Some pictures of a white tam, this new dark tam, and a stone that I used to call a dark tam but now I think is a woa.
Water of Ayr, Tam O'Shanter, and the Scotch hone
- Thread starter LJS
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And this thread has some good pictures of a smaller Stone I sold recently that I'm almost positive has all three.
www.badgerandblade.com
Tam O'Shanter-Water Of Ayr Combo. A Interesting Mystery Stone
a 7" one sold earlier this week for a decent price and I won this one yesterday. There's a few up right now but they're the little ones (used for cleaning up solder joints if memory serves). They're not super duper rare, but they're certainly not common.
www.badgerandblade.com
Ya, the one on the right is WOA IMO.
Thanks. One of those stones that will probably always be an "I think it's a..." in my collection; just because I don't have enough experience with WoA myself to be sure... but it does feel and act like the ones I've used.
So I shaved off the black/dark tam (middle stone), and it's on par with the best I ever got off that little paddle "New Vein Ayrstone" I sold awhile back (and that stone was picky about razors, almost as bad as a Yellow Lake in that respect). Definitely a very decent shave. Way above typical for a Tam O Shanter. I was using a razor that seems to make every stone seem good though, so I'll have to try off a different razor next shave. But HHT was absolutely top notch. Root in, Silent falls 1"+ out that seemed to happen before the hair even touched the edge. Lightning sharp.
Shave didn't feel that sharp, but is only a smidge under Thuri/etc close and was darn comfy too. Safe too, I treated it like a coti edge... most edges should have cut me and I didn't get a nick or scrape anywhere. Really, Really impressive. Well above any Tam O I've had before (Maybe 6 or 8 total? including 2 other dark/black ones).
I collect Tams to use with knives, just shaved off this one because I always like to check new stones to see if they're exceptions.
So I shaved off the black/dark tam (middle stone), and it's on par with the best I ever got off that little paddle "New Vein Ayrstone" I sold awhile back (and that stone was picky about razors, almost as bad as a Yellow Lake in that respect). Definitely a very decent shave. Way above typical for a Tam O Shanter. I was using a razor that seems to make every stone seem good though, so I'll have to try off a different razor next shave. But HHT was absolutely top notch. Root in, Silent falls 1"+ out that seemed to happen before the hair even touched the edge. Lightning sharp.
Shave didn't feel that sharp, but is only a smidge under Thuri/etc close and was darn comfy too. Safe too, I treated it like a coti edge... most edges should have cut me and I didn't get a nick or scrape anywhere. Really, Really impressive. Well above any Tam O I've had before (Maybe 6 or 8 total? including 2 other dark/black ones).
I collect Tams to use with knives, just shaved off this one because I always like to check new stones to see if they're exceptions.
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- #85
One on right sure looks to be WoA to me as well.
Glad your new one may be a shaver. I have had some really good edges, but certainly not all stones and sometimes not all razors/steels.
Your old labeled paddle “new vein Ayrstone” always puzzled me. It was an outlier visually to me but who can argue with a label (slight joke given the history of snake stones and the multiple mines). But the way they intentionally named it similarly but not just calling it Water if Ayr always stood out to me.
Glad your new one may be a shaver. I have had some really good edges, but certainly not all stones and sometimes not all razors/steels.
Your old labeled paddle “new vein Ayrstone” always puzzled me. It was an outlier visually to me but who can argue with a label (slight joke given the history of snake stones and the multiple mines). But the way they intentionally named it similarly but not just calling it Water if Ayr always stood out to me.
It was a weird one alright... Didn't have that tooth to it that they usually have but I wasn't sure if that was the stone or just the fact that it was so narrow changing the feel.
Ok so shave 2, different razor.
I will say based on USE, this may become my favorite razor stone. Every thing I love about Tam O's with my knives this stone replicates with my razors. Using it I feel I could draw a picture of the topography of the edge and bevel like a blind person drawing a portrait after feeling someone's face. Feedback is magical.
The Shave? Again very very good... but I'd say still maybe just a hair below what I tend to get from Jnats/Thuris/PDSO's. It was kind of an unnecessary shave (still pretty smooth from yesterday), so that probably worked against it. I may skip tomorrow and give it a third go Thursday before I really judge... but it's VERY sharp and comfortable... and it's really splitting hairs to say it's not up in the top tier... It's darn close... and I wouldn't even call the other Tams I've owned razor finishers... at all... so that's impressive.
I will say based on USE, this may become my favorite razor stone. Every thing I love about Tam O's with my knives this stone replicates with my razors. Using it I feel I could draw a picture of the topography of the edge and bevel like a blind person drawing a portrait after feeling someone's face. Feedback is magical.
The Shave? Again very very good... but I'd say still maybe just a hair below what I tend to get from Jnats/Thuris/PDSO's. It was kind of an unnecessary shave (still pretty smooth from yesterday), so that probably worked against it. I may skip tomorrow and give it a third go Thursday before I really judge... but it's VERY sharp and comfortable... and it's really splitting hairs to say it's not up in the top tier... It's darn close... and I wouldn't even call the other Tams I've owned razor finishers... at all... so that's impressive.
Several years back, I went through a localized natural progression period. That led me to search for a Dalmore blue > TOS > WoA progression. Eventually, I arrived at an unlabelled Dalmore, and a labelled Scotch dual hone. I recall that the edge that resulted from the said progression shaved pretty well, but was certainly not the best I'd obtained. The edge had a kind of "sharpness shrouded in smoothness" that I'd felt from anonymous Jnats, 10k Super Stones, and Thuris used with water w/o a slurry. Perhaps repeated leather stropping would have upped the edge a notch, but at the time, I was into playing with as many stones as possible with junk razors, so I just moved on.
So shave 3 was a pretty big step down but still a decent shave. Shave four was right back to what I expect from a tam o. The surface of this must have been really broken in and in use I got it cleaned up so no miracle tam o... Just a normal one after all.
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- #90
It was lapped when I got it so I just started honing... So I have to ask the seller what his final finish on it was.
I have actually been enjoying the dalmore on the back of the white tam dual hone more than I remember from the last time but it has been years. It's a very nice jump off point from synths.
So I tried the new dark tam again about a week ago, and it was back to being a pretty good shave like the second or third shave, but not the quality of the first shave... Definitely a curious Stone... going to need to spend some time with, but I have a feeling once I take a knife to it I'm going to fall in love with it for knives and completely forget about trying it with razors again.
The Celebrated "Tam O'Shanter" Scotch Honing Rod...
Interesting, I assume early, label I saw recently. Which specifically instructs against using oil:
My new stone has them, suspected lyn idwal. I don't know but it feels super fine, I haven't been able to coax anything that feels sharp out of it yet, but time will tell.
Don't have it anymore, unfortunately, but wanted to lump it in here for visual reference.
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- #98
Just scored this Ayr for a fine price. Sometimes being in Australia is helpful for rare items.
I've been interested in the dalmores and Tams, idon't know about water of ayr stones but in always interested in new hones.What would you proprietors and purveyors of rare gems and minerals rate these stones equivalent to? I finally got my lyn idwal honing well. It really likes blades off of my soft white washita. Are they also forms of novaculite like lyn idwals and charnley forest stones? Are dalmores a sandstone?
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