Thread: What have I found???

Fellow enthusiasts,

I recently stumbled on this honing stone amongst some rubble on a friends building site. Turns out it was in old fishing boat that my friend received as payment for doing a building job. He didn't think much of it and threw it into the waste pile. Needless to say he let me have it when I saw it, but that explains the rather poor shape it was in. It was basically being walked on every day.

It's a blue grey natural stone, and although the pictures don't show it too well, you can see some veins in the rock. I lapped it smooth and it feels very very fine. The slurry was grey in colour. Anyone have a clue what it could be?

Cheers,

Bagman.

A Japanese hone? It could be many things, but in the end, if you plan to keep it, it's performance is the most important thing. If you like it, no matter its name, its a good hone. It looks like a nice piece, fine. Something like nakayama asagi, but I don't have enough experience with the Japanese stones. And more importantly, it was free. Nice find!

From the looks it could be a Thuringian but it would be a long way from home.

That's what my first thought, but it is indeed a long way from home, the back is too yellow, unusual for most of the classic Thuringians and usual for the Japanese. If it is Thuringian, I suppose it should be soft because of its color(but not always), and fine. Test it, and inform us regarding its speed, hardness and how fine it is. It could be also a stone quarried from there. Every country has its hones.

Thanks for the replies! I'll put a blade to it and see how it goes...

what did you use to lap it, and how hard was it to lap ?