Thread: The X-Hones

Unresolved square mysteries gathering!
If you're a proud proprietor of a natural hone you can't find a name for.
Come and shovel them in!
Anything non carborundum you can show us,
will make you a member of "The X-Hones" and eligible to wear this badge:



Help resolving those mysteries is highly appreciated,
even if it leads to the sad fact that these stones are not natural.

I'll start with three of them.
They all came in wooden cases and have been abused as oil stones previously.



A Detail about 5 x





This last hone is of a higher grit, pretty thirsty for a natural and it glazes fast. Slurry is white.

I only have one stone I don't know about, but I know about what it is.

Thanks for taking this step and starting this ball rolling. I'm hitting old out of the way places to look for goodies and will soon end up with things I'm sure I will not have a clue as to what they are. Fun to have a thread of others in the same spot

I bought this at a road side stall in the middle of nowhere in Thailand on my way back to Bangkok. I think it is granite. I have since had a go at flattening it, but its bloody hard stuff. I think it might be some sort of granite.

YAY!
Thank you! (Yesterday I wasn't sure whether anybody would ever post any thing to this thread)

Keep them coming!

ndw76, it looks volcanic to me. Basalt maybe?

I was thinking as an add on, when posting pics also show if the stone came in any packaging, wood box, or the like. I'm taking pics of my stone along with it's box, as it seems to have been made to fit the stone.

Mine was wrapped in the Bangkok Post.

Originally Posted by ndw76

Mine was wrapped in the Bangkok Post.

Classic

The things I have had wrapped in news print, lol great way to get expensive things around. Brown paper bag and news print.

Still havent gotten around to deep cleaning this one, but I thought it was worth showing with the box It smells of old WD40 but hey so many people believed it was good stuff...

Most of the old barbers I have talked to have a corborundum stone. I am curious as to what part these hones have in the process of maintaining or sharpening a razor.

Typical conversation with old barber:

What type of razor do you use German

What type of strop do you use Horsehide

What type of hone do you use Swaty

Sometimes you have to get to know these guys before they will share any information with you. It is well worth the effort. I recently met a barber in his eighties who still runs a one chair shop. Great old Gentleman.


Sold me a Dubl Duck No. 1 special and gave some honing and stropping guidance.

Spend some time with an old barber - It will be a great expierence.

I first came to the SRP in an effort to identify hones and have been largely successful due to many helpful member contributions. I'm still however blessed with a stack of X hones. I've taken photos of both sides and the edges of these mystery stones in the hopes they might be recognized.
The small taupe/biege hone at the far right is quite soft and fragile, easily produces a slurry, seems to have fine parallel laminations as if sedamentory and almost seems like a cross between the fast cut of a coticule and the smoothness of a Thuringian. It has given me the best results of all my hones and I consider it a gem regardless of it country of origin.
Though I may be mistaken, I've come to the conclusion the remaining hones, despite their varied appearance are all basically the same stone. The top example was probably darkened by the oven incident. It smelled terribly of diesel so I decided to bake it out. Preoccupied with honing, I didn't immediately notice the smoke pouring of the oven when a large puddle of oil had dripped from the stone. Portions of the hone below it and the example at right share the same rusty color, grain and mild slurry producing characteristics as well as excellent sharpening capabilities. The almost pure white stone at the bottom is almost identical to portions of the stone above it. It is much finer grained, harder and more difficult to develop a slurry but still much softer than an Arkansas and seems like it may be a good finisher. I need to work with it more before I conclude how good. If anyone thinks they might know what the rusty hones might be, I sure would be curious to know. Thanks for the topic, Jeff