Thread: hone ID please

i just gettedhone which was in shaving set for sharpening razor and it is about 100 years old. It is dark grey- black coloor, has black slurry. It is fine and it looks as it has very little black spots. I lapped it with just one 600 grit sandpaper, so it is not hard. And it has a crown sign on the opposite side Fifth photo is with slurry.

I don't know anything about the crown mark, but it looks like it might be slate to me. Similar in coloration to this one: Inigo Jones Welsh Slate Wetstone..

I getted that stone in Czech republic, so i think it is something from Europe, i guessed Thuri at first.

The crown makes me think it's a barber hone or at least synthetic. It's easy to cast a barberhone with a crown on one side, chiseling a tiny crown into a natural stone seems elaborate.

Yes i thought it is barber hone, but it is soft. I dont know. It is as hard or little harder than a slate.

that crown threw me off a bit. it is pressed in so i would guess its a barbers hone. the only problem is you said it was easy to lap maybe the binder is breaking down ?

Probably grain is hard, but binder is soft. I dont have idea what it can be

I have scratched off a little of stone with scissors and made a few shots under microscope-magnification about 150-200.

looking at a close up of the crown you can see a spot just above the crown where the binder is breaking down

For comparsion: C12K, Coticule ,BBW. That hone has much sharper grains