Thread: Took a gamble on Thury

If Thuringian then I wonder why the manufacturer was lying, Only waterhone produced in America.
Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by alex1921

If Thuringian then I wonder why the manufacturer was lying, Only waterhone produced in America.
Any thoughts?

It must not be a Thury is my guess. It looks like one and performs like one. I have never seen a Thury with a manganese type line but maybe Doorsch or Hatzicho have. I don't know.
If it were made from dust then where did all the dust come from if its from the U.S?
If it is mined in the U.S, what the hell is it and why aren't there tons of these out there?
The fact that it is slightly porous is odd for a slate.
It really doesn't look man made with the banding and Manganese type line.
Its reasonably hard and comparable to my B/G. Does not auto slurry or have a slime feeling like some lighter color Thury's do but smooth in use like the Thury.
Is there something I could look for in the slurry that would help?
I read on B&B Ian (sliceoflife) mentions slurry of synthetic vs natural but regards to Coti's I think.
Its just puzzling. If it didn't perform so damn well I wouldn't really care but it does.

Well these discoloration in Thuringians normally can have two reasons. In a lot of yellow-green hones which are from the combination layer to blue, there are blue spots in the yg stone matrix. Thuringians are mud hones where one layer in different color has settleds down to an existing layer. Sometines small bubbles from the layer below raise up into the upper layer and causes the color spots (or vise versa).
Another possibility are fossil plant or animal inclusions. Not sure in your case. Both of these color changes are not harmful in most cases (fossil inclusions sometimes though).
Doesn't seem to me that your color spot is a harmful iron inclusion. The iron inclusion could be identified during lapping, because the iron leaves a grey-silver trace on the surface during lapping.

Regards Peter

Originally Posted by hatzicho

Well these discoloration in Thuringians normally can have two reasons. In a lot of yellow-green hones which are from the combination layer to blue, there are blue spots in the yg stone matrix. Thuringians are mud hones where one layer in different color has settleds down to an existing layer. Sometines small bubbles from the layer below raise up into the upper layer and causes the color spots (or vise versa).
Another possibility are fossil plant or animal inclusions. Not sure in your case. Both of these color changes are not harmful in most cases (fossil inclusions sometimes though).
Doesn't seem to me that your color spot is a harmful iron inclusion. The iron inclusion could be identified during lapping, because the iron leaves a grey-silver trace on the surface during lapping.

Regards Peter

Thank you. It does seem natural in natural and not man made. The line has no ill effect in honing.
I will try an acid test for calcium carbonite but it is not a conclusive test IMO.
Is there something in the slurry that might be indicitive of natural vs synthetic?
It just seems odd for the company to claim it is an alternative to the expensive imports of Thuringians when itself seems so much like one. It does not look like any synthetic Thury I have seen - at least from photos.
If it is natural how can I identify the type of stone without any training in Geology. Trying to identify minerals may be difficult without very high power magnification.

CLR creates bubbles/ foam. Tested all my other slates and none of them do, nor the coticules, Jnats or anything else.
Most Barber hones do.
Doing an absortion test right now. A drop of water has been idle for almost an hour now. Minutely smaller than when dropped but still sitting high (dehydrating I suppose). I said it was somewhat absorbant because if you put water on it and wipe it away it looks damp there but only for a few minutes if that.
Just finished a shave with a #91 Puma that had about the best edge it has ever seen on it thanks to this stone.
Baffling!!
Inconclusive in that Calcium Carbonate is an inclusion material sometimes found in quartz, its also a component of slate although no reaction to other slates I have.
If not for the Manganese type line and layering visible I would have to conclude synthetic.

Originally Posted by alex1921

If Thuringian then I wonder why the manufacturer was lying, Only waterhone produced in America.
Any thoughts?

Perhaps this is not the stones original box. I realise the stone and rubber fit in nice and snug. Maybe a previous owner just needed a box to store the stone and this particular box fit the job. This could explain away some of the mystery.

Just typing as I think

Originally Posted by Tathra11

Perhaps this is not the stones original box. I realise the stone and rubber fit in nice and snug. Maybe a previous owner just needed a box to store the stone and this particular box fit the job. This could explain away some of the mystery.

Just typing as I think

Well, I had never even thought of that.
Thing is, the box coresponds to the markings on the stone so it seems to belong there. The state and American Hone Company being stamped on it and it was in Minneapolis at the time.
Food for thought maybe but pretty sure its all original.

I just realized I did not add photos of the stamps,

Nice clear stamps. Great condition. Good stuff.

Still baffled by this hone.
It produces amazing edges.
Still no closer to actual stone composition.
Unable to connect yet with a Geologist type but that may not yeild any more than it is a slate anyway.
Still searching...