Moughton or Dalmore sharpening stones / hones

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166
A question I was asked and did nothing but to confirm my ignorance, so I am asking in turn.
Has anyone heard of or used sharpening stones sourced from Moughton or Dalmore quarries ? I did use Walsh slate but I never heard of these.
Thank you
 
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I Am No Expert on Welsh Slate Stones..I Do Know that Some Can Get Underestimated in Terms of Finishing Capacity..I have a Yellow Lake BRAND Welsh Yellow Lake which is NOT the Same Stone as Often Sold as A Yellow Lake Stone from a Particular Place..This Stone I have has a 20 K + Finishing Capacity with Oil..Easy..I Was Gobsmacked to be Honest..Its as Easy to Use as a Current Synthetic..o_O

The One thing I Do Know is that Welsh Slates Can Vary a Lot through Talking to Forum Members about them..They are Quite Popular in Some Quarters these Days for a Progression although I Only Use My Stone Purely as a Finisher..Other than that I Don't Know Much about the Bigger Picture..Dalmore Stones are from Scotland I Believe like the Scotch Dalmore Blue for Example which is a Medium Grit Stone..:D
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...re-blue.html&usg=AOvVaw32e3fmF1KUtELrq162G6OI

Billy
 
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I bought two stones from that well known e-bay seller few years back one of them is llyn mellyn and claimed to be around 12K and the other one is 8-10K and can't remember the name, as @Fergiebilly mentioned the llyn mellyn(yellow lake) stone I have is very different from the other Yellow Lake I have in the yellow cardboard box.
I don't know if @barbiere is asking about these stones. If so; my opinion from my experience is; Unless you have an extremely tight budget and don't want to venture in honing experience and want something very reliable with good feedback, then spend your money with synthetic hones like Naniwas.
But If you want to try natural stones, then these stones are OK, I'm saying OK, not very good or perfect! Because 1, they are affordable and inexpensive compared to other natural hones. 2- they do the job as in putting a shaving edge on the razor. After I finish honing a razor I don't use a pasted strop, I take it straight to canvas and leather and shave, and with this llyn mellyn 12K(alleged) the razor shaves but I can get more comfortable edges from other stones like Thüringen, Charnley forest.
I'm not an expert honer and my technique may be poor so that's just my experience and thoughts.
 
Moughtons are a bit rare and go for a lot of money, Dalmore quarries produced a number of different stones. A Dalmore Blue and a Moughton are probably 4K tops if that when freshly dressed, I have a DB but have never used it on a razor. Slates are very variable and even those with the Yellow Lake branding, Salmen, vary from one pack to another and some are not even slate. Thuringians are just slate but very high quality and you would have to wade through a lot of Welsh slate to find something similar if at all. Inigo Jones would be worth contacting you can tell him what you want in size and what for, they have been mining for a long time and know a bit about slate. Hard to put a grit size on naturals because they hang on to their particles which just get blunter with use hence they cut finer. Naturals that keep on releasing grit are probably useless for razors so the recommendation for sticking to synthetics is a good one. Something about sharpening on millions of years old rocks appeals to me though.
 
@AlanT2 What do you think of 'Genuine Yellow Lake Oilstone' branded stones? I got one in a Yellow cardboard sleeve, very similar to the one @Fergiebilly 's post but the colour of the sleeve/box is Yellow not Red.
That One You have is a Mid Grit Stone in the Yellow Package..The One I have in the Red Package is a Much Finer Grit Finisher..I May Be Lucky with this One as its a Finer Finisher in Terms of Finishing Capacity than My 16 K Escher Thuri or My 20 K Surgical Black Arkansas..That's Sayin Summit Cause an Arkie is One Hell of a Finisher in the Right Hands..:D

Billy
 
m6muiXP.jpg

I Am No Expert on Welsh Slate Stones..I Do Know that Some Can Get Underestimated in Terms of Finishing Capacity..I have a Yellow Lake BRAND Welsh Yellow Lake which is NOT the Same Stone as Often Sold as A Yellow Lake Stone from a Particular Place..This Stone I have has a 20 K + Finishing Capacity with Oil..Easy..I Was Gobsmacked to be Honest..Its as Easy to Use as a Current Synthetic..o_O

The One thing I Do Know is that Welsh Slates Can Vary a Lot through Talking to Forum Members about them..They are Quite Popular in Some Quarters these Days for a Progression although I Only Use My Stone Purely as a Finisher..Other than that I Don't Know Much about the Bigger Picture..Dalmore Stones are from Scotland I Believe like the Scotch Dalmore Blue for Example which is a Medium Grit Stone..:D
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi8haf925XXAhUMthoKHX0-D8cQFgg4MAA&url=http://straightrazorplace.com/honing/18127-dalmore-blue.html&usg=AOvVaw32e3fmF1KUtELrq162G6OI

Billy

Nice razor :D
 
Agree with what Billy says unable to dress the yellow packet Salmen to the same fine finisher as the red packet. Salmen did market stones from all over the UK but have only found slates in that thinner packet and stone size. Probably worth a punt if you find one at a car boot you never know what you will get Salmen imported stones as well and packaged them under various names so you might well find a Thuringian with their label on it. As I said elsewhere Inigo Jones used to mine for Salmen so might be a source for a red packet Yellow Lake style chunk of slate and they are very inexpensive.
 
I have three Dalmore Blue stones - all very different. The first is fairly dense, coarse and fast and with a slurry makes a more than competent bevel setter. The second is the more traditional 4k to 6k range. The third is a crazy finisher. Really fine and beautiful edges off it.

There was also a Dalmore yellow which was a coarser plainer stone and was squarely in the bevel setting range. Trying to get my hands on one of those.

The two coarser stones I have work really nicely in conjunction with the other famous Scottish hones - Tam O' Shanter and Water of Ayr. Raising a slurry and diluting with water on each in turn produces an effective progression.

I have found all these Scottish stones really intuitive to use. You can hear and feel when something isn't right with the bevel, and it's pretty clear whether or not you are ready to move on. I like them even more than Welsh stones.

They have transformed my honing. Earlier this year I was having mixed success with synthetics. I still struggle with them. They remove steel so quickly, one slip and I get in a right mess and i just can't read the feedback off them. The Scottish stones hone fast enough that I don't get bored but slow enough that I have time to get my X stokes running consistently.

Decent TOS and WoA sell for silly money right now, but you can pick up a Dalmore quite reasonably.

I am passing the old Moughton quarry this week. I am hoping to get the chance to walk up there and see it.
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