Tam O' Shanter Hone

[@hosseinordoubadian5439]

Good to see stones I know nothing about and have not used. I will stick to what I know (and what I have learned from you: JNATS, coticules, and syns), but I do enjoy learning about the history and geology of other stones. I am sure your YourTube presentations and writings have made it possible to get a shaving edge that works well for me much sooner (and cheaper) than what would have happened if I were left to my own devices of trial and error and luck. Using what I have learned from you and my own experiences, I have now helped several younger men (nephews and my son) enter the world of straight razor shaving and honing. Your legacy is secure. Thanks, again.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Great comment, thank you for watching, sharing, and being a supporter of my channel. Without supporters, there is nothing, every legacy is always a joint venture, so thank you for your participation! These Scotch stones, they're fun, for experimenting, they're def worth checking out when the price is right. Very much a YMMV type of thing though. Happy Honing!

[@larrymc4373]

Thanks for sharing. You pulled out two stones I've never seen before. I had to stop the vid to get the name of the second. "Water Of Ayr" another Scotland product. Can't wait to see that one work.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hey, thanks for watching and commenting Larry! I will definitely be doing a WOA video, for sure. I might even break down and do a Dalmore Blue video, just to complete the trilogy. Lol.

[@markodams5857]

Looking forward to seeing your WOA thoughts Keith, I’ve a couple of them and had great success, finishing on slight slurry gave me a super comfortable and sharp edge.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hi Mark, I have had a few over the years, have not been in love with them to date. This is the first labeled one, we'll see how it goes. These stones bring polarized opinions, spanning good, great, meh, and nope! It's crazy, not sure why that is though. Happy Honing!

[@markodams5857]

Ahh that’s interesting Keith, yeah that stumps me mate….I can only think maybe it’s like the coticule thing ? Some make for holy grail and others definitely not.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

A lot factors in, I am sure. Preference for an edge is one factor. These stones seem to have a smoothing effect on sharpening done by synths. So a 12k Super Stone edge might feel and actually be sharper but not feel as good as that same edge when it is 'dressed' on one of these Scotch stones. FWIW, the WOA is what it is, it is limited by particle size which is a fact of geology, physics and nature. They are not ever going to be the equivalent, particle size wise, of a high grit synth. But, as I'm fond of saying - grit don't mean shit. Apparent sharpness and shaving quality is not necessarily a linear concern when compared to 'grit'. And then yeah, there is the variation from one stone to another, Then there are the personalities that can't get along with anything other than the most expensive stone out there, and so on. There is a website calling WOA a 14k JIS stone. JIS standards don't even go over 8k. People read that and believe it and then the confusion starts because they regurgitate that in every forum they go do. Plus, any time someone likes one thing, someone else will choose to not like it, just so they can argue about it. So getting an honest accurate read off the internet is difficult. Too many people want to be 'content creators' so they produce vids without really having the chops to do so responsibly. There, I said it. lol.... happy honing!

[@_Dimitris]

Hey Keith One more question please. What glue you use to glue them together ? Thanks

[@KeithVJohnson1]

HI, I used medium thick CA glue

[@_Dimitris]

Thanks Keith.

[@7in1]

I am dreaming you had a scope and showed us an edge out of each rare stone

[@KeithVJohnson1]

I have a scope, but pix of edges off each stone wont tell anyone anything. It would be a lot of work for no gain.

[@nicola26x]

I wait your next video-test with that Water of Ayr stone after using this Tam o'shanter. I have the same stones, but in my opinion all the Scottish stones are mediocre stones for razors, as opposed to English and Welsh stones, which I think are very good.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hi, thanks for watching and commenting. Some people like the Scotch hones, some do not. The opinions run from great to meh to blargh.... it's crazy. Happy Honing!

[@johnnyboydianno]

Thanks for the vid I always wondered bout these stones but now I got enough mid rangers lol

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hey Johnny, glad to see you in the comments bro, yeah - these are sorta not the bees knees of hones for finishing but they do feel real nice under a blade... worth looking at if the price is low enough I think.

[@_Dimitris]

Thanks for the video and the info Keith. Have you got any info or experience with Rozsutec Slovakian stone ? I saw them here in UK selling for about $50 US and I was wondering if they are any good. Online they class it as an 6K-8K grit but as you mentioned on your videos there are different opinions and perspective regarding stone honing . The only thing we haven't see online yet is someone hone on a Moon rock ! 😃😎

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Thank you for watching and commenting. I have not used a Rozsutec but friends tell me they're just another 'meh' stone. There are some people/vendors trying to exploit the YMMV aspect of things, I know. Like the sellers of the Chinese Beryl stone that was offered as a 10k stone - which it is not - and many others. If someone gave me one, I'd check it out but I wouldn't spend money on one. I'd rather go get a piece of slate at Home Depot, it'll probably do the same thing for me, lol. Happy Honing!

[@_Dimitris]

Thanks for your answer Keith useful info as always.

[@BuJammy]

Been waiting for this video for a while. As a Scot, and owner of many Tammys (though not enough) they are, in their way, the prettiest stone. I do have some almost pure white ones that I think could juuuust be finishers, but they are 1 x 3 x 0.5 inchers that are labelled "for dentistry" (whatever that means, though I haven't seen that label on any others).

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Haha... yeah, been a while getting to these. I have had a bunch of them over the years, weird size sticks, logs, nuggets, etc... had a couple/few regular rectangles too. I have seen more than a few Tams with outstanding patterns, just lovely stones. Great history, lots of positive impact on the sharpening world across the ages, etc, etc... good stuff, they were were a great big deal 'back in the day'.

[@matthewjames5201]

Great video, I got a couple of these from Rick too. I've only lapped the one so far but I actually like the shave off it using water only, following the Fuji 8k.. I also use it as a jumping off point for trans ark. Maybe I got lucky.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hey, thanks for watching and commenting. Really good to hear that yours is working out for you. Even so though, It's really hard for me to imagine a TOS being finer than a Fuji 8k. Mine isn't there - that's for sure. None of them have been. Not even the WOA cuts finer. But, natural stones vary... so there's that. Happy Honing!

[@matthewjames5201]

@@KeithVJohnson1 Oh, I don't know that it cuts finer. In fact I doubt it does. But it brings something to it that works for me for some reason.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

@@matthewjames5201 Ahh, yeah, that's a 'thing' I've seen with some naturals...sorta alters the edge in way that it cuts differently and that difference is preferred. I had a Hematite stone that was sorta like that.

[@christianentertainmentoutdoors]

If you got a blade that keeps chipping why are you keeping that? LOL

[@KeithVJohnson1]

LOL, exactly. Never made any sense to me.