Moughton Whetstone Hone Stone

Moughton Whetstone Hone Stone

This is a genuine Moughton Whetstone from the Yorkshire Dales - a rarely seen razor hone stone.  These red and green rocks are from the Ordovician age and the peculiar and very attractive rings are an example of the Liesgang effect, although they are less distinct in this example than others I have seen.  The hones come from a very localised area, not found elsewhere, and were once in demand in Sheffield for use in the sharpening of razors, although these days examples are seldom seen.  A 1985 field study by W. R. Mitchell mentions the hones use as a whetstone and cites two other sources from the 1700s and 1800s. Other sources specifically cite the fact that the Sheffield razor trade made use of theses hones, but I have not been able to track down a definitive text.

The hone measures 180mm by 73mm wide by 11mm thick - quite a substantial size and is accompanied by a good-sized rubbing stone which, although it is more attractively coloured than the main body of the hone did actually come from the tip of the same stone.  It has been lapped flat to 600 grit and has had the edges lightly rounded.  Although these hones are very liable to split along laminar lines this one is quite solid.  There is one corner with a tiny clipped end - see close-up photos.  The hone is shown wet or drying in all the pictures - it is a much lighter colour when dry.

There appear to be very many minute specks of glittery material, and these probably contribute to the hones cutting ability.  As it is used the surface takes on a hard, glassy, reflective look when dry.  I have not used the stone much - some sources cite it as a 'fine finisher' which in my opinion would rate at least as high as 10,000 grit, but I think that this hone falls below that - somewhere around 7,000 to 9,000 grit.  The results seem very dependent on the shardness of the steel used to make the razor being honed - softer, older Sheffield blades seem to come up better than more modern harder steels.  One thing I have noticed with this stone is that the slurry - in some cases - produces a superior edge.  Without slurry the scratch lines on the bevel examined under a powerful loupe are very pronounced - with slurry they almost disappear and the edge takes on a kind of sandblasted appearance, although to the naked eye it looks quite shiny.

The hone is quite hard, but nowhere as hard as a Charnley Forest or similar novaculite-type hone stone.  Being a mudstone, it is more on a par with a thuringian as far as hardness goes, and gives off copious amounts of pinkish-tinged slurry when it is lapped.  

Packaged weight will be around 700 gms.