Kuro Slate by eKretz (134 x 55 x 17mm)

Size: 134 x 55 x 17mm weight: 320gr.
Density: xxgr./cm³ / Estimated grit size: very fine > 12k
Usage: use only with water!
Color: dark gray towards light black
Rockhound: Ekretz

Honing/Touch Up with the Kuro Slate:
I actually tried this stone on two razors, both were just touched up. The fist was a 6/8ths Sanssouci Solingen Stainless, the second one was a 5/8ths Wade and Butcher Special “Sheffield Steel”.

The slurry isn’t easy to be created on the Kuro Slate, but with a bit more pressure and around 30 circles everything was done. I did around 20-30 laps on each side with a medium slurry and a bit of pressure. Then around 15 laps on each side followed with plain water and nearly no pressure.

I actually got a HHT3 of the stone, after stropping on plain leather a good HHT4 was possible.

Bevel after the touch up looked very well polished, comparable to other very fine natural stones.

personal shaving results (PSR):
I got a very clean and comfortable shave after touching up both razors on the Kuro Slate from Eric. Actually i prefer very smooth shaves, as i mostly use my Thuringian/Escher stones. So my impression was that the Kuro Slate is a bit less smooth. I also experienced that using the 6/8ths Sanssouci Solingen Stainless razor, it felt a bit more harsh. Probably this was due the stainless steel…

Evaluation:
The Kuro Slate from Eric (eKretz) is a very nice finisher, comparable to other fine stones beeing around. Its really great, because its one of the newer stones which have been found in the wild within the last two years (HGH Haida Gwaii Hone, Apache Strata, Bavarian-Frankonian, etc.). And i well appreciate the that the people from the communities like Eric and many others go out and search for usable stones in their living areas.

So depending what you are looking for and what you want to pay for, this stone wont be a bad choice.