Thread: What exactly do I have here?

My father-in-law gave me a vintage "Smith's Washita" stone in a wood case yesterday. I lapped it flat and it went from black to a dingy white. Looking at it under a 100X microscope it seems fairly fine grit. I couldn't find any info on it though. The only thing I found on it was where it sold on an auction site. I'll post pics once my camera battery is charged. It is pretty.

A very good stone for setting bevels and rough edges on pocket knives IME. Follow with a soft arkansas and you'll have a heck of an edge on your knife. Not for razors IMO but a good stone.

I didn't think it would work very well as a razor hone. It's actually not doing too bad about the final edge on my knives. How can I tell a soft Arkansas from a hard one without labels?

You might find that a finishing stone for a knife is about right as a bevel setter for a razor.

Originally Posted by bulldog

I didn't think it would work very well as a razor hone. It's actually not doing too bad about the final edge on my knives. How can I tell a soft Arkansas from a hard one without labels?

Generally " Washita" stones have multiple shades of color and feel a little rough to the touch. Soft Arkansas stones are generally gray in color and hard stones usually are whitish, eggshell color and have a smoother feel. But it can be hard to tell; they are graded by density, the more dense they are the "harder", (finer) they are.

Hope this is helpful,
Jeff