Thread: Vintage Hone ID Request

If I were to guess, I would say a Arkansas stone of unknown grit & would bet that it's not a finisher, which is what I am sure you were looking/hoping for.

Originally Posted by Scipio

Clearly a CF. Undoubtedly!!!!

What you are asking is akin to showing me a picture of a garage, telling me there is a car inside then asking me what car is in there. Not to knock you, but do think to yourself 'am I really providing people with any info at all?' You haven't even provided the sizes or a guess given you are the only one who has seen it. Is it 10 inches long, 12, 5? That could be a coticule for all I know.

Then is it worth your time? Well how busy are you? Only you can answer that. Just a few factors you may want to consider before you decide: Are you a top solicitor charging $500 an hour? Do you have a family and virtually no free time? I could go on. Really. Do me a lemon.

My apologies, glad to elaborate as best I can. If what the information I’m providing is insufficient, please feel free to let me know that an ID is not possible. The stone is approximately 10” by 2” in size. Dark black in color and very, very smooth to touch. Feels like glass. (maybe because it was used with oil)

As far as “worth my time”, what I meant was is this worth spending hours trying to get flat. If I pay say $15 for a stone and have to spend hours getting it useable only to find out it’s a common stone that can be found in better shape for the around the same price I wouldn’t bother buying it. Additionally, if it is a stone that produces the same edge as say an naniwa 8k or another stone in the middle of a progression, well I’m not really gaining anything by having. However, if this was a finishing stone that was unique or desirable maybe it would be worth going through the trouble to lap.

Again, I appologies if my description, photo or initial ambiguity makes this unable to ID. I just figured it was worth a shot.

Thanks to everyone for their comments.

Often you will find that natural hones are very simmilar to razors. It is labour of love simmilar to restoring straights. I have many hones and my partnership to them usualy developed during these hours of lapping and hoping that under the muck is the diamond. Do not be shy and take a chance. Good luck. Remember to show pictures and smiling grinn.

Originally Posted by Obiwan

If I pay say $15 for a stone and have to spend hours getting it useable only to find out it is a common stone.

It is unlikely you'll need to spend hours lapping it before a positive ID can be had on the stone, unless it is an unknown specimen. You could use oven cleaner to remove the grease then coarse loose sandpaper to remove remaining grime to reveal the stone's surface. If you can not identify it, then that would be the stage to post pics. Then lap it.

Originally Posted by Obiwan

Additionally, if it is a stone that produces the same edge as say an naniwa 8k or another stone in the middle of a progression, well I’m not really gaining anything by having.

Sometimes it is nice to have different stones in your arsenal for different razors or problem razors. They are alternative methods of tackling which sometimes yield better results on some razors. Another point is that a Naniwa 8K and a certain natural of 8K level polish may arguably be the same, but the edge of the natural may be alot smoother.

Well, I may buy this now just to settle my curiosity.

Originally Posted by Obiwan

Well, I may buy this now just to settle my curiosity.

Heh, it'd be worth $15 to me to find out. Well, it was at one time anyway. I bought a very similar looking stone of eBay, in hopes that it was a bargain Turkey Oil stone or something exotic. It came in a similar box (but without a hinge), was a dark gray all over. I think I paid about $15 or $20 for it, shipped.

When it arrived, it reeked of oil, and was just filthy. I cleaned it with several scrubbings with Dawn dish soap, and started to notice a yellow tinge. I lapped it for over an hour with a huge DMT XX Coarse perforated lapping plate, it was really tough. It turned out to be a man-made oil stone, and terrible for razors. Pictures of the lapped stone are below. It looks like it's made out of pressed sawdust or something, but it's extremely hard.

In the picture of your prospective stone, I see a similar yellow tinge running along the edge where the stone meets the box. That's what made me think of my stone. My guess could be completely wrong, but I think when lapped it will reveal itself to look like the man made oil stone below. Just a guess.

I have an old Norton Oil stone (fine) that looks very similar to that, box and all....

Originally Posted by FatboySlim

Heh, it'd be worth $15 to me to find out. Well, it was at one time anyway. I bought a very similar looking stone of eBay, in hopes that it was a bargain Turkey Oil stone or something exotic. It came in a similar box (but without a hinge), was a dark gray all over. I think I paid about $15 or $20 for it, shipped.

When it arrived, it reeked of oil, and was just filthy. I cleaned it with several scrubbings with Dawn dish soap, and started to notice a yellow tinge. I lapped it for over an hour with a huge DMT XX Coarse perforated lapping plate, it was really tough. It turned out to be a man-made oil stone, and terrible for razors. Pictures of the lapped stone are below. It looks like it's made out of pressed sawdust or something, but it's extremely hard.

In the picture of your prospective stone, I see a similar yellow tinge running along the edge where the stone meets the box. That's what made me think of my stone. My guess could be completely wrong, but I think when lapped it will reveal itself to look like the man made oil stone below. Just a guess.

I don't think that's a man-made stone, It looks like a Washita to me?

Well, I assumed it was man made because it sort of disintegrated when I took it out of the box. And the edge bevel at the bottom struck me as machine made, like out of a mold. I don't know. Here's a photo of the underside:

It is natural stone very hard and unbelievable fast cutting stone.
approximately grit will be above 4k.

Originally Posted by FatboySlim

Well, I assumed it was man made because it sort of disintegrated when I took it out of the box. And the edge bevel at the bottom struck me as machine made, like out of a mold. I don't know. Here's a photo of the underside: