Thread: ID help

Picked this thing up awhile ago and forgot I even had it. Found it when I pulled out my Hines that have been packed away for almost a year. I lapped it just enough so I could use it, finished at 1k, no burnishing. Slurry shows just a lighter version of the color in the photos which is dead on at least as seen on my phone. The rock is fairly hard, not as hard as my phig, which is a paperweight as it’s garbage for honing. The grain is pretty homogeneous. There are very few sparkling particles which glint similar to tiny pieces of metal under a 20x loupe, they are far apart and never occur together. 1” x 2” x 8”





Reset both bevels and went through a Naniwa progression, finished both on the 12k. I did my normal routine on the International, the Webster was finished further on the unknown hone. It received 100 laps with water and just the smallest amount of dish soap to break water tension.

The shave tests were interesting. The International who got 7 laps on a crox webbed strop then 120 on leather, was what was to be expected, super keen but just a touch uncomfortable. The Webster got the same, less the pasted stropping, the shave was possibly the the most comfortable I’ve ever had but was lacking in keenness. Ultimately I finished the shave with the International, I really like a keen edge, had to keep checking that it was taking hair because I couldn’t feel it cutting while shaving my cheeks.

If I could combine the two I’d be in shaving heaven.

Anyways, I digress. Any help from you rock hounds would be great.

Hard to say in its current condition. Spray down with oven cleaner and scrub with a stiff brush and or a brass paint cleaning brush. If it does not come clean soak in 50 % Simple Green, 409 or Awsome solution overnight and scrub it in the morning. Keep soaking until clean. Oven cleaner will remove the surface dirt and oil, degreaser will remove oil that has penetrated the stone.

The clean sides might give up more information. You will have to bevel the edges so that no edge chips will contact the edges.

Does it slurry easily and what are you making slurry with?

You can finish a razor on your 12k, then mark a line with a sharpie, across the middle of the razor on both sides. Then hone the toe half of the razor on the Natural stone, keeping the half way mark on the edge of the stone.

Now look at the bevel and compare the heel half, (the 12k side) to the Toe half, (the Natural side). Compare the stira on both sides with magnification. Did the natural improve the 12k edge, shallower/finer stria?

Love the idea of only honing half the blade, definitely more apples to apples than just using two german blades. I lapped it well enough to to get it flat then chamfered the edges so nothing would catch. The slurry was made with a 1200 dmt, I didnt use slurry to hone, just water and a touch of dish soap.

The hone is definitely a little dirty, the staining on it too appears to be oil and not an artifact of the tone itself. I cleaned it pretty well with a stiff brush and dish soap, scrub rinse repeat until the stone was free of crud on the honing surface. I went to 80 grit wd then progressed up through 1k wd, finally hit with the dmt to check out the slurry. It does not slurry well with dmt, I assume because the dmt is worn. The stone doesn’t self slurry at all. I was going to try another 100-150 laps to see if I can get it a little sharper.

I’ve got a long way to go though. Seems to me some experimentation is needed to max out on it. Figure I’ll just keep polishing it in steps and see if that makes a difference. If not I’ll try working up a slurry and doing a dilution on it.

The stone is 2in x 8in, forgot to add that.

I’m open to any suggestions as far as finishing on it goes. This is the first natural I’ve acquired that I’ve wanted to spend any time with.

First find out where it fits in a progression, finer that a 12 or 8K. If so it could be a finisher. The sides and blemishes can also help with Id, but it will have to be clean to see them.

Could be a Lyn Idwal or Charnley Forest, black or brown banding, blotches or dots might help ID it.

Sounds hard, Hard stones finish well after smoothing with a fine stone or wet and dry. Start with a 1k, once flat and work up to 8 or 12k. I should smooth quickly once flat. You can also burnish with hard steel like finishing an Ark to improve performance.

Then some Smith’s honing solution, a water soluble oil, 3-4 drop on a wet stone works well, try a light slurry also, thinning to clear water or smiths.

There is a current interesting thread in the honing forum honing on arks with Chrome Oxide paste with good results. You might take a look at that thread. A lot will depend on how fine the stone is.

I just got done burnishing the stone with a chisel. It went from a matte looking sheen to eggshell. Took the Webster back to the 12k cleaned up the scratches from yesterday left by the stone. After my normal 12k finishing process I went back to the newly burnished stone and did 20 lap rounds while checking at the end of each. Looking through the loop the bevel looks just slightly hazier than off the 12k but after some super scientific arm hair topping, and bit of honers mange, the edge kept getting sharper until about 80 laps. At 100 the edge didn’t seem any sharper, despite the less polished appearance in comparison to the 12k finish.

Right now I’m super hopeful considering the way the bevel looked last night after finishing on the mystery hone. There’s a much higher polish than the last try. Sharpness is currently exceeding the Naniwa as far as my arm hair is concerned. Will report back after the test shave.

I guess I’ll add some smiths to the shopping list and give that go.

There are blotches as seen in the pics. I’m going to give it a long soak in some sort of degreaser tonight and see if they lighten or disappear. My current guess from the look of the blotches is that it is oil. I have a bad case of HAD right now and have been eyeing one of Dan’s black Arkys, if this thing works out maybe I can shelve the new hone for now, but probably not, because, we’ll, I’m sick....

RAD, HAD, SAD... what am I missing?

You can get Smiths at Lowes or most knife stores for 5-10 buck a bottle. A bottle will last a long time, years. Ballstol also works about the same, put either in a small plastic bottle that will dispense a drop at a time.

Charney’s and Lynn Idwal’s are nice knife stones. You could prep one side for razors and not polish the bottom, just smooth and use it on knives. Old Carbon steel knives like those stone and Arks. Some are finisher some for knives and tool steel.

Well, what do you know!


Made in U.S.A.

Most likely an Arkansas?

What a difference some degreaser makes. Thank you Euclid, your help is always appreciated. I too was thinking along the lines of a European stone. I’m very new to the whole naturals thing. Amazing how much there is to learn, and all I was trying to do when I came here was to stop getting ingrown hairs and razor burn.

Well tried finishing off the mystery hone again and wound up with a keen but uncomfortable shave. It was much more sharp but not the comfort I had from the first attempt. Found the tiniest of nicks near the toe, which of course I didn’t find until after the shave test, as it was evident when I put the blade to my face.

The closest thing I can find on the interwebs in look and size seems to be a soft or washita Arkansas. With that in mind I may need to bite the bullet and get a black from Dan, as I’ve been wanting one.

After an over night soak in a mild degreaser the blotches as seen in the pics on the first post are still there but the color has lost its greenish tint and now appears mostly grey. This thing soaks up and holds water too. After the overnight soak it still has moisture in it and appears wet, it has been drying for a couple hours at this point. Maybe man made? I’m hoping the stamp may give it away.