Thread: The X-Hones

Originally Posted by 0livia

Its too hard for a coticule.
Just tried to raise some slurry, but to no avail.
You get the slurry of the bout but the hone gives nothing off.
Works well to use it with coti slurry though.

Ah yes I see now. What a difference a diamond makes! cutting slurry off eveything as they do.

I tried this X against several different stones. With a nakayama asagi that does cut coticule, there is no real result just sliding, no slurry. The nakayama does the same against a wa****a but the X cut the wa****a a bit. The X cut both shapton pro 5 and 8 k.
The 5K looked more a mix, like they were fighting it out. But the 8 looked too green to be mixed much.

I guess I should try it on a razor huh?

I guess I'd rather it be a translucent ark than manmade

It looks quartzy in the light, does a mirror polish with metal appering on the stone immediately.

It was used with oil originally.

sorry for the poor cell-phone pics.

In the first pic. I have my Nakayama on the left and my "Olivia hone" on the right.

.... looks like candy fudge!
where did you find it?

Middle stone long one is Arkansas translucent stone.

well, after color correction with mine as the benchmark it looks like this:

Originally Posted by 0livia

.... looks like candy fudge!
where did you find it?

Well, In person, It looks like .....candy fudge.

After playing with it a while, I now have 3 hones that can polish an edge to the point the scratches are too small to be seen at 100X.

That is the 3 in the picture above. Interestingly, a razor may get to that point on all 3 or only1-2. I guess this is consistent with different razors "preferring" one hone over others.

I have a Genco which seems to be saying "none of these are for me".

Yep, I guess the middle range between 1000 and 5000
is the hard part when it comes to naturals.

Got this stone in a box lot. Thought it was a vintage combo Coticule but not sure anymore. The lighter side is very soft and laps very easily, in fact will quickly clog 400 grit sandpaper with white slurry. Slurry has a strong alkali smell.
However no matter how hard I try with slurry or without, seems it won’t cut steel worth crap… no black stain in the slurry after many… many laps… haven’t tried shaving off it yet.

The dark side I think its slate, but it cuts steel quickly with or without slurry, slurry is gray or purple… slurry quickly changes from gray-purple to black after a few laps and you see new scratch marks in the steel.
The top is bone white, no stripes like other natural stones I have seen; bottom is slate gray and judging from the end seems to be a natural stone. The hone is glued.
5 ¾ x 1 ¾ x about ½ inch (145mm x 45mm x 16mm).

Not sure what this thing is… please help!

It really does look like a coticule to me, Smythe!
Maybe an extraordinary soft kind?

A purple slurry from the slate side indicates that as well.