Thread: closet discovery

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):



When turned over, it looked exactly like one of the many stones I saw on this website:



Now for my questions:
- Is it anywhere near possible that the stone could be used for honing?
- Are there any ways to test the stone's quality's without destroying a razor?
- The stone is not completely flat. How can I flatten it?

Originally Posted by Master

- Is it anywhere near possible that the stone could be used for honing?

Yes, nothing precludes it.

Originally Posted by Master

- Are there any ways to test the stone's quality's without destroying a razor?

It is unlikely to destroy the razor, even if it is a coarse stone, provided you are proficient at honing, though I wouldn't use my best razors for testing.

Originally Posted by Master

- The stone is not completely flat. How can I flatten it?

Either with a lapping plate such as a DMT, or using sandpaper against either granite or glass as the Wiki recommends. I'd be interested to read your results. Looks like a natural, possibly a Chinese waterstone (PHIG).

This may help:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...ification.html

Aha, so it has been done before!
To be honest: I am completely new to honing and have no clue as for what I'm looking for in a stone. Will probably flatten the underside up and take it from there...
The stone is definately a chinese natural stone, but I have no idea what type it might be.

So I got to the hardware store today and picked up some sheets of 320 grit water resistant sanding paper. Then I spent 40 minutes on my knees in the garage, flattening the inkstone to perfection. The stone quickly produced a nice milky light grey slurry:



The result: a nice and flat stone with rounded edges:



What do you guys think? Any expert honers from Belgium around here? I'm willing to bring or ship the stone over for a test run...

Looks like slate to me.

Originally Posted by Master

What do you guys think? Any expert honers from Belgium around here?

It is certainly not a Belgian stone. If you thought it could have been a Belgian Blue as I am inferring, the absence of a purple slurry precludes this possibility; aside from this it does not look like one.

If it is Chinese, it could be a PHIG - I have never used one, but many here have who I hope will chime in.

Originally Posted by Scipio

It is certainly not a Belgian stone. If you thought it could have been a Belgian Blue as I am inferring, the absence of a purple slurry precludes this possibility; aside from this it does not look like one.

If it is Chinese, it could be a PHIG - I have never used one, but many here have who I hope will chime in.

I think he was referring to the fact that he's located in Belgium.

Originally Posted by DerekC

I think he was referring to the fact that he's located in Belgium.

what he says
I would be surprised if it was a Belgian stone, since my father himself brought it from China many, many years ago.

since obviously this is the more contemporary thread, I will repost what I said in the "odd stone" thread


Interestingly enough a japanese friend of mine who is also a retailer for japanese kitchenware and natural stones talked to me about the PHIG or Chinese 12k I showed him.
He didn´t know such thing exists and was interested, so I lend it to him. I also gave him all the information I had. The ebay seller I got it from two years ago
claimed the stone was mined in Guanxi. The friend of mine (a highly enthusiastic stone-addict) checked his sources and came back to me saying in Guanxi there would be no quarry capable
of producing these kinds of stones but his source immrdiately recognized it as a stone used for the preparation of ink.
I have no idea wether that is true or not, nor do I know what kind of source that was.
Looking at the second picture, hell this could be a beat up C12k with a hole in it ...