Apache Black Gila

About:

The Apache Black Gila is a stone that is very special. It’s a finishing hone. It can bring your razor’s edge up to new levels; giving it aggressiveness without harshness. It polishes and removes rust very handily.

I don’t quarry it. I have to find it. This means roaming the desert southwest and navigating extremely rough terrain. I dodge ant mounds, poisonous and dangerous critters, grazing cattle, lots of cactus, ankle-twisting rocks and thick, thorn-laden trees and bushes to find this stone–truly found only in a virtual no-man’s land. I won’t describe what I look for or how I find it, that’s not important. The main thing to know is that the Black Gila is RARE.

Write-up about the Apache Black Gila at Tomonagura.com

Here is a video from Keith (Thanks, Keith!) from Tomonagura.com:

Pricing:

How much will the hones run? Well, I will factor in the size, weight, appearance and cutting difficulties (some stones are very hard to squeeze a hone out of, trust me). Ballpark… they will be no less than $250 for smaller hones and upwards of $400+ if I have a really special one. Any less in price and I will find the entire Black Gila endeavor not worth the trouble.

Appearance:

The Apache Black Gila hones are created from a particular type of stone with a black base color and random light-colored spots/striations. The streaks, spots and overall hue could be any spectrum of reds, browns, greens and other beautiful colors. The finished hones are really stunning when wet.

Who will benefit from this stone:

I think it will serve the professional, as well as the seasoned honers. Beginner and intermediate honers could very well find the Apache Black Gila to be frustrating and hard to wrangle. Anecdotally, from a few of the best honermeisters in the straight razor world, this stone demands that you must know what you are doing or you could jeopardize your razor’s progression all the way back to point A.

Thanks for your interest in my hones! My customers keep me going. Without you, I would just hang it up and the world would never have access to the Apache line of hones. Talk to you soon.      –Terry