Locally mined natural stones

[Matthew N. Masail]

I recently discovered that there are some locally mined natural stones in Israel, about 1.5 hours travel time away from me.
Thought I'd ask here since I know very little to nothing about natural stones.
http://www.tcblades.com/articles__tutorials/covenant_stones_a_pictorial_journey

[Jonathan McCullough]

Some of those are very pretty--almost like lapis lazuli cerulean. Have you tried any of them? I think many of us would enjoy reading about your experiences with one of those, for curiosity's sake. As I recall from an old text, the ancient legendary "Turkey Stone" came from the Levant, which in turn was pretty much the extent of the old Ottoman Empire, including where that fellow was collecting. I've also heard they came from Cyprus.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I haven't tried them yet. I thought I'd get some opinions here first. I'm tempted, but I also have planes for a Gokumyo 10K, at the moment my finest is a 6K.
The more I think about it the more tempted I get, might just have to find a time in the next coming months to drive down there (we just moved apartments and free time is few and far between). Thanks for the reply, I will update if I end up trying them.

[David Weaver]

They appeared on the razor boards temporarily, but for what they offer ( a natural abrasive that's in a low finisher kind of level), they are very expensive.

If you use more than a little A2 or V11, you'll probably find that they can't hang with synthetic stones (that's nearly universally true with natural stones, including coticules which have gotten the somewhat errant reputation of being able to efficiently hone stainless steels or alloyed steels).

If you want to get them because they're local, then that's a good reason to get them. Otherwise, I think the same money is probably better spent on synthetics or something else.

[Matthew N. Masail]

Thanks David! I was hoping you might respond.

[David Weaver]

I'd always like to be able to respond about every stone (because I'd love to try every one to see what their virtues are), and looking around at the negev desert hones now, it appears that they have dropped a lot in price (maybe because they are offering less regular stones - thinner, narrower, etc).

I think my comments about natural stones in general (money is better spent on good synthetics) is probably true, in a critical sense of capability, you get more capability with synthetic stones for the dollar, and the fineness in natural stones comes with a lot of time wasted in sharpening with a few exceptions. If sharpening for sharpness for the dollar is the focus, at least.

BUT, I have piles of natural stones, and have to admit that there is more satisfaction in using them - but only when they are used with steels that were commonly used with them (japanese tools with japanese stones, western vintage tools with oilstones, etc). So, if that kind of thing appeals, I could be off in condemning them (above) as a bad deal, because it may be for you like it is for me - it's more than just getting a sharp tool.

I would want them to tell me that they are stones that won't slurry on their own, though, or very minimally - if I were ordering one. No natural stones have really fine particles in them, and if they slurry on their own and those particles get loose, they will always be coarser than you expect.

[Matthew N. Masail]

In my case your right, I'm looking for a good finishing stone for all steels. the appeal of natural's for me is like you said it's more than just getting a sharp tool, it's the
satisfaction and feel I imagine getting from one. Lately I'm starting to really like sharpening, although the deeper I go the LESS simple it seems to become.


I think in my case this a synthetics is no doubt the way to go, at least for a first finisher I ordered the Arshiyama 6k and am looking forward in the future to trying the
Gokumyo 10K.


I appreciate your objective remarks very much.