Thread: Cracks in a natural...

When are they a problem? The reason I ask is I just received a Cnat in the mail and don't want to lap it in case I need to return it. Running a fingernail over the cracks I can't feel them and they run length wise which I assume is better than across.

As long as you cannot feel it you should be fine. I think it is highly unlikely that it will just fall apart into two pieces. However, you could point it out to the seller and express you genuine concern and see if he offers you a discount or free exchange. If neither are offered I would go ahead and lap it and odds are you will be fine with it.

When are they a problem?
1. When you CAN feel the crack when you hone, then you are likely to cause chipping in the blade.

2. When your one hone decides it wants to reproduce by fission and splits apart into two hones. Since both pieces will not grow back into the size of the original hone, this would qualify as a problem.

I tried "flexing" the hone and the cracks don't move. I'll try running a blade on it and see what happens.

I would send it back, the crack on the face does not look like a big deal, but where it meets the edge look like it might.

If you decide to keep it I would seal the sides with a water based sealer, the one I use is from the craft store, just a few bucks for a 4oz bottle. And super glue the crack on the face.

If you don’t water can get in the crack and make it larger, for a few bucks you can avoid problems. I seal any cracks on my naturals with 3-4 coats on the sides.

With a few exceptions rocks are inflexible. if you try and flex it only bad things can happen.

That doesn't look too bad, but I would be torn on the course of action I would take if it were my stone. Part of me says lap it out, the other part says exchange it. No way I would use it with a visible crack though, that's just me being paranoid I'm sure. The more I think about it, the more I lean towards trying to exchange it first, then trying to lap it out if that route fails. Lapping and polishing my Guang Xi hone was painful enough without the added necessity of rooting out a small surface fissure, I wouldn't want to try it if I didn't have to.