Water of Ayr, Tam O'Shanter, and the Scotch hone

[LJS]

To what do we account for the variances / range of stones? Are the stones mined at the quarry / quarries diverse or is there some sort of misidentification going on historically?

Yes to both. Natural variation per mine. Multiple mining sites within the area with more variation. Multiple names for the same stones. Multiple stone types with the same name. All of the above seem to crop up over “history” of this/these stones. Certainly makes discussion on them a little complicated.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I'm no expert, but I've read many people say that several mines had access to similar stones and that the "tam o shanter" mine had multiple veins of material. My guess is that the white and grey Tams are probably from different parts of the same vein, the black/WoA stones are a different but nearby vein. No clue about this New Vein stone... it looks somewhere in between a grey Tam and a WoA and is harder than either.

 

[Bushdoctor]

Well, there's to say that the info of the quarries leaves some unresolved questions about the location.
Anyway according with AYRSHIRE HONE-STONE book, writted by D Gordon Tucker (University of Birmingham), we can assume that the White TOS comes from Enterkine and Quilkieston, the Grey Tos comes from Tarbolton and Monkton, the WOA come from Craiksdale Quarry and probably also beneath Troon Harbour Sill. Here some reference from the book.
Quarries - In the land of Dalmore, upon the bank of the river Ayr, is a species of whetstone, well known in the country by the name of Water of Ayr stone: it has been exported to different part of Europe and America and has been found preferable to every other stone for sharpening tools. It's stone is extremly fine-grained, consisting of a mixture of quartz and white mica in almost equal proportions, with grain size in the region of 0,025 - 0,050 mm. It's special properties apper to depend on texture rather than mineral composition.

We have to consider that what at that time was called Water of Ayr is what we intend today as a Tam O'Shanter.

Regarding the confusion between the two stones and why names are changed during the time, on the book is reported of a lettering on red label, 1 and half by three quarter inch, folded over end of hone, dating probably from 1885-1889 as the award of 1890 is not menzioned, that says,

CELEBRATED TAM O'SHANTER STONE
formerly known as Water of Ayr Stone, Snake Stone or Scotch Hone.
These names are now ABANDONED for the stone esteemed as such for about 100 years past because inferior stone was sold under these name which are not protectable by law as trade names. The Mercantile Marks Act makes it an offence to remove trade marks...
Gold Medal, London 1885 for exellence of quality of the stone. Infringement will be prosecuted.
JOHN C. MONTGOMERIE.

Hope this post is usefull to someone and help to make a bit to clear up. Enjoy.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I can haz the hone book?

 

[LJS]

I think it is online too if you search. I read it recently somewhere when I was trying to understand better. Good read.

 

[eKretz]

Yes it's online. I have had a PDF copy for probably near a decade. Ian, which stone are you referring to when you say "New Vein stone?"

 

[SliceOfLife]

It's a small paddle hone labeled the "New Vein Ayr Stone".

It was unspeckled and a dark tan before I lapped it. Really looked a lot like a coticule honestly. Lapping it revealed the Ayr/Tam spots.

Shaved off my Black Tam aka Water of Ayr today.

(Left and top in Water of Ayr, Tam O'Shanter, and the Scotch hone - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/water-of-ayr-tam-oshanter-and-the-scotch-hone.576474/post-10718213 )

It's a passable shave. Nothing to write home about, but I've used plenty of hones sold as finishers that it puts to shame. Closeness is ok to good. Comfort was a bit low, but it wasn't awful. The Black Tam/WoA is interesting in that it's soft but not friable under a razor, so it almost "breaks in" like some medium grit barbers synths. Knives abrade the surface and keep it cutting in the 2-4k range. Razors the abrasives quickly wear down and it finishes a lot finer. I suspect it's one of those hones that if necessity required and it was your razor hone for decades, you could get a lot better performance out of than I get just slapping a razor on it... but it's not anything special if you just want a functional finisher for a straight.

 

[LJS]

That’s an awesome label!

 

[eKretz]

That is a cool label. I bet it's quite old.

 

[kcb5150]

Just lapped this tonight. It was really rough. Idk what it is about this material, it laps easily enough as far as shedding bulk but it kills sandpaper as fast as arkansas do.. It's really strange. Literally rips the grit clean off the substrate... This is a dual hone. Tam seems like typical tam, the woa is pretty interesting looking.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Is the water of ayr lapped? That looks really similar to what my new vein ayr paddle stone lookEd like before I lapped it, it was an almost tan brown stone and you couldn’t see much of the pattern. Once I lapped through the surface it looks like a dark tam, speckles and all.

It’s in the middle in post 19 in this thread before lapping, Then post 47 after.

 

[kcb5150]

It is lapped. It's not oil, I can tell you that much... it has the diffuse globular effect and underneath that a fine grain effect.

 

[kcb5150]

 

[kcb5150]

It also has a little bit of twinkle/sparkle on the sides and top of this woa. It's very subtle but there.

 

[ambiguous]

Could it be a tam/dalmore combo stone?

 

[kcb5150]

No

 

[LJS]

That’s a cool stone. Have you put a razor on it yet?

 

[kcb5150]

Not yet, just got it lapped.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I swear I've seen those orbs that look like wet spots on another stone in the past, but I can't remember anything else. I think maybe they're just reminding me of those orbs on the BBW of that one layer of coti we've been talking about. Possibly a very unusual/distinct part of the WoA material that you don't see much? I'd assume it's related to an algae formation petrifying, but the color/pattern difference otherwise from most WoA is the unusual thing.

 

[kcb5150]

Natural light pics