Thread: Natural in box

This is the stone I bought together with the Yellow Lake oilstone. The dimensions are 19 x 4 cm and comes in a Meranti box. I bought it as a natural stone of unknown origin, but on arrival a thick layer of oil made me think it was a barberhone. Fortunately lapping revealed a natural stone underneath the oil.

The surface feels smoother than my Rozsutec and Yellow Lake oilstone, both around 10k, but coarser than a Chinese natural. The slurry is light gray and already appears after a few strokes.

Right after this stone I went to my leather strop and shaved. It was a decent shave but not as comfortable when I shave off of the Chinese natural.

Based on the pictures in the hone database I think it could be an Escher, what do you think?

Based on the box it looks like a Scottish hone. If under a bit of magnification you see speckles of white and gray or blue I would figure a Tam 'O Shanter. IME an Escher would give you a finer edge than a Chinese natural. Not sure what you have though.

The stone has no speckles, it does have a wavy pattern barely visible in the photos.

Sounds a little similar to mine: http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...-d-please.html

When you say "feels smoother" do you mean when honing or when touching it with your finger.

And when you get slurry, is that with a razor or with a slurry stone?

It may very well be the same type of stone m0isty. Color is similar although mine seems lighter and both have dark spots and vague lines.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

When you say "feels smoother" do you mean when honing or when touching it with your finger.

And when you get slurry, is that with a razor or with a slurry stone?

I use my finger to run back and forth over the surface. I can feel a difference in resistance and I can also hear a difference in pitch. I have honed a razor on it coming off of the Yellow Lake oilstone. That felt like a small step up in grit but the slurry albeit light may have influenced the result.

I just sprayed the surface with water and after about 10 strokes I noticed a light slurry developing. I don't get that with other naturals iirc.

Here's a close up of the spots in the middle, a 3 x 3 cm surface.

The top stone in this post looks a lot like mine http://straightrazorpalace.com/228427-post8.html, which is described as a vintage Escher-type stone.

For comparison some pics of one of mine that looks similar. It is a NOS Thuringian.