Calling all rock hounds- what is this stone?

Ok. I think I know what I have here but I am in no way an expert and would like some opinions from others that have more experience.

It is extremely hard and almost impossible to make a slurry but works very well and efficient as a finisher. As you can see it is a dark gray to light gray with some tan/brown mixed in. It seems to have layers when looked at from the edge. The only slurry I was able to get was with a DMT and it was light gray and smelled like mud and tasted like......umm never mind.

Ok. What's your thoughts on what this is?

The layers and the swirl pattern remind me of a Dalmore Blue. The color does not seem right for that though. The layering could fit with that as well. It seems to me that they were best known for being pre polishers though and not finishers, that being said though there were finishers amongst those. Check out the Dalmor on Sebastians page. His is not as dramatic of a pattern, and more brown and less green. If it is very hard that narrows the field a little. The UK had a few vintage hones that were very hard.

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Originally Posted by RezDog

The layers and the swirl pattern remind me of a Dalmore Blue. The color does not seem right for that though. The layering could fit with that as well. It seems to me that they were best known for being pre polishers though and not finishers, that being said though there were finishers amongst those. Check out the Dalmor on Sebastians page. His is not as dramatic of a pattern, and more brown and less green. If it is very hard that narrows the field a little. The UK had a few vintage hones that were very hard.

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Yeah. The color seems to be off and this stone improves after my guangxi so definately a finisher. The dimensions are approx 6 x 2 1/4 x 1/2" thick

It reminds me of this stone here.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wAcsGnajQyQ

It would be nice to have a name for it other than just calling it your finisher. Over time I imagine there were many different ones cut regionally, and as people moved around so did their possessions. If it is your new best finisher, woot. There were a lot of really small hones made, a lot of them were in paddles and boxes. Wood does not last anywhere near as long as stone though.

Thanks for the replies and help Shaun. You're right it would be nice to have a name. More than just something to call it though (I've already named it. Lol) but also if you know the type of stone you can google or search for others experience with it and try different things that have worked for others. Another reason I wanted to know the type was I am not a stone collector but a user so knowing the type of stone may be helpful in the future.

Hoping some of the other rock hounds weigh in too. Thanks again Shaun. :tu

Dalmore or one of the Pierre aiguiser naturelle de Saurat, Pierre genre "Levant"....depending how fine it is lapped and when used with oil you can get some quite good results...

I do not like mine on a finishing stage....

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Originally Posted by doorsch

Dalmore or one of the Pierre aiguiser naturelle de Saurat, Pierre genre "Levant"....depending how fine it is lapped and when used with oil you can get some quite good results...

I do not like mine on a finishing stage....

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Hey! I think you nailed it with the Pierre aiguiser. I got it very finely lapped and I used a translucent arkie to polish it some more and it cuts very well and leaves a polished edge that gives a great shave.

Also check this pierre aux Croissant:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/showpost.php?p=1501125

Iam not shure if this is a special stone, however its the first stone of this kind beeing stamped extra fine and it doesnt look like a special Stone for me...

The identifiers of the pierres aiguiser Naturelle de Saurat are:

- A sanstone type you could see the grain with a 20mag Loupe
- quite Hard Stone, hard to lap also with a coarse DMT as with many Sandstones
- layering visible on the sides, sometimes a swirling appears like on some of the Dalmore Blue Stones
- slurry firstly milky and thin, hard to create...
- mud smell, which appears on many different stones
- in my opinion reaches 6 to max. 8k when lapped very fine, its possible to shave off

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Originally Posted by doorsch

Also check this pierre aux Croissant:
French Hones - Page 23

Iam not shure if this is a special stone, however its the first stone of this kind beeing stamped extra fine and it doesnt look like a special Stone for me...

The identifiers of the pierres aiguiser Naturelle de Saurat are:

- A sanstone type you could see the grain with a 20mag Loupe
- quite Hard Stone, hard to lap also with a coarse DMT as with many Sandstones
- layering visible on the sides, sometimes a swirling appears like on some of the Dalmore Blue Stones
- slurry firstly milky and thin, hard to create...
- mud smell, which appears on many different stones
- in my opinion reaches 6 to max. 8k when lapped very fine, its possible to shave off

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Yes it sounds like a pierres aiguiser except that it seems much more of a finisher than 8k but maybe that is my inexperience with this stone talking. I will have to play with it some more.

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Originally Posted by Steel

Yes it sounds like a pierres aiguiser except that it seems much more of a finisher than 8k but maybe that is my inexperience with this stone talking. I will have to play with it some more.

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As mentioned its the rating is estimated for my stone we also discussed if there might be stones quarried in the past which might have been finer....

Actually the new quarried ones are not sold for that grit range...

That "naturelle de Saurat" part is important. "Pierre aiguiser" just means sharpening stone or wherstone in French and could refer to all whetstones of any kind. Pierre = stone, aiguiser = (to) sharpen, and they often put the adjective after the noun.

Cheers, Steve

i have no clue but it is a fine looking stone !!!!