Thread: Name That stone part 3! Washita?

Hello gentlemen, I have a few of these, one belonged to my great uncle. They all have similar color and pattern. It is very hard to lap, almost feels like arkansas I have tried to lap. I seen a similar on ebay that was listed as a washita however all the marked (and unused-lightly used) washitas I have in my collection are a white/cream with a red/purple pattern. These are a varying range of browns with some spots being almost black. Are these an older variety of washita or just what happens to them when they have been soaked with oil for the past 80 years or so? This one has had more than 1/8" lapped off of it and it maintained it's coloration and pattern

Washita - 99.9 certainty. The appearance of variation isn't due to age, it's just one stone vs. another, etc. Few of the unlabeled types look exactly the same, but they're all good stones if they came from the old pike mine.

If you have labeled stones that say washita and are multicolored (especially if they have Buck, Case, etc brands), then they are usually not washitas, but instead soft arkansas stones on the coarse side of things. Anything made in the era of labeled stones that doesn't say norton or pike on it (labels can be missing, of course), or some variation known (woodworker's delight, carpenter's choice, mechanic's friend, carpenter's friend, keen kutter, etc) to be a pike stone in disguise is a soft arkanasas. Pike had the only mine that made true washitas. Now Norton owns it and it's closed (Roy Underhill said you can still see rock at the surface, though - taking it is inappropriate). Some folks (including Dan's) sell stones they call washita, but they're not the same thing and Dan's will gladly tell you it's not.

Generally, washitas that had any red streaks in them were sold as "rosy red", a variation of lilywhite. They're fairly uncommon. Soft arkansas stones that are aggressive with large particles - those are common in pink, swirly, etc.

Google image will show you a picture of a rosy red washita, it's subtle.

Yeah that looks very much like my washita #1 that came in a carved box. It is a very fast cutter easy to bevel set. The ones I have seen similar have been really old ones, so cherish that one.

Thank you both, I have 3 or 5 of these stowed away, this one has sentimental value. The others need some serious lapping but they will make fine stones when restored one is about a 2"x5" and the other is a 2"x8" or so. The one in the OP is about 2"x7"

Do you have an inexpensive stationary belt sander? That is the best way I've found to work stones that are really way out of whack. Cheap coarse aluminum oxide belt and then put the stone on the drum on the end of the sander so that you just have one line contact point. Smells like fire and must be done outside due to airborne dust. Once you're close to flat, then you can go to lapping the stone.

Washita are one stone that can truly set a damaged bevel literally in minutes, and if allowed to settle in over time, can finish a razor, too. I don't think there are any others that can truly do both.

I am a cutler by trade I have 5 belt sanders and a 10" disk sander at my disposal. As well as dust collection and exhaust system. I tried beltsanding a soft arkie once and didn't feel like i was getting very far with it. I was considering ordering some silicon carbide belts made for grinding glass, those should cut better and last longer, no?

If you do the work on the platen with the stone flat, it will go nowhere. It's like applying a brake pad to the belt.

If you have access to the metal drum on the end of a belt sander - a small radius drum like you'd find on something like this:
https://www.ryobitools.com/products/...in-disc-sander

You may have a larger version, but that metal wide low-radius drum is important. You want to have a contact point right against that drum right on the end (may be easier if the belt and platen are switched to upright orientation instead of horiztonal, then you can just put the stone against the drum more easily. Instead of having a plane of contact, you have a line, so it requires some touch and checking to make sure you're removing the material correctly. However, since you have such a small contact line, the abrasive can dig a lot deeper, and you may see what looks like fire at the contact point.

I think you want cheap tough aluminum oxide. The belt will be ruined no matter what you use, but silicon carbide paper generally is for hardened metals and I think it may fracture too easily working on alumina. I can't comment on grinding glass as I haven't done it. It's similar stuff to a sharpening stone, but I can only relay my experience.

I make horrible videos, but I could get the point across with this one a lot easier on a video. It's a revelation in speed the first time you do it, but the fire-ish smell is really strange.

When I get a stone that's way out of kilter I head for the concrete side walk with white silica sand. I've removed massive flaws on Washitas this way. I progress my lapping from that point. Nice stone, a very useful addition to anyone's collection.

Originally Posted by DaveW

If you do the work on the platen with the stone flat, it will go nowhere. It's like applying a brake pad to the belt.

If you have access to the metal drum on the end of a belt sander - a small radius drum like you'd find on something like this:
https://www.ryobitools.com/products/...in-disc-sander

You may have a larger version, but that metal wide low-radius drum is important. You want to have a contact point right against that drum right on the end (may be easier if the belt and platen are switched to upright orientation instead of horiztonal, then you can just put the stone against the drum more easily. Instead of having a plane of contact, you have a line, so it requires some touch and checking to make sure you're removing the material correctly. However, since you have such a small contact line, the abrasive can dig a lot deeper, and you may see what looks like fire at the contact point.

I think you want cheap tough aluminum oxide. The belt will be ruined no matter what you use, but silicon carbide paper generally is for hardened metals and I think it may fracture too easily working on alumina. I can't comment on grinding glass as I haven't done it. It's similar stuff to a sharpening stone, but I can only relay my experience.

I make horrible videos, but I could get the point across with this one a lot easier on a video. It's a revelation in speed the first time you do it, but the fire-ish smell is really strange.

I'll give it a go on one of my beaters. I use the metal wheel as a contact point often when I need to hog steel off in a specific area, sounds like it works the same way with rocks! Thanks for the tip!

Thanks again for the tip, I took a trashed one and had it flat on both sides in about 15 minutes, time to lap now!