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

[bluesparkuk]

Having just been looking at this thread,an interesting snippet(if not actually hone related)the town of Ayr is just less than an hours drive from me,where Tam o Shanter was from,Rabbie Burns thatched cottage is nearby too,which is actually a museum now and can be visited,a very nice part of the country tbh

 

[R7photo]

My WOA are few levels up over the tos that i have in performance , once they dialed in per stone, my experience thus far
In fact the two pieces i was lucky to obtain have given me sureal keen butter comfort edges as an superb finisher for razors, absolutely amazing but yes had to dial in # laps but each shave has been unreal on my WOA,s
While still testing these Scottish hones
I consider them rare golden bricks once dialed in
Very unusual looking stones in feel and usage

 

[David]

My big Tam is stuck somewhere between here and there. Tracking hasn’t been very helpful.

 

[Wid]

My big Tam is stuck somewhere between here and there. Tracking hasn’t been very helpful.

I hate when that happens.

 

[SliceOfLife]

It got caught in the gravity of my Tam and they're now orbiting each other like binary stars.

 

[Pack line]

It's strange, buy something from japan, its here in 3 days. Buy something from the EU, months. I have a globe right here, pretty sure the EU is closer.

 

[Empire straights]

It's strange, buy something from japan, its here in 3 days. Buy something from the EU, months. I have a globe right here, pretty sure the EU is closer.

Yep, I hate shipping anything out of the EU. My last few orders from Japan were here in 48 hours.

 

[David]

Her packaging reputation precedes her. There’s a pretty big chunk out of one corner on what I’d call the working face, and several other dings. Not a big deal on a stone this thick, but still a bit frustrating.

 

[rideon66]

Her packaging reputation precedes her. There’s a pretty big chunk out of one corner on what I’d call the working face, and several other dings. Not a big deal on a stone this thick, but still a bit frustrating.
View attachment 1697599View attachment 1697600View attachment 1697601

Dang I thought she had gotten better. Two people sent me pics of her newer packaging and it had packing peanuts in there along with the bubble wrap and a proper box. Wonder if she ran out or just got cheap. I know at one time she was having issues finding enough packing peanuts.

 

[David]

Dang I thought she had gotten better. Two people sent me pics of her newer packaging and it had packing peanuts in there along with the bubble wrap and a proper box. Wonder if she ran out or just got cheap. I know at one time she was having issues finding enough packing peanuts.

It did had peanuts in the box, but there were very few on one side. The box looked like it had lived through Armageddon twice.

 

[Empire straights]

Dang I thought she had gotten better. Two people sent me pics of her newer packaging and it had packing peanuts in there along with the bubble wrap and a proper box. Wonder if she ran out or just got cheap. I know at one time she was having issues finding enough packing peanuts.

On all the ones I bought from her I told her I'd pay for extra packaging and bubble wrap and she assured me they'd be well packed and all but the first were it was boxed though. I tried to explain the rarity of having these scotch hones in NOS conditions and how important it was to me to get them in that condition. Who knows if it had an impact or just was an effective guilt trip. If some are coming like that still in going to guess temporary guilt trip.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

My little WoA came in a plastic envelope, folded over, with a single layer of thin bubble wrap. But it was unharmed...the problem was that it got lost on a UPS truck for 3 weeks after it got to Minnesota.Probably because the envelope was the same gray color as the interior of the trucks.

 

[David]

Dings aside, it’s a beautiful stone. The bottom (first pic) seems to be the better side. Maybe it’s in my head but the feedback seems to be magnified on these big thick stones. It seems to be an excellent knife stone

 

[rideon66]

Dings aside, it’s a beautiful stone. The bottom (first pic) seems to be the better side. Maybe it’s in my head but the feedback seems to be magnified on these big thick stones. It seems to be an excellent knife stone View attachment 1697623View attachment 1697621

David thanks for that info. I was wondering and had a feeling that these would be better for knives, but now I have first hand knowledge. This is why I was trying to get one of these from her. She just doesn't seem to care a whole lot about helping out or packaging. She will respond to email really quick, but then you never hear from her again. I get this is just a side gig for her while she is home with a newborn and she doesn't know really anything about these stones so it is a low priority for her I think. She is just doing the owner a favor and helping clean up some of the buildings so they can turn it into a museum.

I have the small axe/knive TOS and they are great for knives, but really small. I was hoping these would be closer to that. Yes the feedback is more amplified on those probably more than this one.

Pretty stone by the way.

 

[alex1921]

Her packaging reputation precedes her. There’s a pretty big chunk out of one corner on what I’d call the working face, and several other dings. Not a big deal on a stone this thick, but still a bit frustrating.
View attachment 1697599View attachment 1697600View attachment 1697601

Nice stone and luckily it didn't get damaged too much but it's still frustrating that after all this time she hasn't figured out how to ship these stones safely.

 

[kcb5150]

IDk why she can't jacket the stones in a sheet of cardboard with some overhang on the ends and then bubble. it wouldn't add much bulk and it would really up the odds of things getting to point b intact..

 

[Wid]

Multiple layers of bubble wrap and then secured with crumpled up newspaper is far better than packing peanuts. We go through this same stuff shipping cast iron. People think it’s indestructible and yet it’s very fragile.

Nice stone David.

 

[NicolaItaly]

I have been less enamored with the WoA, while it gets my edges plenty sharp, the skin feel hasn't been exactly what I've wanted. But, after watching Keith's video I went back and doubled my lap count and the shave today was very good. I think I still prefer the feel of the Tam, though, but not by much. I'll have to do some more experimenting with the WoA on other razors.

try making S-shaped movements on the stone and try to apply some pressure. You will see that the edge will be very comfortable.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

try making S-shaped movements on the stone and try to apply some pressure. You will see that the edge will be very comfortable.

I did use more pressure for the first half of the session and I think that helped. I've been using the razor for a pass here and there all week and I'm pretty happy with the edge after comparing it to others

 

[David]

@Wid are you finishing razors on your Tams?