Llyn Idwal Straight Razor Hone, Another Look

[@martins8914]

Thanks for the informative video Keith, I have just bought one from eBay, I’m new to honing well, been honing for 15 months so still a beginner.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

You're welcome, thank you for watching and commenting. Happy Honing!

[@dapperstuff]

great stones and info Keith. best wishes dapper shaves

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Thank you for watching and commenting too! Happy Honing!

[@marty5627]

Another great video Keith. I have one LI, as with yours it’s a nice set up stone for a black or translucent ark. But they are pretty to look at in their own way!

[@KeithVJohnson1]

For sure it's a nice looking stone, no doubt about that. Some are not so pretty but this one has character. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@henrys3138]

The geological stuff at most is how I use to interpret the rough feedback I get. That said, you have a point: diminishing returns on getting an edge for shaving. I think I rudimentary knowledge is the best way to understand, but the rest is nerd fodder. I use cotis and white trans, the odd slate now. That's the be all for me, and that's what counts. I don't join forum talk for the things you mentioned, your videos have been instrumental the last few years I've been watching you.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hey, thanks for watching and commenting - and supporting my channel too. Too many people in too many forums take themselves way too seriously. Happy Honing!

[@actanonverba1385]

Been looking forward for to one for a while, thanks for the upload

[@KeithVJohnson1]

You're welcome and thank you for your support!

[@Aprenticefalconer]

Awesome man. I love my idwal stone. Great video

[@KeithVJohnson1]

@@Aprenticefalconer Very cool, thank you for watching and commenting!

[@saz4447]

Great video. Thanks for the experience. Have you tried Yellow Lake stone for razor sharpening?

[@KeithVJohnson1]

You're welcome, thank you for watching and commenting. Yep, used a few Yellow Lakes, blacker ones and purple ones. I did a video on a purple Welsh Slate actually, claimed to be Llyn Melynllyn - which means Yellow Lake.

[@SaltySeaDaddy]

Outstanding. Stones.... Stones all day.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Yah, this LI is pretty nice, I've had a bunch of them over the years, some are less nice, a few are even nicer.

[@johnnyboydianno]

Great vid Keith that lhyn stone reminds me of that scotch stone snake pattern sorry can't remember the full name hry if that's what you got then make it work also ive recently came across an article bout coticules from the 1800 to early 1900 being referred to as the oil stone from Belgium anyway thanks for your time and vid cheers

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hi Johnny, yeah, at one time there were suggestions to use oil on Coticules. Good to see you in the comments, as always, Happy Honing!

[@captainflint89]

pretty sure llyn idwal is a welsh slate

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Idwals are typically considered to be a form of micro/crypto crystalline quartz and often thought of, as a form of Novaculite. They can show some (a bit of) 'slaty' cleavage. If I had to guess, I'd say the prolith, via diagenesis, has breached the zone where sedimentary becomes metamorphic, hence the slight slaty cleavage. Arkansas stones have also undergone slight metamorphosis but are usually considered to be sedimentary. The fractures though, are often conchoidal, like novaculite and unlike slate. Texture and luster in the fractures can vary, although not unusual to find one to have the same waxy luster as a traslucent Ark I don't find LIs to be at all a type of stone like, say, a Dragon's Tongue, which is what I think of when we talk about slate. I think Kirwan referred to what is believed to be Lyn Idwal as Novaculite in at least one edition of "Elements of Mineralogy", back in the last 1700s, although his first use ot the term referred to a Turkey Stone. Now, a a lot of stone is sold as Llyn Idwal without provenance, so there can be a mixed bag of tricks on the table. Even if I find an old stone in a labeled box I don't know for sure if that stone was sold in that box. So there will always be some doubt I guess. Still, I've owned a dozen or so Lyn Idwals, all of a very similar type,. After observation and destructive testing on a few,, they were definitely not slate in the conventional sense of the term. Fun note - groups of scientists within the world of geology and mineralogy have considered getting rid of the words slate and shale because of how vague the terms are. Anyway, when discussing Welsh Slate I think of Dragons' stone or LLyn Melynllyn, when I the topic is UK Novaculite IIdwals and Charnwoods are in the mix.

[@captainflint89]

@@KeithVJohnson1 interesting , as a flintknapper from the uk i had never heard of novaculite over here , only from the usa . i do know that welsh slate has been used since medieval times for sharpening stones . welsh slate is also used for roofing tiles and other applications over here and as a roofer i am well used to its qualities . llyn idwal is a lake on the mountain of cwm idwal , have you looked up the geology of the area the stone comes from ? it has mostly igneous basalt and tuff , and then sedimentary slate and siltstones with shell fossils . if there is novaculite there to be found i would love to know because it may be heat treatable to make it useful for flintknapping . can you point me to any info on this ? it may be that novaculite in this circumstance is used to describe any stone with the same qualities ? in the flintknapping world we call a type of obsidian "dacite" to differentiate it from "normal" obsidian in a way that makes geologists cringe

[@KeithVJohnson1]

I've studied the geology throughout the UK actually. Welsh slate can be many things and for sure those slates, and slates from all over Europe, were a sharpening stone of choice until better options arrived. In the later 1800s, Idwals, Charnwoods, slates, and Turkey stones were sorta pushed out of the box by Arkansas stones, Washita, and Hindostans. But can't deny that slate has been a main choice for sharpening stones all over the globe actually, going way way way back in history. One thing about Novaculite that is overlooked is that it's not just 'one thing', Geologists tolerate the term while mineralogists cling to it. It's not a 'pure definition' like scientists prefer. The term is used to describe a type of chert that is mostly quartz-based but there really isn't a formula or recipe to use for drawing distinctions. There is a lot more to a stone, rock, mineral, than it's ingredients. So a Charnwood or Idwal, or so-called Grecian is not going to be, or act, exactly like an Arkansas stone. Same for Turkey Stones, another 'breed' of the type. This also applies to Novaculite found in Japan or other parts of the world, as well as different locals in the USA. Even in Arkansas, there are many 'types' that come from different localities and the deposits in Texas are different still. Indigenous peoples here in the USA were altering the structure of certain Novaculites to aid in their knapping. If I recall, there are indications of much knapping of the translucent types in and around the Hot Springs locality.