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Hello Everyone,
I just received these hones as a gift from a dear friend who is no longer using them. The gift is personally meaningful but would be even more so if I knew more about them. Any ideas about the make, vintage, type, proper use and care, and anything else of interest would be much appreciated. p.s. The closeup shots pertain to the stones that precede these pictures.
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While I know the story of how you have come by those hones and how much they mean to you, I can't offer any information about them. I'm sure that those with years of working with naturals and barber hones will be coming to the rescue.
I do believe that they will need lapped and now that you have arms built up to the size of Hurdles that shouldn't be to hard on you :tu
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Looks like some kindof Ark knife hone at top? An Apart barber's hone is supposedly quite fine. Bottom one is oily-looking. Might be an India?
Gotta get thru the crud to tell!
Well, the brown imprinted barber hone is an Apart hone. It is a very good quality barber hone used for the maintenance of straight razors with just 4 to 6 strokes.
Photo # 4 is a Pike strop hone,,,, like this one in the Library,,,
Barber Hones - Straight Razor Place Library
... thanks for the replies so far. Just learned some more info on the hones. The previous owner can't remember which hones he applied oil to. Likely all of them at one point or another. Does that mean I should thoroughly wash them all out first before using? Or is there some test I can employ to determine how oily they are for starters?
Also, can anyone give me a (very rough) approximation of the grit equivalents of these hones? Want to get a sense of which to use when.
Also, also.... if a hone is designated as an "oil hone" does that mean you can't use it as a water hone? And with the naturals, do you soak them in water, or just apply moisture to the top surface? (I assume with the barber hones, it's just surface, no?)
There are a dozen different ways to clean them,,,,:shrug:
The most important thing to remember is to always start simple,,,ie,, a little dish soap & a medium/soft nylon brush,,,,toothbrush, nail brush,,,, then re-evaluate the condition of the hone. Proceed to a more aggressive cleaning if needed. If you get to this level, then come back on this thread with a particular hone, showing its condition after the light cleaning & we will show you what to use next.
Don't worry about the prior use of oil right now,
So, how many hones are there?
The last photo is that a separate stone or is it a close up of the one that is mounted in the wood case.
That one looks interesting.
As far as grits go, no not really, Barber hones run a medium range of 4-8K depending on the hone and naturals are all different. The barber hones look to be good hones for razors and in good condition.
The first looks to be a low grit Arkansas hone.
The last one may be the finest, depending on some better photos of the sides and edges looking for saw marks. Dimensions also help to ID some natural stones.
Many hones were used with oil, but can be used with water. As said clean with dish soap, Dawn liquid works well for degreasing, as does degreasers like Simple Green and 409. Keep Oven cleaners away from the barber hones.
What did the friend say about them? They do look like a nice collection.
The top one is most likely an Arkansas. Good for knives, i've never tried one on razors.
Hi Euclid,
There are 4 hones total. 2 are barber hones. 2 are naturals. One of the 2 naturals is probably an Ark (the previous owner wasn't sure). Yes, the last picture is a closeup of the preceding stone (pictured from afar). The dimensions of the first stone are about 2" wide by 6" long. The last stone is about 3" wide by maybe 7 or 8" long. The friend didn't say much about them except that he used them for straights and other tools many years ago.
So, what color is it?
One photo looks green the other purple.
Some close ups would help as would photos of the slurry.
Top stone looks quite a bit like a Washita, but you'd have to try it to find out for sure - some hard Arks look very similar.
Hey Again Euclid,
Sorry, but I'm limited by my photo technology. Don't think I can get much more close up of the two naturals than I already have, but can try to get some slurry pics after I've cleaned them up. The top stone is sort of a greyish speckled color. The last one is a deep black -- almost the color of old cast iron frying pans.
The last one is the most interesting and possibly the finest.
If it was purple or chocolate brown….
If it’s black black most probably a blue slate or maybe a Black Ark.
The slate may slurry dark grey and the Ark almost white and hard to slurry.
Either may be a winner.
Judging by the scratches, maybe a Slate.
Here is an end labeled Dark Blue Escher, (No bottom label) produces thick charcoal grey slurry, note the saw cut marks on the end and sides.
A fine grit hone.
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It's a PHIG !!!!! :rofl2: :roflmao ;)
:gaah: :gaah: :gaah:Quote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
I started washing the first stone with dishwashing detergent and Smith's. Still has blackish speckles after about 15-20mns of scrubbing. Is this the natural color of the stone or is it just really stubborn oil build up over many years?
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Given that the distribution of black is not uniform, but rather is mainly in the middle third, I would speculate it is residual oil driven deeper into the hone by use. If the hone is slightly dished in the center that would also explain it.
If it's a Washita it's definitely old oil. Here is a before and after shot of an old Washita I bought a while back - second (after) shot shows this stone and another I cleaned up. This stone is on the bottom in the 2nd shot:
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Cleanup method was Simple Green in a heated ultrasonic cleaner. Heated Simple Green works pretty good on its own too though.
Thanks. If it is a washita, what can I expect performance wise? What might the approximate grit be? Any peculiarities? Do you like them?
I love mine, but they really aren't a whole lot of use for razors unless you don't already have a 2kish synthetic stone. Even then they aren't quite as fast. They are exceedingly good on tools like chisels, knives or plane blades though, where you can use just a little more pressure. They cut pretty darn fast on oil but still leave a pretty good edge. For chisels you can pretty much use them as a one-stone solution if you keep your chisels in decent shape. I use the Washita and give a chisel a few quick licks on a CrOx strop after and go to work. Another nice thing is they stay quite flat for quite a long while.
No 2kish yet. I usually jump from a 1K to a 5K. So maybe I could squeeze the Washita in the middle there for fun?
Yes they are great Knife stone, will make you bride happy if you put her kitchen knives to it regularly.
Also as said, good for tools.
For razors there are faster solutions, though a hard Ark finished edge is a thing of beauty. I love an Ark edge. A hard Black or Translucent.
You could, but I don't think it would add much. You need to keep the stone freshly lapped as well if you want it to keep cutting fast. I accomplish this by just scuffing one side of mine on a sheet of 220 wet or dry on a granite plate every couple uses. The other side I leave alone to settle in and it gives a finer finish more like 3k or 4k, but cuts a good bit slower also.
I'm with Euclid on the Translucent and Black Ark finishers also. They give great shaves.
So, I managed to unglue the black (ark?) stone from the base and soaked it in Simple Green for about 30 hours. Here are some other pictures that I hope can give the masters some more info in getting a positive i.d. on this hone. Very curious to know what it is. Also wondering what the rust spot is on one side and the little hole on the other (that I imagine may shed some light on the structure of the rock ... in telling what type of stone). Also, I don't know if the photo does the reality justice, but there is a kind of silvery sheen on the surface of the stone. Still leftover oil from the past? Or something unique to the stone's characteristics?
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That looks more like a slate to me. Appears to be sedimentary lines in the side there, and that wavy bottom is very characteristic of slate. Same with the silver sheen.
I just found something in YouTube by "sebastien e." Demonstrating a "blais natural water hone. " anyone know what that is? It's a dead ringer for mine.
Hello Everyone,
Now, after about a week of soaking the stones in Simple Green, scubbing with soap, oven cleaner and soft scrub with bleach, here's what I came up with. I'm posting one general photo of each followed by slurry photos. On the black (slate?) stone, I have included a little peek at the DMT that I used to flatten and slurry the stone so as to really see the contrast of the slurry color (inky black). Thanks to everyone for all their help along the way.Attachment 191339Attachment 191340Attachment 191341Attachment 191342
Nice work, you have a couple nice stones there.
Nice work my friend, really made a difference in how they look especially the white one. :tuQuote:
Originally Posted by trifle
Now maybe some of those in the know can help you out better. :shrug:
The black one looks like slate, possibly a good one from the size, sawmarks and slurry.
The white one looks like possibly a hindostan from the photo, but may be an ark, or greek, though arks and greeks are hard to slurry that much. Do you have a photo of the side of the stone?
The Special Stones that we talked about earlier, had that shiny metallic sheen, like yours and I think the size might match. Either way it is probably a nice slate finisher.
Be careful lapping on a Diamond plate, do in a pond under water, or they will eat your diamond plate.
A Hindo will have visible layers on the sides and end looking like wood grain. Did it come completely clean, and stop releasing oil?
Because it looks like a dirty Lilly White in the photo, but I am more concerned by the amount of slurry, Arks will not release that much slurry with out a lot of pressure and laps.
Check out this thread post 33 for photos of a Special Stone with measurements, it does look similar to yours.
Here
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White one is still likely a Washita. There's no telling what the slate is. There are any number of slates that fit the criteria.
