use oil on one side and water on the other.
 
The slate isn't very porous so a squirt of washing up liquid and its good to go with water again.

I've been using 80 laps to touch up an edge, my honing stroke is reasonably practiced now so that takes me less than 2 minutes. It might be overkill but seems to work.
 
Jeltz said:
The slate isn't very porous so a squirt of washing up liquid and its good to go with water again.

I've been using 80 laps to touch up an edge, my honing stroke is reasonably practiced now so that takes me less than 2 minutes. It might be overkill but seems to work.
Click to expand...

Following your post I tried the oil on my WT - very sharp but slightly aggressive shave this morning using a Filarmonica 13. I will now try the same razor on a Coticule to see if I can tame it down a little.

All in all, I would say the Welsh slate hones are pretty good value for money at the moment.
 
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