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Llyn Idwal info/opinion

Looking for info/opinions on Llyn Idwal stone. Thinking of getting one. Would this be good finisher after a coticule?
Would you use it with slurry or just water or oil? I found some info on here and other places, but it all seems to have come form the same place. So very little other than it is just like a CF stone and a finisher.
Anyone here have any experience with this stone?
 
They leave a toothy, but very sharp edge when you have a good piece. Why not just get a sb or trans ark?

My understanding was that it left a very keen yet smooth edge. I don't know, but thought the Ark's are not as smooth. Plus they seem a higher price than the Llyn I am looking at and I will most likely only use water most of the time.
 
How big is the piece? More is more with novaculite. I would think arks and the razor fininishing level cf are at the tip top of the novaculite pecking order. Probably the finest turkish oilstone and LI are in the tier after that.
 
9 in. It looks greenish gray with some black dots. I read some LI can be just like the CF as a finisher. Apparently this one polishes an edge extremely well. Not sure if that was off water or oil though.
 
I would use glycerin mixed with water or oil on that. Probably the former... If the price is right, I say go for it
 
Mine leaves a decent edge. Basically it's good enough and LI's are valued low enough I'm hanging onto it as a collector piece, but if I didn't have one, I'd not be in a hurry to buy one. If I had a coticule that my LI improved on significantly, I'd replace or relearn the coticule before using the LI after it. I'd definitely go SB/trans ark over LI, every day of the week.
 
You can read about a 'type' of stone all day long and still not know a damn thing about the one in your hand.

Try it - see what it does or rather - what you can do with it. Then you'll know. Until then - all you know is what someone elste thinks about someone elses stone.
 
I thought Ark edges were more on the crisp side. Maybe that is why I never really thought of getting one. I don't know why I am drawn to the Llyn Idwal. I may have to try it. The lack of info on them and what the owner says about it has peaked my interest I guess. I guess I like trying different.

No one answered the question of slurry on such a stone. Do they not use slurry on these or CF? I am thinking not, because I have never seen or heard about it in my reading.
 
I would not slurry any of these stones discussed

It depends on your use! The LI stones can be good performers on the usage on a lower grit thinking...this means working with a thicker slurry they can be quite fast....i have a comparable feeling on the Bavarian Frankonian even when the range on the LI stones is a smaller one...
 
Thats why i wrote it depends on your use ;-) i would use a LI with oil because it has the name "welsh oil stone"....
 
found some more reading on them and it says they can be used with a slurry and finished on water only.
 
Yeah, but that kind of rock never behaves as finely as it could if you don't and just leave the surface to wear in and condition
 
I agree with Sebastian. The Lynn Idwal should be used with oil... Weapon oil works fine. However I wouldn't use it as a finisher. My grit estimate is about 8-9k. A coticule leaves a finer edge IMHO.

If you want to use a English finisher then the Charnley forest is the hone to those. It looks like a LI, but is way harder and leaves a finer finish. Grit estimate is 12-15k

A CF is slow. If a Escher needs15 strokes to finish a razor, then my CF needs 35-40. But the result is the same.

I've put in a picture of my LI and CF. the CF is the biggest...
 

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Yeah I am looking for something that will improve on my coticule edges. I get a great shave from just the coticule, but I like to have options and I think I may have HAD. So I will most likely look more toward a CF, if I find one at a good price. I am not a fan of using oil though. I really like water. I started with coticule partially for that reason. Funny how I don't mind the extra work of doing even hundreds of laps just to not have the bother of oil. My only oil stones are my grandfathers which I use to set bevels. I hate the smell of these things even.
 
Well LI os a oilstone as well. But I've have cleaned an lapped both stones in the picture. I've tried honing with water and glycerin, that's work ok.

But oil is better on both. I use WD40. I think it smells ok. It's a bit messy but when used correctly less messy then water.

You need a micro fibre cloth to wipe the stone after use.

With a CF you don't need slurry. The stone works better/finer when it has been used to hone a chisel or some other tools. I think there are some threads about it here or on SRP.

The hone takes some time to get used to. But I personally think the honing results match my best thuringiens. It just slower.

With the CFs the ones cut earliest are said to be a bit faster and softer then the Rock of later date.

I don't know if that's true. The hone haven't been cut in about 80 years, so all hones are old. I've asked AJ from eBay. He probably knows most about these hones. He's aids that all the hones he have tried are slow. He can't say that anyone is faster, then others.

But some experts from Belgium claims that it is so in this hone guide. There's a lot about all the British hones. Do read it, interesting stuff.

http://bosq.home.xs4all.nl/info 20m/grinding_and_honing_part_3.pdf
 
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