My finest one, and possibly my finest novaculite is probably the most slate like and on that point in not even certain its a llyn idwal but I would bet on it. It's not like green mystery stones from the UK have labels a lot of times but I've yet to get one that I didn't absolutly love. Sometimes you never get an answer but you still get a rock... such is life.
Llyn Idwal/Grecian/Charnley—A Outstanding Finisher-And Looks As Good As It Hones
- Thread starter timwcic
- Start date
Yeah, sometimes definitions of stuff can get a bit blurry at the edges. Idwals usually have some slate-y character to them and there's probably a kina liminal area where stones might possess as much slate-y character as novaculite-y. I was chatting to someone just the other day about a stone I have that I've now begun to accept is probably a Charnley. Almost everything about it says Charnley Forest, except one: I wouldn't call it a novaculite.
Do have a look at the SG though. Idwals tend to go from about 2.72 -2.75. Slates would be 2.78+
I finally got around to checking it this morning. It is on the very high end, 2.91. I also spent a lot more time this morning flattening out and refinishing its surface after seeing that number and treating it more like a very hard JNAT. I was 100% not fully finishing off the surface before, with streaks still in it - it acted much different than fully smoothed out now. I have lost most of the audible feedback it had (even after stirring up with slurry stone). It does however still not leave a perfectly scratch-free finish. I don't find that to be uncommon for almost all European stones though, not even all for-sure Thurnigians I have used will do it. Not sure I am any closer to figuring it out then I was, but open to further input!
Seems to be in slate territory as far as SG goes
Yeah, I'd certainly with what @Wid said above - 2.91 is certainly slate ground rather than novaculite ground (as your original hunch was!).
It's even at the top end of slate hones as well, and visually it perhaps looks more like shale I think. So perhaps I'll fudge it and say I think it's a 'shale-slate', and you'd have guess Welsh. Though TBH - I've not come across anything quite like it, so could be wrong on any or all of those counts.
Cool stone to have!
Just got this one in from the UK. It was sold to me as a Llynn Idwal from a vintage tool dealer.
The stone measures 234x44x16mm with an SG of 2.71. The stone feels and sounds very Ark like. It has a small amount of translucence at the edges. The base colour looks rather CF but there is virtually nothing lin the way of patterns or banding. It’s just a very consistent green colour. There is one tiny chip on one the corners. The couple of smudges there are seem to just be grime from the fitted wood box. The box has that old garage oily smell to it. It doesn’t seem that any oil has penetrated the stone. I did a few diagonals in the side of an Atoma and it looks to be flat.
I’d be interested in the thoughts of the panel on this one.
The stone measures 234x44x16mm with an SG of 2.71. The stone feels and sounds very Ark like. It has a small amount of translucence at the edges. The base colour looks rather CF but there is virtually nothing lin the way of patterns or banding. It’s just a very consistent green colour. There is one tiny chip on one the corners. The couple of smudges there are seem to just be grime from the fitted wood box. The box has that old garage oily smell to it. It doesn’t seem that any oil has penetrated the stone. I did a few diagonals in the side of an Atoma and it looks to be flat.
I’d be interested in the thoughts of the panel on this one.
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Looks pretty Idwally to me. Novaculite looking, that's for sure, and the SG is about bang on my last one. I'd be pretty confident LI.
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That would round out my UK stone collection.
I keep thinking that. Then @cotedupy comes up with something else with a weird Welsh name that nobody can pronounce...
I think he is just making them up at this point. He just randomly flails the keyboard, then says something like "That means old boot by a bucket" and we believe him.
Oh you just wait til I get started on the subtle but important differences between the Penryhyn Heather Plum, Heather Red, and Heather Grey.
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Interesting one Tom. It could be a Grecian, yep. Their colour is a bit more Charn like than other Idwals I think.
Are there any patterns in the stone at all?
Here's a picture of a Grecian I have with very little in terms of pattern. It does have some though, they're kinda wispy, like smoke, and look like they're within the stone rather than on the surface.
(I thought this was a Charn for a while when I got it.)
Well I’ve lapped it and I can
A couple of little white dots. If you get the glancing light onto it you can just make out what looks like layers. It’s very homogeneous.
I’m now picking up a couple reflective speckles.
No patterns. This is the lapped surface. It was hard AF.
A couple of little white dots. If you get the glancing light onto it you can just make out what looks like layers. It’s very homogeneous.
I’m now picking up a couple reflective speckles.
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I actually uploaded a video somewhere of my stone above titled 'Charnley Forest Layers'.
I suspect you've got a Grecian, which might also explain the slightly unusual size.
Your expert council is always appreciated in these matters. The most important thing of course is what you can do with it.
I prepared the surface to 600 WD, burnished with a chisel and rubbed it down with a small Ark to smooth it out. I then put one of my Bengall test razors to the stone for about five minutes. It felt nice. Smooth like an Ark maybe not quite as glassy. It noticeably cleaned up the previous Coti bevel and HHT is also looking good. Worthy of a test shave tomorrow I think.
Nice!
As I said - I'd reasonably confident it's a Grecian (I'll send you a link to something I wrote about them). They're often not quite as fine as the very finest Idwals, though should still be a nice finisher. And my very pure/plain one above is finer than the other two I have. They're a little bit faster than 'normal' Idwals too, if you raise a bit of atoma slurry then the edges on Japanese knife steels are magic.
They're also much less common than regular Idwals, I've probably had 40 or so Idwals, and four have been Grecians. Cool stone to have.
[EDIT - Having just looked at some pictures of my recent stones too: it could just be a very pure Idwal, rather than a Grecian. TBH the differences I mentioned are pretty small anyway. You wouldn't notice them unless you'd had a lot of this type of stone.]
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I don't know. Looks a lot like my Llyn Idwal. And Tom's stone also has the little white specks. See:
www.badgerandblade.com
Llyn Idwal/Grecian/Charnley—A Outstanding Finisher-And Looks As Good As It Hones
Bought my first Llyn Idwal today - fine grit 9.1 x 2 x 0.8 inch green with dark markings from a known seller on eBay. I have been watching these stones for about six months with the goal of finding a 2-inch-wide stone less than 1-inch thick that I can hand hold. Thought it would be fun to own a...
www.badgerandblade.com
These two stones look quite a lot alike. Mine was also very Ark like to lap, in use and in the resulting edge. I think I like it.I don't know. Looks a lot like my Llyn Idwal. And Tom's stone also has the little white specks. See:
Llyn Idwal/Grecian/Charnley—A Outstanding Finisher-And Looks As Good As It Hones
Bought my first Llyn Idwal today - fine grit 9.1 x 2 x 0.8 inch green with dark markings from a known seller on eBay. I have been watching these stones for about six months with the goal of finding a 2-inch-wide stone less than 1-inch thick that I can hand hold. Thought it would be fun to own a...
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On the subject of Grecians, I've got a stone I suspect may be one, but I'd like a second opinion. Sold to me as a Llyn Idwal on UK ebay, 8x1-9/16x3/4", shape somewhat irregular. Standard greenish grey coloration, perhaps slightly paler than average, slight translucence, faint wavelike pattern perpendicular to the long axis of the stone, scattered stable cracks (the blacksmith in me wants to call them cold shuts), and a few inkstain like brownish spots (in form more like shadows just below the surface of water than discrete inclusions of foreign matter). There's one notable chip on the back side that seems very characteristically novaculite-like, perhaps conchoidal even. A bit difficult to photograph truly accurately, hence the detailed description.
Results in use are excellent. It has become one of my top knife stones, being unusually fast on water, but when slurried with a smaller piece of Idwal, which is fairly easy as it's very soft for a novaculite, it forms a chalky feeling slurry that removes material almost as fast as a 1000 grit synth. It's much coarser than my other two Idwals, I'd estimate somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 grit on plain water, an ideal long lasting toothy edge for kitchen, hunting, and butchery knives. As mentioned, it's very soft for a novaculite and resists burnishing, with a rather satiny look to the surface. Whatever it is, it's a gem of a stone in any case, albeit not for razors.
Results in use are excellent. It has become one of my top knife stones, being unusually fast on water, but when slurried with a smaller piece of Idwal, which is fairly easy as it's very soft for a novaculite, it forms a chalky feeling slurry that removes material almost as fast as a 1000 grit synth. It's much coarser than my other two Idwals, I'd estimate somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 grit on plain water, an ideal long lasting toothy edge for kitchen, hunting, and butchery knives. As mentioned, it's very soft for a novaculite and resists burnishing, with a rather satiny look to the surface. Whatever it is, it's a gem of a stone in any case, albeit not for razors.
Yep, there's a lot there that says Grecian to me, almost everything in fact.
A similar looking and sounding stone to this perhaps? This is the coarsest Grecian I have, though I'm not sure I'd put mine quite as low as 2k. Simply superb knife edges.
Looks like a match to me. Thanks for the confirmation. I'm making my estimation of grit based on the finish it leaves compared to known synths, in this case my naniwa 2k green brick is the most similar scratch pattern.Yep, there's a lot there that says Grecian to me, almost everything in fact.
A similar looking and sounding stone to this perhaps? This is the coarsest Grecian I have, though I'm not sure I'd put mine quite as low as 2k. Simply superb knife edges.
