Thread: stones with a story

Nice stones indeed, great to see them and thanks for sharing. You're lucky to own a piece of history, imagine how many shaves those provided over the years!

Very cool, I love anything with a record of history behind it. Same with the razor, I wonder sometimes who may have shaved with, especially is it's 150 years old...

Originally Posted by eleblu05

i think i remember that coti it has a cap on one end right ?

That's the one, yeah I bought it off the classifieds here, it's nice using something with some history behind it.

Originally Posted by eleblu05

second stone a belgian combo coti with its original receipt from 1859 the stone sold for .72 cents probably a week or two wages back in those times.

What vein is it from ....

Kidding aside, beautiful stone and cool to be able to hone on one that old to compare to later harvested stones. For me that is part of the charm of the hobby.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

What vein is it from ....

Kidding aside, beautiful stone and cool to be able to hone on one that old to compare to later harvested stones. For me that is part of the charm of the hobby.

yes the nostalgia

A few years ago, I lucked out in finding this very old coticule "honing kit" on eBay. The seller wasn't sure what it was, and I took a chance.

The stone came in a hand made box with a sliding lid, constructed with old-time square nails. It also came with a very small hand-made strop, almost folk art. The stone ended up revealing itself as a solid chunk of yellow coticule, about 11" X 1.5" X .75", and all surfaces were covered in a patina that was many years old. I've preserved the patina on all surfaces but one honing surface, which I lapped for use (and to figure out for sure what the stone was in the first place).

Here's what the stone looked like out of the box, with the patina intact on the bottom of the stone, and the little strop:


Here it is with it's box, after I started lapping to reveal the beautiful wood-like coticule figure underneath the patina:


Finally, here's a shot after lapping (pardon the bad lighting). On the side of the stone is a hand-scratched inscription, "August Thomas 19th [Oct]ober 1842":


Most people who see the stone think it's an old stick made of wood. The eBay seller thought it might be a hunk of petrified wood somebody just put in an old shaving box for safe keeping.

Being long and narrow, it's a great stone for smiling blades. I wonder what August Thomas would think if he knew his prized stone was still being used? And ironically, still being used to hone old smiling blade wedges like what he himself was probably honing with it back then?

FatBoySlim,
Marvelous story and great find. Hard to believe it's even dated. With a handmade box. Stunning.

my third stone is a mystery stone marked 1863 so i cleaned it up . dry its gray with little sparkles when oil is applyed its a olive drab color it a hard stone. it could be an ark but i never saw a ark with this kind of color .

Hello eleblu05,

Great post, I really enjoyed hearing some of the history behind those stones. I don't have anything with that kind of documentation but I did come across a couple of stones at a local estate auction a few months ago that were interesting. Both came together from the same gentleman. One was marked as you will see in the pics (Grandpa Warren Water Razor Hone) and the other a nice Escher and slurry stone in the original box. Couple of markings on it in the corner but the 2.50 in pencil stood out. I wish I had more documented history perhaps a date but thought I would share them anyway.

Best Regards
Kenny

cool looks like grandpa used that hone alot !