English Stones
- Thread starter cotedupy
- Start date
MichaelS
Forum GOD!
Nice photo, ancestor of today's very fine 'Chinese 12k stone'? That musket ball would have caused quite some damage! I've always used Micromesh 12k for smoothening pen nibs but I'll look into trying some razor finishing hones instead (Micromesh is horribly expensive and wears out quick), great idea thanks!
Vacumatic
Testy
The musket ball was found at the side of the Thames a few years ago, a treasured find.
A skilled and professional nib expert uses stones such as Arkansas stones but he reshapes nibs more than I do. I use very smooth stones, feels around 1000 grit moving on to polished flint and then polished stones. I have used polished copper/brass/aluminium in the past, they all work well. I haven't been for a while but B and Q used to sell Chinese polished river stones in the gardening section, all sorts of sizes and colours, used for decorative purposes but just as useful for nib smoothing and a few other purposes too.
cotedupy
Guru
Lovely! I believe these more muted khaki-coloured ones are meant to be some of the oldest - don't see them very often. Ones like my big one with the pretty, brighter green are more common now. But I think you'd find stone geeks would get more excited about yours.My lone Charnley...
Again this is from HB:
cotedupy
Guru
Very cool! I always wondered whether you could use agate for anything like this. Could you use on a razor for final polishing? Or is it just not going to do anything at all to hardened steel?
cotedupy
Guru
Glad you've enjoyed guys! Though you don't want to get me started on Washitas and Turkish Oilstones...
I'll give a shout if I'm looking to move one on at any point. With the exception of Washitas and Turkish I don't tend to hoard millions of examples of particular stones, and occasionally have a cull to free up space, and get funds for new stuff.
They were, yep; oil makes pretty much any stone a bit quicker, though with CFs the difference isn't as noticeable as with some. Because of that I tend to use with water, and start with slurry to speed them up instead, as obviously you can't really use a slurry stone with oil.
BlacknTan
Forum GOD!
Any experience with the Covenant stones from the Negev of Israel, The Zulu Grey's from South Africa, or the new ones from the mine on private property in France.. Black Beauty? I'll get the proper name...?
I'm sorry.. Black Shadow..
Sharpening – Griffith Shaving Goods
I'm sorry.. Black Shadow..
Sharpening – Griffith Shaving Goods
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cotedupy
Guru
Getting proper niche now!
.I have a few small koppa of the Convenant stones, which are mega-fine, final finishing touches type thing. I must give a proper go at some point, as my razor honing is now probably just about good enough to use quite small stones. They're way too fine for what I like on knife edges.
Haven't used the other two, BB reviews seem to be positive, though I presume they've been sending a lot of samples out to people, and it's a bit difficult to be negative. And would quite like to try a ZG at some point, they also seem to have a good reputation.
(There was actually an old Pike Barber's Hone called 'Black Beauty' I think.)
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MichaelS
Forum GOD!
I have the Zulu Grey, which works very well for me as a final finisher, I'll pull out and post.
I'm unsure what to think of the new, in-house stones from 1STONE ('Black Shadow', 'Green Shadow', 'La Lune', their own 'hybrid coticules') and haven't tried any. Waiting for more reviews.....
www.1stone.fr
I'm unsure what to think of the new, in-house stones from 1STONE ('Black Shadow', 'Green Shadow', 'La Lune', their own 'hybrid coticules') and haven't tried any. Waiting for more reviews.....
Toutes les Pierres 1STONE | 1STONE
Toutes les pierres 1STONE issues de notre propre fabrication sont présentées ici. Un excellent choix à un prix des plus raisonnables.
www.1stone.fr
Mastropiero
Forum GOD!
I just found this thread and I am speechless at the amount of knowledge (and, to a point, the amount of geekiness 
).
Excellent stuff, thanks for sharing!!
). Excellent stuff, thanks for sharing!!
cotedupy
Guru
Very nice... always good to see examples without all those gaudy red streaks that people go in for!My Charnley finishing hone, 9 x 1.5 inches, rough cut, hard/glassy, dark green with black spots. I use with oil and it gives a very fine edge.
It's interesting too because even though it doesn't have them, there's still something about the look that is very Charnley. The way the markings are on Idwals is just a bit different; less cloudy, more defined.
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MichaelS
Forum GOD!
@Mastropiero , welcome to the geek clubI just found this thread and I am speechless at the amount of knowledge (and, to a point, the amount of geekiness
Excellent stuff, thanks for sharing!!
, looking forward to your future contributions and photos please, thanks!
Mastropiero
Forum GOD!
I appreciate the welcome but I am afraid I would be a source of continuos disappointment. I own but two natural stones, and 95% of the time I only use my Escher. I do love to read about them, but I'd much rather keep the variables in check and get proficient with one stone only.@Mastropiero , welcome to the geek club
Will stick around though, definitely.
