Thread: I think it is Belgian and...

Hello all good people.

I just finished restoring two stones. One I think it is Belgian stone. Not sure about grit of each side, however I have question regards other stone. It has dark brown color when is dry. Slurry has kind of pink color. Maybe brown but I would say more into pink color. Any idea what stone is it? What grit?

more pictures

The second stone is a coticule, not a natural combo, its glued from what I see. The back side is really beautiful. The stone you are not sure is not a Belgian blue. It could be a yellow lake since they have so many variations. For its grit, regardless its name it should be fine. Not coticule fine since there are only a few slateish stones finer, the step before the coticule in the progression.

Maybe this is Escher stone. Slurry is more like dark pink, slightly brown, thick.

Originally Posted by Vasilis

The second stone is a coticule, not a natural combo, its glued from what I see. The back side is really beautiful. The stone you are not sure is not a Belgian blue. It could be a yellow lake since they have so many variations. For its grit, regardless its name it should be fine. Not coticule fine since there are only a few slateish stones finer, the step before the coticule in the progression.

Why a hone which looks like slate should be called Yellow Lake just for sake ofgiving it name? Do you have any proof of simmilarity with YL apart from it is slate? There are many other slate hones. Please do not confuse people?
If youwant more scientific information about YL hones you can have a look at B. Read and D. Morgan book Natural 19th and early 20th century sharpening stones and hones p. 30-31.

Originally Posted by adrspach

Why a hone which looks like slate should be called Yellow Lake just for sake ofgiving it name? Do you have any proof of simmilarity with YL apart from it is slate? There are many other slate hones. Please do not confuse people?
If youwant more scientific information about YL hones you can have a look at B. Read and D. Morgan book Natural 19th and early 20th century sharpening stones and hones p. 30-31.

Very well. The slurry color, the stone itself, its size, and the few speckles I see reminded me two stones I have. As we know yellow lakes are not only one kind of stone and it looks a lot like two vintage ones I have. There are also other white stones with dark backing. Any stone could be anything. I'm not sure why every stone that looks like a Llyn idwal, Jnat or Thuringian is fine, but now I'm just confusing people. And yes, it is not likely for it to be a YL. Then again, it's not likely that anyone will find out what it is without serious testing as it looks like many many stones.

Hello,

so far I know that second stone is a Belgian stone. Any idea which side is finer (maybe what grit)?. In regards first stone, well I`m not sure if this is confirmed if this is really YL stone.

The yellow one is a coticule - the yellow side is finer. As for grit - coticules vary so much you can only hazard a guess as to the average grit, say 10k or thereabouts (yes, I know - can't use grit ratings to judge a natural by, but it is handy as a means of comparison). However some (notably the soft ones) are a fair bit lower and others (notably the hard ones) can be a good bit finer. You have to test it and see, then you will know - if you have enough hones of known grit with which to compare it, otherwise its just a guess.

All you can say about the second one is that it is some type of hone slate. Which type and where it came from (they ARE NOT all welsh!) is hard to say just from pics, but which brand is impossible without it being in its original wrapper or having it stamped on the stone itself. All we can say is 'it looks like this' or it 'looks like that' which isn't really helpful when you think about it - my neighbour looks like Robert DeNiro but he can't act to save his life (yes, I can see the comebacks now from people who think Bob can't act either... ).

BTW Stepan, I don't like that Read/Morgan book at all - the pictures are indistinct (and the ones that would be of interest to me are tiny with scant info) and the colours are very poorly rendered - some are so bad they are totally unreliable as a means of ID. I believe the welsh hone seller of recent fame on this forum uses it to ID some of his hones...

Regards,
Neil

I dont think I am off topic, since it has been mentioned several times now....if so, then delete.

Is this a new book? or some old book that can be found in public library archives. google turned up nothing. and some of the archive sites are blocked here at work. I would love to read it. any help?

I also would like to know about this book as i have more 12 hones coming soon. All natural stones. I think some of them are Thuringian and some unknown, very black and hard! Oh well, what i got my self into.... oh boy:-(