Thread: ID for this one please?

Originally Posted by Kingfish

What Jimmy said, but the back looks like granite to me. Mayby to give the stone support.
M

+1 on the granite back

Looks like an Arkansas glued to a granite tile cut to fit.
The big pink feldspar crystals are a big give away. If
the glue sticks it will make a nice bench hone.

And the flat granite might take some of the abrasive films
to give more range to the grit options.

You gents may be right about the granite but the stone reminds me alot of a Wash!ta I had thirty years ago. Sort of like this photo I snagged off of google images of a Wash!ta. They aren't always white.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

You gents may be right about the granite but the stone reminds me alot of a Wash!ta I had thirty years ago. Sort of like this photo I snagged off of google images of a Wash!ta. They aren't always white.

Jimmy is quite right - they come in all sorts of colours, like this one:



Regards,
Neil

I'm thinking Wash!ta and soft Arkansas factorymade combo BUT it could be Wash!ta and Granite tile if it is a homemade combo! You have to try the coloured stone to find out what stone it is.
Here is a soft Arkansas stone pic which may add more fuel.....

This is why it puzles me. It looks like the white side is soft with big ish crystals. The coloured side sems to be harder. The stone probably never seen oil. I have compared it with my Washitas (I have 4) and it looks somehow more grainy than them and my ones are somehow uniform in colour.

Originally Posted by adrspach

This is why it puzles me. It looks like the white side is soft with big ish crystals. The coloured side sems to be harder. The stone probably never seen oil. I have compared it with my Washitas (I have 4) and it looks somehow more grainy than them and my ones are somehow uniform in colour.

According to Saint-Gobain Abrasives, this is a breakdown of the stuff they quarry:

...The harder formations of Arkansas stone range from black to pure white through whites containing various shades of yellow, red and gray.

True Hard Arkansas is glass like and translucent in appearance. This stone will produce a mirror finish on cutting edges.

Soft Arkansas stone is opaque and milky white in color and can contain shades of yellow, red and gray. Its structure is more open and will develop a honed cutting edge.

Still softer, Washita Arkansas stone is a good deal coarser than Soft Arkansas. Also opaque, it has an attractive grainy mixture or white, red and gray colors. It produces a good sharp edge rather than a fine
finish...

It sounds like you are describing the soft white washita from what can be inferred from the above.

Regards,
Neil

Forty years ago I would take a high carbon pocket knife to that Wash!ta and it would come out sharp. The soft Ark smoothed it out a bit. What I'm getting at is if you have a pocket knife and some honing oil you can soon find out if it is Wash!ta or granite.

It's two grades of arkansas rock. the dark one is medium and the white one is fine. they're sold commercially now, pre-glued. As in, this last decade for sure.

use dishwashing liquid and water for lube, and forget the oil. it's smarter, cleaner, and wears both stones and knives less. what you have is suitable for pocket knives and small kitchen knives, but sub-optimal. What it will do better than other rocks is garden tools and machetes and such, things you'ld not waste a better stone on. Might use it for a broadaxe..

I probably own 50+ Arkansas rocks, a dozen bench hones, some Lily Whites, burnishing stones in translucent and surgical white and black.. I'm somewhat over-informed for no very good reason, and might be wrong but don't bet the rent on it.

Thank you for all your answers. The only thing left is to lap it and try some steel on it.