Thread: Old honing stone

To save the label I suggest that you contact a local paper conservator in you area, they deal with these issues all the time and can lead you to a proven way to remove the label. You usually only get one good shot and preserving something like this, old paper is more fragile than new but it is the binder that you need to navigate around, it can be as simple as the temperture of the solvent. Also once you get the label off you need to conserve it or lay it down on a new carrier, this is an important decision because you don't want to tear it while it is in it's most fragile state, which is just the moment when it is removed from the stone and hanging by your fingers or tweezers. You need to have your new carrier right at hand. The old "leave it in a book to dry" can lead to other issues.

good luck
Alex

It already seems loose near the drawing so I'd try it with heat or water and a DE razor blade. Even a partial label should be enough to proof it's an Escher imho, so if you can only remove parts I wouldn't worry about it.

Otoh you could just leave the label and use it as slurry stone.

Got a side pic? Curious how deep the chip runs...if its not real deep id just lap the stone till its all flat and out

Originally Posted by DennisBarberShop

Got a side pic? Curious how deep the chip runs...if its not real deep id just lap the stone till its all flat and out

I take a picture in the morning it's half way though the stone.
There is also one on the other side.

Personally I wouldn't waste excess stone unnessasarily. Lap the top till flat and where there are any chips camfer the edges into the chip and your done. No different than a bout or similar. As long as you keep the razor flat when honing it shouldn't cause any issues.

I second what eddy said

Absolute beauty . I have 1 Esher - blue and green , barber delight . I could enter into burning house , for this stone .

I think at this point, you can do whatever you like. Eschers are nice, but when they have large defects, they are only worth a fraction of ideal...from experience.

They lap easily, though, just don't be too heavy handed because they can crack (and may have some light stress cracks or layers in them as you lap far from the surface).

If you'd like to sell the stone, I'd leave it as it is and sell it to someone else. When they're less than 2/3rds of their original thickness or so, they also drop in value.

The label may be covering defects, I'd leave it where it is. The person who put the label on the stone likely chose the best side to leave unlabeled. It appears that one has some discoloration at least at one of the corners on the back.

If you're going to keep it, I'd just lap the stone until the defect was out and if the stone was thin, mount it to something. as a user stone, it'll never make a difference if it's a little thinner. The value is already mauled to some extent by that chip.