Thread: what hone is this?

hi every one, found a hone (not bought yet) but hard to definite it.





do you have any ideas? its kind or grit? i think it's for razors.

It's really hard to tell from those pictures, can you provide a clear close-up image? If it's inexpensive it might be worth picking up.

What region is it being sold in? It might be a long shot clue. Looks from the picture to be a slate type. Let the game begin.

A lot of guys have shown some pretty dramatic changes in the appearance of a hone from when the got it to what it actually looked like once it was cleaned and lapped. Many of them start out looking very much like the one you have shown and then once cleaned have been Charnley Forest or Arks or Thuringians, so it is super hard to tell before they are cleaned, unless they start out that way. Nice paddle/holder. I'm curious.

I will ask to seller for closer pictures. It's not that expensive but this lately I spent too much for razors. I must be carefull.


And who is that guy which said " to use straight razors is more economic " ?

So why I can't save money

Originally Posted by Hacker7

What region is it being sold in? It might be a long shot clue. Looks from the picture to be a slate type. Let the game begin.

In UK. Origin I don't know

Originally Posted by Oustoura

So why I can't save money

Using them is economic, not buying them.

I seem to have the same issue.

What dimensions is it.

I have a stone of very similar, very dark almost black colour. It's also a UK stone. Came in an unbranded card sleeve.









Mines 2x8 inches and 1/2 thick.

It can work as a finisher, but it's under an 8K naniwa finish. I suspect it to be something like a cambrock silkstone. It's at it's most basic description a med hard slate. Slurries well with a diamond plate, but doesn't auto slurry. Suffers with serious slurry dulling on a heavy slurry.

2 cm wide and 1 cm thick. didn't say how long. it was used with oil but if it could be undern 10k i won't be interested in.

If the measurements are metric, and it's defiantly older than the 1970's there is a good chance it is not a UK stone.

I would expect clean fractions of an inch and 10mm x 20mm doesn't make any clean imperial fractions. 25/64 x 25/32.

3/8 x 3/4 should measure 9.5 x 19mm so get a more accurate measurement before you decide it is definitely of UK origin.

Length is usually more telling.

100, 110, 130, 150, 160mm all fall on odd fractions of an inch.

120 is near to 4 3/4 inch
140 is near to 5 1/2 inch

So it's only those 2 measurements you need to scrutinise to tell if metric or imperial cut.


All naturals have a chance at been under 10K. There are Thuri's and CF's that fail to hit 10K. With naturals there is always a chance of a poorer than average quality. If the price is right then you take the gamble.


Another thing that the stone might be is vintage trans black Arkansas. There looks to be almost no wear, but the paddle has obviously been used. A very hard stone like Arkansas fits the bill here. Typically these stones have a grit of about 1.2K. But they don't shed grit like a regular stone, they burnish instead meaning when finished they have a glass like finish and a grit rating that is as high as the burnish. A well finished arky is slow but they can improve just about any edge if you have time to put a few hundred laps on oil with one.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/class...s-8x2x1&cat=13