Thread: Hone ID/ Mystery Hone?

Here's my two PHIG hones, the lighter colored one is from Woodcrafters, the darker smaller one from the Polish seller on Ebay.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Easy one,,,,,,,
what you have is a Gecko C12K, more commonly known as a Gecko PHIG. The stone gets it's name for the ability to change the color of it's slurry. It's mined high up in the K2 Mountains, also called the Savage Mountain, on the border of Pakistan & China. A very slow cutter, but with practice, will produce a wonderful edge.

Hirlau...thanks for this....you just made my day...😂

Originally Posted by aa1192

It for sure is not a Phig like Woodcraft sells. I have a Phig and this is a lot different.

,,,,of course it's not a PHIG,,,,,I'm just messing around with you. Most of the guys here already know that when I can't identify a stone, I create another type of PHIG,,,,,

If I had to guess, I would say Piet has it right, some type of slate,,,

The backstory makes it a more interesting hone. I don't think it can be an Escher but of course there's no reason for it to not be a great finisher

Checked the ebay listing...on one site there are thuringian like saw marks, although the other sides and the surface looked quite a bit rougher for me as a thuringian stone should....

Some thuringian saw marks from some of my stones, so you can try to compare to these on your stone:
http://up.picr.de/17714150gy.jpg

From left to right:
Yellow/green, darkblue combo
Yellow/green Escher
Darkblue

Well Hirlau, I was like this guy is a senior member and a mentor I don't wanna look like a fool by disagreeing with someone far more qualified than me. I may spray paint my Phig green now though and post it on Ebay as a high price Gekko.... with your backing expertise in Gekkos of course lol.
Taking a closer look at the stone there are only clearly defined saw marks on one side. The other three sides just have shallow limited saw marks.
Here are some new pics...

Here is a side view showing the rough untouched face and also the side with minimal to non-existant saw marks.

Side of the stone

The saw marks on the one end

Here is the honing side. There is a light inclusion that you can see, but I have no idea what it is. Also the schist like sparkle is lost, but its there under the light.
I find it so funny that for years I climbed on schist in NH never knowing I was probably pulling on millions of dollars worth of hones lol

I may be senior to you in post count & time here, but I don't hold any qualifications in wetshaving,,,but with these new photos, I'm sure someone will recognize this type of stone & educate us both.

Sorry its impossible for me to identify just by the pictures, just going by the sawmarks i tend to say its a thuringian, but a real identification would only be possible by comparing two stones...

But this isnt really relevant as you wrote the stone is a great finisher and has some nice properties...so congratz and just have fun with it...

Thurigian/Escher hones feel heavy for their size and are also very soft, take a bit of sandpaper and see if you can easily scratch the side or other unused area. The slurry looks white or light colored on the stone. it should also have a very nice tactile feel, not glassy like a PHIG (Gecko or other variant, lol) or an Arkansas black or translucent

When you say tactile feel what do you mean exactly? I know its probably a difficult sensation to put into words, so sorry for a hard question. I know what you mean with the Phig though thankfully!

Perhaps this is wishful thinking, but I believe it may be a Special Stone razor hone. Here is another thread about them. Any thoughts gentlemen? Also, thank you so much guys for taking the time to help me try and figure this guy out!

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...ial-stone.html