rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
In late 2018 I was visiting a friend in Goght, Arminia. While there, I met a gentleman who had a small knife/blade factory making knives and straight razors. These items were all hand made using imported steel with most being exported to eastern and northern Europe. At the end of my factory tour, the owner wanted to give me one of their knives. Unfortunately I was travelling with carry-on only so had to decline. As an alternative, he gave me a whetstone telling me that it was about 3k grit and quarried near by.
The stone is 160mm x 50mm x 10mm (6.25" x 2" x 7/16") and still bore the score marks from being cut in the rough. When I returned home to Cebu, I put the stone away and forgot about it. Last weekend I rediscovered this stone while rummaging through my "treasures" and thought that I would clean it up a bit.
I first lapped one side flat and smooth. While lapping, I found the stone to be about medium hard - not soft but not as hard as my grandfathers finishing stone. After lapping, I tried in-hand honing one of my high carbon steel straight razors on it. I was pleasantly surprised with the result. I also discovered that it was difficult to properly hold the stone, being only 10mm thick.
Having some left-over balsa wood from making balsa strops, I decided to mount this stone on some balsa wood so that I could have a better/safer grip. I glued some of the scrap balsa wood together using epoxy glue and then glued the stone to the balsa wood using rubber glue. The whole setup is now 30mm (1.25") thick and has a total mass of just 250g (8.75oz).
This whetstone is now comfortable to hold and protects my delicate manicure. Next I will apply some acrylic paint to the balsa wood (only) to make it reasonably waterproof.
The stone has an interesting characteristic that became evident after lapping. There are small streaks of a different mineral flecked vertically throughout the stone. I am not sure what they contribute, if anything, to the honing process.
I first lapped one side flat and smooth. While lapping, I found the stone to be about medium hard - not soft but not as hard as my grandfathers finishing stone. After lapping, I tried in-hand honing one of my high carbon steel straight razors on it. I was pleasantly surprised with the result. I also discovered that it was difficult to properly hold the stone, being only 10mm thick.
Having some left-over balsa wood from making balsa strops, I decided to mount this stone on some balsa wood so that I could have a better/safer grip. I glued some of the scrap balsa wood together using epoxy glue and then glued the stone to the balsa wood using rubber glue. The whole setup is now 30mm (1.25") thick and has a total mass of just 250g (8.75oz).
The stone has an interesting characteristic that became evident after lapping. There are small streaks of a different mineral flecked vertically throughout the stone. I am not sure what they contribute, if anything, to the honing process.
