Thread: Hindostan hone.

Thankyou doorsch; some excellent historic data within your post.

regards StewieS.

I won't be able to get down in that area till next summer but really the best time to look for the quarries is in the dead of winter when the trees & bushes are bare.
Total knee replacement on the 18th. will keep me off my feet for a while.

Slawman

When I got mine it was black as night. Then dark brown to brown to light brown. Then tan and now whitish tan. Wow it is solidly in 8k range a lot smothef than I thought and is
8x2x1 3/8 in thick, needless to say i'm keeping it.

I scored a couple Hindos off the bay.The first one looked like a bar of tar but after a simple green soak turned in to a very finely layered tan and red beauty. I have 2 approx the size of yours. One was used with diesel fuel and despite months of simple green soaks and boiling 3 times in more aggressive degreasers, it still weeps stinky fuel oil. This stinky one is the only one I've tested so far. Reminded me of a Ohio Blue stone (Queer Creek). I'm from Indiana and never new these existed until I found this forum! I'm not skilled enough to estimate a grit.

Since the red is from iron leaching, I suppose it's permanent. If there is a way to attack it, I'm real interested. It laughed at CLR.

I use easy-off it works very good. Please be carefull and wear gloves(use outside if you can) and wash with simple green after, it is strong. I did four coats and washed in between with simple green. Good luck with youre stones!

You cannot grit rate a stone, comparing one natural stone to another, because natural stones have no grit rating.

You can compare, the stria pattern of a known grit, synthetic stone, to the stria pattern of a natural stone on the same steel.

Hone the razor or steel on the known grit synthetic, hone half the steel on the natural and compare stria microscopically.


Once you grit match, the stone, you know approximately the grit potential of that stone, at that time.

There is no guarantee, that the grit will not change from one side to the other, or as it wears a 32nd of an inch. There was not quality control, when the Natural stone was made, it is… natural.


You can clean the stones, by soaking in Simple Green, Awsome, or other degreaser and water (50 percent). A Hindostane can take months, changing the solution every week or two.

Keep changing the solution until oil is no longer released, one took over a year.

Hello Euclid440, that is what I do exacly. I have a laica microscope(studied microbology under Elain R. Ingham University of oregon in Corvalis in 2004)very high quality to see those little buggers. I finaly found another use(looking at the bevels) and it has been invaluable to my learning process.I started with a set of naniwas, so that is what I compare my naturals to. You are very right when you say things could change very quickly, my frst Jnat taught me this(no longer have that one) when I said 8k I was thinking for me, I should have said 7-9k.