Thread: Old honing stone

Bought this a while back for under 30 bucks.
Stones does have some rust happening on the top side from
where it ben stored in the basement. The side with the least damage
from being so old is the side with the label.
Is there a way to get the label off without destroying the label it cause that's
the side I want to use.
Being it's so soft I think the heavy used diamond plates can easily get
the bad spot off the stop side.

Take a good pic of it, print it out, stick it on the other side. If it looks okay then lap the old one off. I don't think yo have the the time it would take to save the old one even if it was possible. I mean people put burnt money back together to determine how much was burnt and museums do some restoring that is not to be believed. Is it worth all that ?

Ever heard of hitting the Jackpot?? You did! Eschers are among the best hones available.
Some folks do use a very careful razor blade to remove the label. It is probably a hide glue and not too very strong. Contact a real hone person for better directions. look in hones, natural.

Maybe a DE razor blade & a heat gun to heat the adhesive holding the label,,,, just my guess.

I have a different approach. That's because everything in my idea is at my house. Preserve the label where it is and take a thin slice off the other side with a wet saw, then lap it. Lacking the tools to do that, move the label, in the end it will be worth your while.

Originally Posted by 10Pups

Take a good pic of it, print it out, stick it on the other side. If it looks okay then lap the old one off. I don't think yo have the the time it would take to save the old one even if it was possible. I mean people put burnt money back together to determine how much was burnt and museums do some restoring that is not to be believed. Is it worth all that ?

Depends on how you want to proceed with the Escher...want to sell it ? Never remove or lap the label away that would be just crazy....

Want to use it? You can try to put the stone under water for a certain time to get the glue being removed a bit and to remove the sticker, BUT on old labels this can also be very difficult...if you wait to long colour can be removed or parts of the sticker can be loosed....

Other way could be to lap the backside so far that the damage (though i think its no real damage) is removed....

I also wouldn't recommend to make any tries to remove the label. The Escher&Co Labels were glued with a very tigth glue, so they normally don't loosen in water (some Escher&Sons label could easily be removed - I think JimmyHad posted something to that phänomen in earlier posts here).
The chip looks bad, but there is enough material left that it could be lapped out. So the hone would still be thick enough to serve a live time and if you ever decide to sell the hone it still has the original label.

Escher stone, nice. If you are intent on keeping the label then perhaps talk to an antique dealer nearby? Alternatively just use the stone with the chip and lap it down naturally. Round the edges around the chip and normal square edge and you're good to go!

Originally Posted by 10Pups

Take a good pic of it, print it out, stick it on the other side. If it looks okay then lap the old one off. I don't think yo have the the time it would take to save the old one even if it was possible. I mean people put burnt money back together to determine how much was burnt and museums do some restoring that is not to be believed. Is it worth all that ?

If he was going to lap the original label off I wouldn't even bother taking a copy of the original. It wouldn't help confirming it's a Escher. Anyone can take a copy of a Escher label and stick it on a stone.

I'd get some 60 grit Emory cloth and go to town on the top. There's plenty of stone left to lap that chip out. Tape off the edges of the back and use some polyurethane to seal the label first though.

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