Quote Originally Posted by radaddict View Post
It's not some gas or air escaping from the stone. If that were the case, then it would do it without honing. The stone is not porous, but it's not perfectly flat either; there are irregularities in the surface. As you move the blade across the stone, a small amount of air gets trapped between the blade and stone. Normally, this air gets released as the blade passes. However, do to the elasticity of the slurry on this particular stone, the air gets trapped in in the slurry and forms bubbles. So, the question is what is causing the elasticity; is it residual soap from a previous user, or some other substance embedded within the stone causing the phenomenon?

BTW, considering the performance of this particular stone, it ain't broke, so don't fix it.
I buy this explanation too. I still am in the camp that there may be some oil or soap in the mix somehow too though, because I simply can't think of a mineral that would make an elastic slurry, or even something that would increase the surface tension of water (let me remind you most things decrease surface tension...)