Thread: Mystery Hone ID Request

Can anyone here ID this mystery barber hone?

It's a standard barber hone size @ 4-7/8" long x 1-15/16" wide and a little thin @ 5/16" thickness.

It's pretty damn hard and a beast to lap, but it did give up a little bit of light gray-ish slurry in the process.

Lapping gave off a strong and pleasant, deep earthy scent much like the older, vintage coticules. (The newer coticules smell nice enough, but those super dense Old Rock / Deep Rock / Salm coticules have a strong perfume!)

When finished up to a 1K surface, the stone feels like glass.

TEST: I took a decent 8K edge to the stone with water only, and the result was a very sharp (yet more fuzzy than polished) shaving edge that tree-topped arm hairs with ease.

GUESS: I've never owned a petrified wood hone, but I've read about them. And this does have a very strong wood grain pattern...

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

PS -- That small inclusion-looking spot in photo #1 isn't an inclusion. It's just part of the pattern and perfectly smooth across. Same with the large speckled area in photo #2.

Very cool thing! Something you need to own just from the look ;-)

I did some posts on the petriefied wood thing or the "German Hickory Hone"

It actually looks a bit like it could be natural...

Was that one a BIN Auction ?

Originally Posted by doorsch

Very cool thing! Something you need to own just from the look ;-)

I did some posts on the petriefied wood thing or the "German Hickory Hone"

It actually looks a bit like it could be natural...

Was that one a BIN Auction ?

Thanks for the reply, doorsch. I agree that it looks like it could be a natural stone. It sure smells like it's made of mud. =)

And yes, this was an eBay BIN listing. (Cost me a whopping $16 + $4.95 shipping.)

Regards,
Chris

If I had seen that, I would have bought it now too! For no other reason than because its damned pretty. Be interesting to see photos of the edge under a scope

I don't think it's a tree, unless trees grow backwards....lol!
Very very nice find!!!

Perhaps a natural? Moughton Stone?

When you get it can you post up close pictures of these spots? Please and thank you!!!!

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As I shared with Christopher, I'm not sure this looks like petrified wood. Now you can take my Geology elective in college (which I still love learning about every chance I get), my visit to the Petrified Forest, and a dollar-put it all together and buy the cup of coffee it's worth at the local diner.

Having said, the rings don't look like the growth rings from a tree-too much variation in spacing along them. And most of the PF I've seen is far more colorful from the various minerals fossilized within the decaying tree's structure. I never even thought of the Novaculite angle, though-I guess the specific gravity test would tell? I wonder too if the bands are some sort of exotic sedimentary layers that settled in that fashion. It kind of reminds me of some of the really wild metamorphic banding from millions of years of heating and folding that I see on some of the back-country trout streams I frequent, kind of like this:

or this

There are rocks and minerals like this all over the NC mountains. The Appalachians are supposed to be the oldest mountain range on earth; mineral samples have been found that are close to half a billion years old. This doesn't answer Christopher's question, but gives us a similar rock in its raw, natural state.

Anyway, Bianco, I don't care what it is, I want to hone on it at our next mini-meet! Aaron

edit: Look at this page of different gneiss samples from around the world, especially the banded greenish one a little ways down the page: http://www.sandatlas.org/gneiss/

SHD,

Thanks for the thoughts and photos. While I have no idea where the stone was quarried, it was purchased and shipped from Portland, Oregon. (Might be regional?) And yes, I'll definitely bring this stone to our next scotch tasting.

I visited the link, but I'm not sold on it being any of those type stones. But I could be wrong. Often am.

(aaron--I'll snap some well-lighted close-up photos tomorrow morning.)

Regards,
Chris

I never even thought of the Novaculite angle, though-I guess the specific gravity test would tell? I wonder too if the bands are some sort of exotic sedimentary layers that settled in that fashion. It kind of reminds me of some of the really wild metamorphic banding from millions of years of heating and folding

The gravity test would only let you check the grade of novaculite if that is indeed what it is. There are plenty of other rocks that will have similar density.

Novaculite is one of the odd rocks. It is a chert, and follows the rules for that rock type. It can show original deposit banding and fossils, Form in huge sheets, Or form as nodules. It can also show pressure banding and folding and be found in layers. As such there are no real rules for what one should look like. Jaspers and agates are the same family. Chert is actually one of the more interesting rocks in general as it is normally considered to be biological in origin, Been formed from chalks and limestones.

A spark test might be more beneficial than a gravity test. If you run some mild steel down one side quickly you might be able to get sparks. Cherts and flints are know to have this property. Again other rocks can do this so it's not a perfect test.