Thread: closet discovery

Originally Posted by Master

So, at the risk of asking some completely obvious and stupid questions:
When looking at all the pictures of stones on this site, I was thinking "I have seen this before". I went digging in my closet and out came a calligraphy set my father brought me from china. In the set was a stone recipient to prepare the ink in. The recipient was supposed to be filled with an ink base and than worked with another stone to release its beneficial components (something whispers "slurry" in my head):

These are ink stones.
Often made of slate....

They are slightly abrasive. Mine is about 5k grit (SWAG).

The ink sticks are compressed and glue rich carbon black
and by rubbing the stick on the slate ramp in the pool
you make ink that you can then brush on paper. They
are common in Japanese and Chinese art and craft shops.
Select the best ink stone for the practice of Japanese calligraphy.

Fancy carved ones are expensive...

There is no reason not to lap the back of one flat and
try it.

EDIT:
Many slate hones are used with oil.
Slate like silt stones can be very hard to
almost soft. They can be sandy and
coarse or fine as silk.

Thuringian or Esher or a Mueller are all slates
of various quality and hardness.

Many slates and silt stones can
be further hardened in a kiln.

A key difference is that slate splits
where other hard meta siltstones
need to be cut. But split can be
thick like a flagstone or thin like a
roof tile.

Slate under the felt of a billiard table
tends to be be coarse and sandy gray
while the old good black board slates were
wonderful smooth and fine.

Color can be blue, bluegreen, red, black...