Thread: Ebay Natural Mystery Hone finer and faster than Swaty

The op's stone is arky, the coloration is the iron oxide that is rusting and causes the discoloration.

I sell Arkansas stones for beer money that I purchase from the quarry, I have stones just like it that I got carried away with and got wet, they were white when I got them, now they look just like the op's stone and I have a hard time selling them now.

Originally Posted by regularjoe

All novaculite hones are very hard my friend. Even the ones they call Soft Arks are pretty darn hard. I wouldn't call it famous, but of the 15-25 I've flattened by hand, I can tell you ALL Arkansas stones are very hard. By contrast, the 3 hindostan stones I've lapped were fairly easy to flatten. Hindostans are characterized by distinct side banding, and a sedimentary composition. While Arkansas stones are made of novaculite, which is very hard. Please don't assume me condescending, but I believe you need to do a bit more research. The stone on the left is a Washita Arkansas stone, the one on the right is a Hindostan. I am willing to accept that I'm fallible here. So as always, this is just my opinion. If you don't accept what I'm telling you, I can tell you now, we won't convince each other otherwise. So we'll have to agree to disagree.

I have a brown hindostan, it is probably the hardest rock I have had. I tried many different natural razor stones. I will send a photo when I find it.

"It grinds the Swaty with ease." I haven't tried such an Arkansas yet. If there is, then good no problem.

Since I have 2 that look the same I will say it is a hard Arkansas. The reason that it cuts fast is because you lapped it with the 100 grit silicon carbide which has created sharp edges on the quartz crystals. With use the rate of cutting will get slower and slower as the edges on the quartz crystals get rounded over.

Just my $.02