I'm trying to talk myself into or out of buying what I expect is Charnley but am hesitating because I've seen mention that they are rather variable in their razor finishing ability. Of course that's true of all natural stone but maybe these more than most? Do the ones that finish well tend to be the more uniform ones? Are the spots some of them have a good sign or bad (could be a feature like the maganese in coticule)? Or you basically have to roll the dice and see what you get? Here's what I'm contemplating:
Do Charnleys have any tells?
- Thread starter str8six
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In my experience with them nothing is really reliable outside of buying one from someone trusted who guarantees it is razor finishing grade
It's kind of a roll of the dice, especially if they are all oil covered. But if it is not quite fine enough to finish a razor, that would probably make it good for finishing knives.
I really couldn't tell you, but I can say this one is really good and it's darker than the picture indicates.
Hard, slow, great edges.
Hard, slow, great edges.
The hit rate is high with Charnley’s. I’d say they are worth the gamble. I’ve had a few and I have not had a bad one.
I have yet to get one of these soft excellent knife CF out of all the ones I have bought all have been hard razor quality. My first one came from a guy on Ebay selling because he was a knife guy and it was too hard and fine for him. So that was a good tell.
I"ve had a bunch.
Many were tool-grade, softer, coarser, whatever you wanna call it.
Had a long talk with an old school boot-sale flipper and Charnwood fan, his experiences were similar.
I've had people sell me 'excellent' 'very hard' Razor finishing' Charns and they were softer than I wanted or expected after the description. What people think and what I find to be the reality are often not in alignment.
The old 'rule' of thumb was that the less colorful the stone, more likely it was to be harder and considered to be harder/finer.
Contrasting that, the nicest Charn for razors I had did not have a drab appearance and was more glassy/translucent than most.
If I had to make a generalization, I'd say that the smaller size stones, paddle mounted stones, etc I've had all proved to be more of a razor hone to me. A few of the larger types in oil soaked caskets were ok/good also. Certainly, the softer ones can still be used for razor honing. It's just that the harder types were much better and what I really wanted to work with.
Similarly I used to have a very good all white Hard Ark that I 'could' finish on, but the Translucent was the real deal finisher.
Remember, the Charn 'variety' covers a lot of ground. There are sellers all over moving rock as Charnwood when it's more of a guess than reality - and quite doubtful in many cases. I think the old school users identified 4-6 'basic' Charn types. I'd guess there are more.
The only real tell would be if the seller was well known by many people for producing great finishes on razors with a particular stone.
If the stone in question isn't expensive, might be worth a gamble. Might turn out to be a dud, or meh or good enough or actually very good.
Many were tool-grade, softer, coarser, whatever you wanna call it.
Had a long talk with an old school boot-sale flipper and Charnwood fan, his experiences were similar.
I've had people sell me 'excellent' 'very hard' Razor finishing' Charns and they were softer than I wanted or expected after the description. What people think and what I find to be the reality are often not in alignment.
The old 'rule' of thumb was that the less colorful the stone, more likely it was to be harder and considered to be harder/finer.
Contrasting that, the nicest Charn for razors I had did not have a drab appearance and was more glassy/translucent than most.
If I had to make a generalization, I'd say that the smaller size stones, paddle mounted stones, etc I've had all proved to be more of a razor hone to me. A few of the larger types in oil soaked caskets were ok/good also. Certainly, the softer ones can still be used for razor honing. It's just that the harder types were much better and what I really wanted to work with.
Similarly I used to have a very good all white Hard Ark that I 'could' finish on, but the Translucent was the real deal finisher.
Remember, the Charn 'variety' covers a lot of ground. There are sellers all over moving rock as Charnwood when it's more of a guess than reality - and quite doubtful in many cases. I think the old school users identified 4-6 'basic' Charn types. I'd guess there are more.
The only real tell would be if the seller was well known by many people for producing great finishes on razors with a particular stone.
If the stone in question isn't expensive, might be worth a gamble. Might turn out to be a dud, or meh or good enough or actually very good.
Gamma's experience mostly parallels mine, but a lot of what I've considered Charnley turned out to maybe be some other stone from the region.
I've had a few that were clearly Charnleys... but in general... I'd rather have an Arkansas.
I've had a few that were clearly Charnleys... but in general... I'd rather have an Arkansas.
- Thread starter
- #9
Thanks that clinches it for me. Some of the others' enthusiasm nearly pushed me over but I do have an Arkansas that I enjoy and Dan's has ensured it's clean and flat for me whereas this one will take a lot of not-especially-fun work to get to the point where it seems I'll most likely realise I prefer what I already have. Curiosity and HAD got me close though, appreciate you bringing me back from the brink.
Give it some time and you'll be back with your toes hanging over the edge.
That's just how it works.
That's just how it works.
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