Rock hounds??

[Wid]

I just picked this up at a local antique shop. Was told it came out of the local butcher shop some 20+ years ago and while cleaning up the shops basement this, along with other pieces, this was found.

I’m assuming it is a type of slate. It’s pretty rough right now but I’m going to cut it down to as close to two 8” long pieces as I can get. I have some sic powder that I’ll to try to flatten them and finish off with. I have up to 600 sic.

Any and all opinions welcome.

I’m

 

[kcb5150]

Cutting it would be a shame, you so rarely see such from factors.

 

[Wid]

Cutting it would be a shame, you so rarely see such from factors.

I must say it’s a first for me. There are more if I decide I wanted such a massive stone.

 

[duke762]

Kosher butcher?

 

[cotedupy]

It is a slate yep. In terms of the size of the particles it's not the finest, but that may not have a massive bearing on how it is in use - a lot will depend on how hard it is. If it's very hard then that won't matter too much. And it looks to have a reasonable quartz content, which is good.

There's also some mica formation, which happens with further metamorphic change. And would be coupled with the rock becoming harder, and less friable especially between the layers. So that's good too .

Nice find! Looking forward to hearing what you think after using it.

(I've made quite a lot of slate whetstones, they're interesting and can be excellent. Never the fastest of cutters, but that one looks potentially very good, especially for knife sharpening. A lot will depend on the bind though.)

 

[Wid]

Kosher butcher?

Not that i'm aware of

 

[eKretz]

I'd try it out. Whatcha waiting for?

 

[Wid]

I'd try it out. Whatcha waiting for?

I’ll be giving it a go pretty soon. What little I tried last night had good results. Just got done with a couple of pieces.

 

[Wid]

Did a water displacement test and it came out to 2.85.

 

[Wid]

Tried the stone on an ERN tonight. The resulting shave was pretty darn nice. Got a decent HHT right off the stone.

Only did 50 passes on an already shave ready razor.

 

[stone and strop]

There are more if I decide I wanted such a massive stone.

I'll take one!
Pm me if you go back.

 

[cotedupy]

Very cool! Isn't it interesting how in many natural stones the particle size has almost no bearing on effective grit level. If that stone were softer it definitely wouldn't have been suitable for a razor. The other factor at play is that metamorphic change also compresses and rounds the quartz in a stone, making it less aggressive. One of the reasons that generally speaking slate is slower than say a sandstone or mustone.

Your last pictures make it look more schist-y or phyllite-y than slate-y btw, but they all seem to be slightly blurry terms for similar things at different stages of metamorphosis.

 

[Wid]

Very cool! Isn't it interesting how in many natural stones the particle size has almost no bearing on effective grit level. If that stone were softer it definitely wouldn't have been suitable for a razor. The other factor at play is that metamorphic change also compresses and rounds the quartz in a stone, making it less aggressive. One of the reasons that generally speaking slate is slower than say a sandstone or mustone.

You're last pictures make it look more schist-y or phyllite-y than slate-y btw, but they all seem to be slightly blurry terms for similar things at different stages of metamorphosis.

To be honest I really don’t know what it is other than it seems to work well. Thank you for the explanations.

 

[cotedupy]

To be honest I really don’t know what it is other than it seems to work well. Thank you for the explanations.

I knew nothing about any of it until I started making some whetstones / hones out of local Willunga slate. And then was very excited to discover that Willunga was home to 'Australia's Only Slate Museum'. (Can you believe there's only one!? ).

Bizarrely my wife didn't seem to enjoy it quite as much as I did. A slightly surreal affair... it was in a small building plonked in the middle of a field, and included such fascinating displays as; a cornish pasty in a perspex box, and a speaker that read out 19th Century news stories describing in graphic detail the untimely deaths of various local slate miners.

It did however have this quite interesting little poster thing about slate formation. Roofing slate is quite an early stage of metamorphic change - the stones I have will be finer in terms of particle size than yours, but also softer. Which means I need to find pieces with very small and even quartz distribution, whereas in harder stones that matters less.

 

[Wid]

Got a few more cut. These are 1.5” and 1” thick. Two are going to a friend. The one piece is from the last batch

 

[Wid]

Done with a couple more, lapped and finished.

1x8x1 and a 1x15x1 and a few slurry stones.

 

[Wid]

Whoops. These are 1.5” wide not 1”.

 

[Empire straights]

Very cool stuff. I wish i could come across something awesome like this. i love trying random natural stones and seeing the difference in feedback, speed and each stones own personal character. I feel like something wrong with me for enjoying stones so much..

 

[eKretz]

Very cool stuff. I wish i could come across something awesome like this. i love trying random natural stones and seeing the difference in feedback, speed and each stones own personal character. I feel like something wrong with me for enjoying stones so much..

Not at all. We all have our hobbies, preferences and enjoyment of different activities. As long as you aren't doing anything illegal or immoral, don't worry what anyone else might think, enjoy what makes you happy and relaxed.

 

[ErieSurfer]

Very cool stuff. I wish i could come across something awesome like this. i love trying random natural stones and seeing the difference in feedback, speed and each stones own personal character. I feel like something wrong with me for enjoying stones so much..

The author of this (The Cryptocrystalline Quartz Rabbit Hole - The Rogue Outdoorsman - https://therogueoutdoorsman.com/the-cryptocrystalline-quartz-rabbit-hole/) blog post finishes with:

If you’ve made it to the end of this article and haven’t lapsed into a boredom coma, you might be a Rock Hound. There is no cure for this condition. The only known therapy is to feed the psychological craving for knowledge and joy of discovery. Side effects of this treatment include improved cardiovascular function, weight loss, and occasionally improved cognitive skills. Long term sufferers become Lapidaries, Gemologists, and Artists to manage their conditions.

I haven't developed HAD just yet, but I am quite interested in finding high quality hones from within our republic.