Thread: Unknown Grit

Hey fellas, I just inherited this combo stone. One of my great grandfathers was a barber, and the other a butcher-- I'm not sure which one it belonged to. The problem is that the grits are not marked anywhere on it. I want to learn how to hone, and need to know where I stand. The dimensions are 6" X 2" X 1", and the light gray side seems to be the finer grit of the two. I'm just hoping for the off chance that somebody out there has seen this stone before, or maybe if anybody has some tips for a newb on determining the grits on this stone? Thanks a lot.

Your best bet is to try it on something and feel the edge (if you can do it by feel) or compare it to a hone of known grit (if you have any around).

With really good photos, someone might be able to give you an idea of what it is, but that's not easy to do even with really good photos. A descirption alone won't cut it.

Yeah, photos are going to be your best bet at getting at least speculation in identification. Odds are it's a synthetic hone, since two sided naturals other than coticules were fairly rare. Photos will help us determine the likelihood of it being a razor hone or at least usable as a razor hone. Does it have any identifying marks, labels, or imprints?

That size is generally a bit small for butcher's blades, so I'd lean toward it being the barber's (a guess only).
Follow the advice above, especially the picture, as many razor hones have very destinctive looks.
You're probably a winner either way, as a good meat-work stone should also make a good bevel-resetting stone (will need a good lapping, more than likey). This too ma be indicative of it's owner, as a butcher's stone would likely be 'dished' (not dead flat), whereas a barber's should be very close to true.
Hope ths helps,


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