Hi there and welcome to my listing for this beautiful barbers cased Tam O Shanter hone produced by Tam O Shanter Hone Works in Ayrshire, Scotland. The last of the mines closed around 40 years ago and as such these stones are no longer produced. The photos in this listing are of the stone both wet and dry. Tam O Shanter whetstones, also known as Snakestones, are often described as gentle-cutting with surprisingly gentle feedback and produce a fine, almost white, light grey slurry. Sharpening enthusiasts say these stones give a comparable finish to around an 8-10k ceramic stone when the edge is observed under a microscope.
The dimensions and weight are as follows: Weight with box: g Length: mm Width: mm Thickness: mm
Description of Whetstone *** I have been selling and hunting down Tam O Shanter stones for a while now and this is the first cased stone I’ve found in a Mauchline Ware box. The Montgomery family and the Smith family of Mauchline worked together to produce these attractive cases for Tam O Shanter Hones which were highly prized by barbers and sophisticated Victorian and Edwardian gentlemen.
Condition of Whetstone *** This cased stone is unused but there are a few marks and a small dent on the box from over 100 years of storage.
The last picture in my listing is a map I’ve made of the various mines where Tam O Shanter Hone Works sourced their stone. In the last stage of TOS Hone Works Ltd, they only shipped stones rather than mined them. They puttered along doing that until wrapping up completely around 25 years ago so these hones are neither produced or sold commercially, leading to their increasing scarcity. This stone will make a beautiful finishing stone that you will treasure for life!
I take the business of posting stones seriously and I package them well. I’ve never had one arrive to a buyer damaged!
Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions. Enjoy!