Thread: Arkansas translucent?

Hi,
I got this hone:


Could it be an Arkansas translucent? Thanks.

No idea? I hope it is not an ebay special..

Looks like, put it up to some light. A Translucent should be… translucent.

I am always on the look out for old stones in Antique stores and Flea Markets and my personal opinion is, if someone took the time to make a box for it, it is probably a good stone no matter what kind and definitely worth purchasing.

I recently pick up a Thüringen for 2 bucks, and yes it was in a greasy, old, hand made wooden box.

Carefully pop your stone out of the box and soak it in some laundry soap, a scoop or two of OxiClean and some water, for a couple of days. Scrub it and do it again until is smells clean.

Lap it with wet & dry, a translucent will trash a diamond hone and then try it on a razor.

You may just have a great finisher.

Nice find.

Marty

Very well could be, they come in varying "shades" as all natural stones do. Does it have a milky/creamy look to it? If so, more than likely it is.

Originally Posted by M Martinez

if someone took the time to make a box for it, it is probably a good stone no matter what kind and definitely worth purchasing.

If you randomly purchase boxed hones you will end up with a lot of India's, Carborundums and what not.

Could be, but my money would be on a plain old hard Arkansas going by the photo. +1 on what M Martinez says about translucents and diamond plates. I've just lapped out a tiny little one (3 1/2" x 7/8"), and I reckon it's taken my DMT down a grade or two - I won't be making that mistake again.

Piet

Let me qualify that statement. I’m talking about hand made boxes, usually you can see the saw marks from a hand saw on the bottom and inside. Many are decorated with carvings clearly by some one that knew what they were doing. And the stone is hand fitted, you may break the box getting them out.

Clearly not the mass manufactured Butt or Finger Jointed Pine or Redwood.

And I am talking about natural stones, smooth to the touch. These were prized stones, the original owner/box maker may have honored them more than we do, because they made their living from them, carrying them from job to job and probably paid more for them than their tools.

You’ll know them when you see them. Fortunately not many do today and gems are lying around to be found.

I will admit my heart does beat a bit faster when I come across a narrow, greasy wooden box in an old wooden tool chest.

Good Hunting

Marty

Marty, the last hone I bought from Ebay was an old India covered in oil in a nice custom hand made box. Two other synthetics I bought, an India and a Carb, also came in really nice handmade boxes. Their previous owners must have cared for them as well.

But hey all the synthetics out there need new owners too, I won't stop you

Originally Posted by M Martinez

Looks like, put it up to some light. A Translucent should be… translucent.

I am always on the look out for old stones in Antique stores and Flea Markets and my personal opinion is, if someone took the time to make a box for it, it is probably a good stone no matter what kind and definitely worth purchasing.

I recently pick up a Thüringen for 2 bucks, and yes it was in a greasy, old, hand made wooden box.

Carefully pop your stone out of the box and soak it in some laundry soap, a scoop or two of OxiClean and some water, for a couple of days. Scrub it and do it again until is smells clean.

Lap it with wet & dry, a translucent will trash a diamond hone and then try it on a razor.

You may just have a great finisher.

Nice find.

Marty

2 bucks

Thanks for your advice. Btw total cost for it is 20 usd.

Regards,
Burak

Twenty Bucks? It’s hard to tell from the photo, but from the size of the towel fibers looks like about a 6 X1.5 in size. If it turns out to be an old translucent it is a great buy. The bottom side is most probably pristine.

The Thüringen I bought is dished out about a half inch in the middle but was perfect on the bottom and a great finisher.

I keep an old 6 in translucent in the bathroom drawer with my razors for a quick touch up. It is super hard and smooth as wet glass. I bought it new in the 70’s and probably paid that then. In the 70’s twenty dollars that was a lot of money to pay for a rock.

I’d pay 20 bucks all day for another one.

Worst case, you got a great Ark for kitchen knife sharpening. I do buy old synthetics too, some old ones are very fine and make great knife sharpeners and bevel setters.

In an Antique store or Flea Market I rarely pay more than five dollar for a stone, unless it is a big one in a nice box and I have a pretty good idea of what it is. It helps to have a loupe with you and then rub some steel on it and look at the stria. Then you are not too surprised once you get it cleaned up, and if you are it’s a pleasant one

I’ll post some photos of the Thüringen tonight.

Marty