Thread: Not sure

I can't tell if it's translucent or just the reflection from your hand.



Image from razorandstone.com

The surface finish is suspect. Arkies especially black and translucent are a type of stone that polishes to a really high standard. You see rough ones, but they tend to have cut marks rather than that soft sheen yours has.

They also chip and fracture like flint, with a very specific chip pattern. The chips in yours don't seem to match this.

I have a sneaking suspicion it's a washita stone, But I'm not sure of the grade. Better pictures some outdoors in natural light would make identification easier.

Washita is still a very dense feeling stone, but it's porous and has a much lower grit rating than a translucent ark. The slurry from a washita feels slightly sandy, and the rock itself is pretty soft. You can scratch and gouge most washita stones with a chisel.

By contrast Arks don't tend to slurry at all, and are as hard as glass, It's hard to put a deep scratch into an Ark, They will surface scratch but gouging one is very hard, It'll do more damage to the chisel than the stone.