Thread: Hone ID Please

Took a chance on an unlabeled natural, touted as -

LARGE GREEN THURINGIAN NATURAL WHETSTONE. POSSIBLE ESCHER HONE.

If the experts here could chime in, I would be most appreciative.

Cheers!

Try it on a razor! Experts can look and theorize all they want. The edge you get is the only true test. Looks good to me, but I'm no expert.

I am no expert either but the size seems all messed up.

I want to say Belgian Blue just because in picture # 3 the the top left looks as a new coticule/BBW comes from Ardennes. The scratches look from a lapping wheel, comparable to

This is only my theory, the green may be traces of chromium oxide left over. I've seen Bart use this technique on a BBW.

Still a mystery.. Hmm


On the other hand the rest of the pictures don't match the surface appearance of BBW's. So I'm at a loss. No expert either.

It's possible that it could be a Thuringian hone. But definitely not an Escher. They were never sold in such a size. There were other miners and sellers of the stone besides Escher, and who knows what sizes they cut their stones to. Peter (hatzicho) has said this before in the past as well, and he really knows his Thuris. As a matter of fact, I think he said the same thing about that very stone when it was for sale by a different seller.

BTW, the "green" spot visible on the stone that looks like it's a few inches in diameter is an artifact of the camera that took the photo. Notice how it moves in relation to the smaller spot in different photos?

Well as far as an assessment is possible from viewing pictures, the stone could well be a thuringian hone. Beside the color, the sparse blue dots and the behaviour of water on the stone visible at the edges would perfectly fit for a thuringian.
From the size it is sure no regulary razor hone, but of course there have been special sized hones for special applications or wishes from the costumer. So this is no criterion for an exclusion.
Since the stone has no label it is no provable Escher - but as said many times before, Escher is only a label since Escher had been only trading companies for the most time of their existance. All of this well known thuringian hones are coming from the same quarries and were mined by small mining companies or single whetstone makers.

Thanks folks, definitely appreciate the input!

Originally Posted by eKretz

BTW, the "green" spot visible on the stone that looks like it's a few inches in diameter is an artifact of the camera that took the photo. Notice how it moves in relation to the smaller spot in different photos?

Very much so!