Hi, stop me if I'm being way out there but I've seen Jasper hones offered I think from ragweed forge. Are they suitable for razors? According to a knife forum they rate somewhere between a black and translucient arkansas stone. I've got friends at my local rock hound club and I was thinking of getting them to cut me a piece. Jasper is a form of Chert as far as I know but mostly I thought it would make a really attractive hone. I do love stones in general. What other rocks are good? I know the Belgian hones are tops but I was wondering if there may be a local equivalent, garnets are found around the world and generaly occur in a clay like substrate so what makes the coticule unique?
Anyone tried jasper as a hone?
- Thread starter ClinchKnives
- Start date
Yea I know you can pick up any rock from your back yard and it will make a super hone right?
The reason people spend the big bucks for a coticule or other hone is because they have been using these specific hones a very long time and they work the best. What makes a hone superior is a very limited number of qualities the stone has and there really aren't that many scattered over the world. Its not just that the coticule has garnets. Garnets are very common but its a matter of the right matrix and the right kind of garnets and the right size and the right distribution throughout the hone. So if you want to use that rock from your back yard and you think it works then use it. Guys have used all kinds of things. For most of us we use the tried and true materials.
The reason people spend the big bucks for a coticule or other hone is because they have been using these specific hones a very long time and they work the best. What makes a hone superior is a very limited number of qualities the stone has and there really aren't that many scattered over the world. Its not just that the coticule has garnets. Garnets are very common but its a matter of the right matrix and the right kind of garnets and the right size and the right distribution throughout the hone. So if you want to use that rock from your back yard and you think it works then use it. Guys have used all kinds of things. For most of us we use the tried and true materials.
- Thread starter
- #4
Well, I didn't quite mean any old rock, vikings apparently used Jasper hones. The review of that particular hone was written by a woodworker who uses it for touch up as he works. Razor edges are probably finer than plane blades so I wanted to know if anyone had used jasper on a razor and what results they got.. I know the Belgium stones are sedimentary so they are a mixture and could well be unique. I also love the tradition of using the same stones the romans used. My brother lives there and I'm getting him to bring one the next time he comes to visit. I'm a traditional kind of guy which Is one of the reasons for using a straight 
Here in South Africa we have a huge wealth of minirals and so my question was more about what qualities make an excellent hone. There seem to be many choices and even variance in coticules. It seems silly not to do a bit of research with the hopes of finding something that foots the bill and is more available
Here in South Africa we have a huge wealth of minirals and so my question was more about what qualities make an excellent hone. There seem to be many choices and even variance in coticules. It seems silly not to do a bit of research with the hopes of finding something that foots the bill and is more available
i think i have one. I am not sure it is 100% or not. some people said it is grave yard stone some said jasper. if you like i can put up picture of it.
ok this is the pictures. hope you like it.
Well, I didn't quite mean any old rock, vikings apparently used Jasper hones. The review of that particular hone was written by a woodworker who uses it for touch up as he works. Razor edges are probably finer than plane blades so I wanted to know if anyone had used jasper on a razor and what results they got.. I know the Belgium stones are sedimentary so they are a mixture and could well be unique. I also love the tradition of using the same stones the romans used. My brother lives there and I'm getting him to bring one the next time he comes to visit. I'm a traditional kind of guy which Is one of the reasons for using a straight
Here in South Africa we have a huge wealth of minirals and so my question was more about what qualities make an excellent hone. There seem to be many choices and even variance in coticules. It seems silly not to do a bit of research with the hopes of finding something that foots the bill and is more available
I think you asked a legitimate question, and I admire your curiosity.
Thanks also for the gentlemanly response to a less than gentlemanly answer to your question.
There are folks here who are very wise in the ways of honing and hones, and I'm sure that one with the knowledge and patience to answer your question will be along sooner rather than later.
Good luck.
I think its a good question. I admire your curiosity. I know someone who is trying out slate right now; and while I'm pretty sure slate won't work, I fully support his efforts, because maybe it will.
If its rated as between black and translucent Arkansas, then it should be fit in as either an 8k stone or a finishing stone. Either case, it certainly *sounds* like you could shave with the edge off the jasper hone as described. Also sounds like they're pretty inexpensive. I say pick one up and give it a shot. Worst that can happen is that it gets relegated to knife honing only duty.
I have no doubt the vikings used jasper to hone axes, swords and knives but straights are a different matter.
Unless the color is off that doesn't look like jasper to me. jasper is simply fined grained quartz with a lot of iron in it which gives it a very red color. Its hard to say what it is unless you see a non weathered edge but its probably some type of quartz.
Unless the color is off that doesn't look like jasper to me. jasper is simply fined grained quartz with a lot of iron in it which gives it a very red color. Its hard to say what it is unless you see a non weathered edge but its probably some type of quartz.
Hmm.
From the Mineral Zone:
From the Mineral Zone:
i too picked up a piece of slate to try to make a hone with about two weeks ago (haven't started yet though) and since it only cost £2 i felt the same way, besides ill enjoy trying and probably learn a thing or two in the process. i think i've seen a few slate hones for straights on ebay before, maybe wrongly listed though. as far as the ops situation goes id say definitely give it a try, hones are made from specific stones and carefully selected but thats not to say that only those types of stones work or that you cant carefully select your own stone from whats available and make a perfectly use-able hone, imo.
- Thread starter
- #12
Thanks for the encouragement guys, I'll do some tests and get back to you with pics. Unfortunately I don't have a microscope to take pictures of the edge but I do have a 10x jewelers loupe. I think especially with the jasper that it may not be abrasive enough to set the edge but could polish it nicely. From what I've read you can go from start to finish on a coticule and that's where the beauty lies, only needing one stone. More to come in the next few weeks
- Thread starter
- #13
Thanks for the pics Chess1, I can't rightly tell if that's jasper but it does prove that different stones can be used. My grandfather was a prospector in Zimbabwe (then Rhodisia) so maybe it's just in the blood for me to be seeking valuble little pieces of earth. This is one of the great things about wet shaving, so many variables, soaps, creams, DE, straight, brushes, hones we each get to pick our preferences and we're all correct because we all end up with baby like skin. And if you don't, there are plenty of people standing by to point you in a better direction
As a test, you could get a fully shave ready razor, take a close look at the edge through your loupe, then do a couple passes on the jasper and look again. You should be able to see the scratches on the edge if it's coarse at all, and with just a pass or 2 it shouldn't take much to polish back out.
Just a hair-brained idea...
Just a hair-brained idea...
- Thread starter
- #15
Hi all, I finally got myself a piece of jasper, lapped it on a diamond plate and tried it first on my pocket and kitchen knives with great results. Shaving sharp knives. I wouldn't use it to try set an edge but for touch ups and refining it worked nicely. Things didn't go so well with the razor however, I took the edge off a shave ready one and tried to put it back with the hone. It worked up to shaving arm hair so I moved to the strop and tried to shave with it. While it did shave to a degree, it wasn't back to where it was before. Very possibly it's my honing/stropping technique and not the stone's fault. There is an inclusion of slightly harder (quartz I think) stone which the blade skips across which may be ruining the effect. The jasper part of the hone makes a lovely sharpening noise. So, all in all, I have a nice touch up stone for the kitchen etc. If I can find a more uniform piece with no inclusions I'll try again.
can you post picture of the stone?
- Thread starter
- #17
This is the piece I got from a hobbyist, it's an offcut from a piece he was using to cut cabochons. I think someone with more experience would be able to be more helpful as to how it shapes up to other stones. I can't say if my problem was with the stone, my technique or my stropping. I can say my kitchen knives are sharper than when I use the lansky crock sticks
