Thread: Help with Hone ID please

Hi, I am hoping that someone will be able to help with this hone.
Measurements:
Length: 6" or 152mm
Width: 1 7/8" or 47.5mm
Height: 7/8" or 22mm
Weight: 374g or 13 3/16oz
I have placed it next to some sharpening stones to help with colour.
The surface feels like glass.
Sorry for the vague description.
Photos show both faces and one end

Thanks momma

Looks like an Arkansas (novaculite) to me. I have seen Hard arks colored like that. It could be translucent. You can check that with a flashlight in a dark room. If it is a 1" translucent, you have a very nice specimen.

Thank you kelbro.
I will try the flashlight test later as I have just discovered both my torches are missing.
100% guaranteed they will be in my son's car.

Originally Posted by kelbro

Looks like an Arkansas (novaculite) to me. I have seen Hard arks colored like that. It could be translucent. You can check that with a flashlight in a dark room. If it is a 1" translucent, you have a very nice specimen.

Hi kelbro, to test I used my son's Led Lenser headlamp.
At most parts of the hone the light shines all the way through although not as strong at one end.
There is a section in the middle where it didn't shine through although I could see the light penetrating to half an inch along the sides. Does this sound normal??
Thanks momma

Originally Posted by momma

Hi kelbro, to test I used my son's Led Lenser headlamp.
At most parts of the hone the light shines all the way through although not as strong at one end.
There is a section in the middle where it didn't shine through although I could see the light penetrating to half an inch along the sides. Does this sound normal??
Thanks momma

Yes, that indicates that it's what's commonly referred to as a Translucent Arkansas. Typically great stones for finishing once they have been lapped flat.

well its a weird and probably untypical look for a Translucent, the pattern just looks type of wrong to me.
iam not 100% concerned of that beeing an Translucent...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=131547

Considering the light carries through I'm not sure what else it could be.

I've got a sandy colored banded translucent, there's a lot of potential pattern and color variations. I'm thinking it's just dirty and could benefit from a long soak in something like simple green and maybe a good lapping. Like this little fellow I use for pocket knives:

Thanks for the comments , I appreciate them.
It's 3am here and I tried to get a photo but it was too hard. I was trying to hold the hone hard against the torch and then trying to take a photo on my mobile with my knuckle Just no hope, my old phone changed the beam to red and everything is distorted, nothing like it really is.
Any tips besides waking someone up??

If possible, lay the hone on a table and rest the light pointing down into the rock. That'll free your hands up.

Oddly enough I also found daylight pictures were better for picking up light transmitting through the stone. In the darkness you couldn't define where the edges were or what the shape of the stone was. In daylight you could still see light permeating the stone.