Thread: Very unusual Vintage Sharpening stone

Ok Guys, I am stumped on what I just got in the mail.
Colors seem to run grey to blue to green to brown with almost a starry night look on one side and a wood grain pattern on top.
It seem hard and smooth like a Charnley Forest or an Arkansas, but doesn’t look like one. Came from GB. I cleaned off the oil and the oily box. Slurry with a DN was light white no real grainy feeling and fast. Seem like a hard slow finisher on water so far.

Dry pics of stone.

I think it's novaculite. Now, if it's a Charnley, Llyn Idwal, something from US or even a Turkish oilstone (the pores on the side), I can't say for sure, the colors are strange indeed.
I have seen whitish Charnley stones, and the pattern is somewhat similar though less pronounced generally but yours is a bit too white' still there is a chance. The way it's cut is similar to CF stones but that's not an indicator, nor unique on that type only... no matter what it is, if you like the way it shaves, have fun with it. Nice purchase!

I believe it is novaculite. Seems a bit CF a bit Turkish, and yet neither. I will work up a good razor on it and shave in the next few days.

At some angles/views it does kind of resemble one of those Cretan hones.

I can say it is as hard or harder than my hardest CF and my arms hurt.

Originally Posted by eKretz

At some angles/views it does kind of resemble one of those Cretan hones.

It does indeed, but from the 4th pic, 1st post with the missing big flakes, the Cretan stone doesn't flake/break like this, it splits into two parts very easily.
BUT you can find this kind of shapes from stones "collected from the wild" i.e. people walking the hill, finding random pieces and sell them (should this happened, it must have been decades ago at least though).
Now, for the possibility to be a stone from my general area, Cretan or "Turkish" oilstone, they are indeed a pain to lap, harder than Charnleys, at least most of them. I have seen a type with completely different characteristics that kind of look again like Turkish oilstone without the presence of pores, but let's not go there as my knowledge is insufficient.
Can you try to generate slurry from it when dry vs wet? Soaked wet stones are a real PITA on that, but it's easier when they are dry, try it with sandpaper.
Also, the pattern with the lines, can you say that it's a result of oil residue, on the dark places, but the white parts have been successfully cleaned from that? Because that could indeed increase the chance for the stone to be one.

Don't know if this will help tell anything, but here is a pic from the seller before I cleaned it of remaining oil.

I'm not sure if the photos depict the lights correctly; do you see a greenish tint, even if it's faint from the stone cleaned? It's quite common on CF & LY. Other than that I don't know what it is. Have you tried generating slurry/lightly sanding it dry vs wet?

Are not stone from Crete for sure.