Help with another hone

Just in case you experienced folks weren't tired of playing the "what's this hone" game here is another one for you. The stone is very soft and lapped quickly, haven't tried it with a razor as I just got it this afternoon. That purple coloured inclusion (not sure if you can see it) when away after some more lapping. The edges and ends are the same type of colour with no saw marks of any kind. I was thinking it was an Arkansas, but not sure because I have heard they are very hard and this one is not. Thank for any help and insight you can shed.

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Soft compared to what? I have a similar stone which I suspect is a Llyn Idwal but I would describe it as hard.

Compared to the norton and the C12K/PHIG I have. I haven't had to lap the small Coticule I have yet so my basis of comparison is rather small admittedly. I said soft because when I beveled the sdges it only took two stroke of the Norton Lapping Stone to put a nice bevel on, it took a little more work with the Norton 4/8K.

I tried it on a razor tonight and it seems to be leaving a courser scratch pattern compared to the 4k, although in a arm shave test it cut the hair smoother.

Llyn Idwal is a Welsh stone, correct?

It's not a Arkansas as they are harder than a PHIG. If you are thinking it's coarser than a 4K, makes me wonder if it could possibly be a Hindostan. Mine falls somewhere around 2-3K. Is it a "thirsty" stone when you put water on it?

It holds water water as well as the Norton, very similar to the Coti. I don't have enough experience with honing yet to tell anything more than the scratch pattern. I've read that scratch pattern is not necessarily an accurate indicator of grit level (think I read that on here somewhere). I honed an old razor I had kicking around on it, I actually used it as the finishing hone so I'll shave tonight with it and see what the edge is like.

I also forgot to mention the slurry smells kinda like mud (go figure).

It can't be a Llyn Idwal from your description. A Dalmore Blue could be that coarse but the colours don't quite match.

What did you flatten and lap it on?

I lapped it with the norton flattening stone.

I still think that it is LI as there are softer variations as well as I believe that Norton flattening stone is SiC.

So if its an LI what's the general K range of those stones?

Generally between 6-12000 however this can also depend on how you lap them. Some hones can present to be much coarser when they are freshly lapped on course lapping medium.

Isnt this an LI?

So I've been scouring around and my hone looks almost exactly like some of the lighter Dalmore Blues. From what I've read the slurry is slightly metallic/shiny, so I re-slurries mine and the slurry (and stone when wet) has slight metallic looking flecks. Does that rule out the hindostan and LI?

The hindostan's I have had in my hands literally look like sandstone, just tightly bound under pressure. The layers are evident, but it is a thirsty stone like a king 1k stone. I have never heard them improving a 4k edge if this helps you.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...-oshanter.html

This stone looks almost exactly like the one I have.

Ok so I did some very limited testing based on shooter's comment about a hindostan not improving a 4K edge. I was in the process of finishing off a bevel set and so I ran the progression down to 4K and got that nice reflective polish (all I have for magnification is a little hand help magnifying glass). I then lapped the unknown/LI/Dalmore/Hindostan with some 600 grit sandpaper. The razor came off the 4K to the unknown and the unknown left scratch marks in the 4K edge. The scratches were fine and I would put them somewhere between the 8K and 4K. The stone cut slowly. The razor felt very "smooth" over the stone. The stone felt (to the touch of the hand) very smooth after the 600 grit lapping. The stone did not need a lot of additional water after the initial soak (while I finished the 4K honing).

@Shooter: I don't think I know what sand stone looks like? :(

I ended up going back to the 4K and then did some water only passes on the coticule then stropped. If things slow down (hard to believe I'm on vacation right now!) I might do a razor up with the unknown stone and compare the finished edge to an already shave ready razor and see what the shave is like.

Where are we at at this point? Is the general consensus still an LI or are we leaning more toward Dalmore, Hindostan?

Yours doesn't look like a Hindostan to me (I've seen many of the gravestones). Here's some pictures , and more info .

By your assessments, I would have to say that it is not a hindostan either. Metallic particles & being +4K rules it out for me.

I've never owned a LI or Dalmore, so can't comment on them.

Come on, you will ask everything ?

It is certainly not:

dalmore blue
tam o'shanter
chinese PHiG
hindostan

Dalmore Blues range from very striking patterns to almost no pattern at all - I have had examples of most grades and yours does not resemble any of them.
Tam 0'Shanter - ditto above
Chinese PHiG - ditto above
Hindostan - ditto above. However, a word about these stones - they come in various colours and range from a fairly coarse, water permeable type that is of low mid-grit (4k or so) to finely compacted where the granular form is barely discernable and which seem to have undergone great pressure and metamorphosis and have an almost glassy sheen, which shows its novaculite nature. These stones are at least 10k and are finishers, but very slow, as slow as the PHig.

As for your hone - I have one that could be its twin, and one with a more pronounced diagonal linear pattern. They are fairly hard as hones go (note that making a bevel on an edge is comparatively easy to do even on hard stones and not a true indicator of hardness), and are in the 8k - 10k range. The scratch pattern on the bevel is misleading - it looks fairly coarse, what you would expect from a 6 - 8k hone in some instances - but the edge falls into the 'crisply' sharp arena - not a smooth shave by any means, but a very close one. I have compared mine with at least five different variants of LIs, from grecian oilstone to the classic dull sea-green LI to more variegated varieties, and they all share the same basic characteristics.

The duller, uniform-coloured LIs seem to be a bit higher up the scale than these linear-patterned ones, and the grecian variant of the LI a bit higher still. As Stefan says though, there are much lower grades, probably not metamorphosed as much as others, and the substance lending the coloured striations could also have an affect.

I'm pretty convinced that yours is a variant of an LI.

NB - the flattening stone you are using contains coarse grained silicon carbide - apt to leave sparkly bits on your hone.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks Neil! Ill keep playing with it and see where it leads me. Mystery hones are fun :)