Thread: Any idea what this stone could be

Was found with some tools and the gentleman said he used to sharpen chisels. And has inherited it many years before. It was in a box and very dirty. I soaked it for couple weeks in simple green and water and was able to clean it up a little (though I have much more to go). Used quite a bit of elbow grease and sandpaper to get to this point to be able to hopefully ID it.

Very hard to even guess from the pictures. Try lapping to clean it up a little more. Note how hard or easy it is to lap. The color of the slurry might give a clue. Post the dimensions. Does it seem man made or natural? If I had to guess from those pictures I would say Arkansas.

I would put my money on a vintage Norton Queer Creek stone, made by the Pike Manufacturing Company in Littleton, N.H.
Approx. 1000 grit, wild guess, a natural stone. The internet has photos you can compare to.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

I would put my money on a vintage Norton Queer Creek stone, made by the Pike Manufacturing Company in Littleton, N.H.
Approx. 1000 grit, wild guess, a natural stone. The internet has photos you can compare to.

Consodered could be an ark except I haven't seen any this size - especially the thickness. It does look could be a little translucent but still not like any ark I have owned. It really does not seem to be a queer creek. It is almost a yellowish color closer to a coticule than QC. Seems natural. I have had a queer creek stone and was more of a solid rock and not at all opaque or whiteish or grayish as they turn out with age. I am going to work on it some more and try to sand off all of the dirt and oil. Also create a slurry and see how easy this is to lap. Don't think will be easy but have a feeling not as hard to do as an ark. Usually they come clean after soaking for couple weeks but this looks almost as it did when it went in the solution.

It may not be a QC,, I just worked with your photos in a photo editor, to try & enhance them. Keep in mind the vintage QC's were a pastel white & did not grey,, they got dirty/stained easy, they are relatively soft & hold the stain, for the most part, despite cleaning.

You can see it more reliable under a microscope (50x or more).
if it's a QC or another rouge sandstone you will see
smth like this:
extra rouge sandstone https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/beavers-net/album/466371/
berea https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/beavers-net/album/499415/
QC https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/beavers-net/album/499421/
rouge dalmore blue https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/beavers-net/album/467201/
a sandstone https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/beavers-net/album/402123/
hindostan https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/beavers-net/album/402114/
rozsutec https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/beaver...m/357794/?&p=1

If it's coti https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/beavers-net/album/443476/
Arkansas\washita https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/beavers-net/album/357790/

For me it looks like a coti(low possibillity) or an arkansas(hi).

It's not translucent. Also not easy to lap at all. Sandpaper hardly even works. I'm going to soak this for a while again and lap with some SIC powder when it comes in. Hardly any slurry but lots of oil.

Going to watch this one, is a puzzle, waiting for the other Men of Stone to weigh in.

Try some dollar store oven cleaner to get the surface dirt off, then soak in simple green to get the deep oil to release. Leaving it in the sun will speed up the release. I soak in a thrift store, tall glass canister with wire locking glass lid and rubber gasket.

Arks come in a variety of colors and sizes.

Yea, sand paper is a waste of time. Loose silicon carbide and a dollar store cookie sheet will get it flat, oven cleaner and simple green will get it clean. It can take month of soaking, to get all the oil out.