Thread: Ordovician Thuringian Hones II – The Escher Quarry

It is difficult to say anything about your hone from just the picture.
If it is anywhere near as hard as an Arkansas stone then lapping it would cost to much money. A better bet is to take it to someone with a saw that can cut it and then lap it. From there you can test it.


Just my 2¢

Originally Posted by rideon66

So found this old stone that came from Saxony Germany. Interested if it is a trout stone. It does have some issues being so old and well used not sure it can be flattened since the one back corner is under cut.

Is there a way to tell them apart from a Ark?
Attachment 314001Attachment 314002Attachment 314003Attachment 314004Attachment 314005

Looks more like an Ark to me. The bottom with the splitted material is very typical for Arks glued on wood or in a box. The troutstones do have some red or brown spots most of the time, because of the iron conten in the stone. But of course there are also plein white ones.

One typical difference of the Saxonian oilstones compared to translucent Arks is, that the oilstones are only translucent to a very small extent.
An example you see in the following picture, the translucent Ark below, where the light shines through the whole stone and the saxionian above, where the light only gets through the edges:



Even if you have a very thin example of the saxonian, you see that light is only going through the thin est part, where the stone gets thicker, it doesn't shine through:



Regards Peter

Originally Posted by hatzicho

Looks more like an Ark to me. The bottom with the splitted material is very typical for Arks glued on wood or in a box. The troutstones do have some red or brown spots most of the time, because of the iron conten in the stone. But of course there are also plein white ones.

One typical difference of the Saxonian oilstones compared to translucent Arks is, that the oilstones are only translucent to a very small extent.
An example you see in the following picture, the translucent Ark below, where the light shines through the whole stone and the saxionian above, where the light only gets through the edges:



Even if you have a very thin example of the saxonian, you see that light is only going through the thin est part, where the stone gets thicker, it doesn't shine through:



Regards Peter

Thanks Peter,

I don't think this was one glued in a box. Looks more like a primitive cut and the section underneath is missing one side. This is not a square stone like one would find in a glued box. This was in a homemade paddle thing with extra wood to support the missing piece. Top and bottom are not even close to lining up. The top and bottom are offset from each Other. This is one reason I bought it thinking that a primitive cut really old well used Ark would not be in Saxony Germany and more likely a trout stone.

So the light only shines through the thinner sections and the edges. Maybe it is a trout stone.

Did you buy the stone in saxonia or from someone coming from saxonia?
We cannot finally really tell what stone it is. But from the backside it really looks more like an Ark. I Have not seen these kind of fractures and cracks in a troutstone. The old companies in Germany also sold Arks of course. They were shipped to Germany in wooden tons (today still some whetstone companies in Germany like the Müller company receives Arkansas stones in steel tons).
I had posted some photos about the old handcut arks -as distributed by the Escher company- here:
https://sharprazorpalace.com/hones/9...as-stones.html

Let us know how the stone finally works, maybe this can give an indication.
Best regards Peter

Originally Posted by hatzicho

Did you buy the stone in saxonia or from someone coming from saxonia?
We cannot finally really tell what stone it is. But from the backside it really looks more like an Ark. I Have not seen these kind of fractures and cracks in a troutstone. The old companies in Germany also sold Arks of course. They were shipped to Germany in wooden tons (today still some whetstone companies in Germany like the Müller company receives Arkansas stones in steel tons).
I had posted some photos about the old handcut arks -as distributed by the Escher company- here:
https://sharprazorpalace.com/hones/9...as-stones.html

Let us know how the stone finally works, maybe this can give an indication.
Best regards Peter

Peter,

Interesting I didn't think one would find old rough cut Arks like that over in Germany. Which is a large reason I was leaning toward the trout stone. So the seller was located in Sachsen, Germany and it came in the old handmade paddle in the first pic. I keep going back and forth really on which stone it is. The light does not go through the thick part of the stone, but does have more of a look toward the Ark after cleaning. I will have to compare with the other trout stone once I make this one usable and see if I can tell if they are different. Now based on your post about the old Arks and the look of the stone I am leaning more toward an Ark now too. The light penetration is the only thing still bugging me.

The pic below shows the awkward dimensions of this stone and why it maybe difficult to make usable for razors. With the stone being so used and the large dip, flattening the stone may run into that under cut section and the stones usable surface is not that big. The other pic is the trout stone to compare it with. Still figuring out the tells of this one though. I have had several nice shaves from this stone, but reading the stone and edge has not been as simple for me as the rest of my collection. I rely on the feel of the stone and the edge on my thumb pad along with hht and others that I don't rely on as much. I finish with glycerin/water mix to simulate light oil. Being that I haven't figured out how to read this one yet I have just had to take the chance and shave. Everytime has been very nice though. These stones feel a bit like a hard coticule, Charnley forest and a Ark mixed to me.

Think I might have found one, what do you think?

Hi Ansichtskarte...
thanks for your addition to the thread!
Not really sure about your stone. The first impression - stone looks too clean...white... , spots are too symetrical and perfect for a saxonian oilstone. Has some typicals voting for it and some against.
How hard is the stone? Lets see a picture of the backside!
Regards Peter

Thanks for the fast reply Peter

It is very hard, similar to translucent Ark. Will add picture of backside asap.

pics of the backside, the basic color of the stone is not pure white btw, it has a greenish tint throughout.