Thread: Two Ebay specials

Got some oil covered stones for really cheap on ebay. I think the darker is natural, but the lighter colored one is probably synthetic and only suitable for kitchen knives. The darker one seems to polish pretty well. Let this be a lesson to those who buy unknown oilstones on ebay... I've included the before cleaning picture so you can see just how different they can look when you get the oil out of them (they were both described as very dark grey). Measurements are (LxWxD) 8" x 1 15/16" x 5/8" for the lighter one and 7 7/8" x 2" x 1" for the darker one.

Before cleaning, the stone on the left is the dark brown one


Before cleaning the lighter colored one


All pictures from here on are after some scrubbing, baking, oven cleaner, and 220grit.

Dry (note: The dark spot on the lighter stone is oil that hasn't been lapped out yet and the brown specks near the crack and at the ends seem to be rust perhaps because of iron oxide in the stone?):




The dark brown has some translucency at the corners.

With Water:




Slurry is pretty hard to raise with 220 grit sandpaper, and when it is made there isn't a whole lot of it. The lighter colored stone had more of a light brown color while the darker brown stone had a lighter, white colored slurry.


The lighter stone's slurry is very gritty, feeling.




From what I have read, I am thinking they are different types of novaculite, but I would love to hear any other ideas. Both are taking a while to lap flat.

I'll vote Arkansas but I'm no expert.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I'll vote Arkansas but I'm no expert.

Same here with possibly a slight chance of perhaps being an Hindostan.

Arkansas Washita is my guess to both stones.

it is WASHITA, not Arkansas.

The light colored stone looks like a Washita to me, I have several of them. The darker one could be either a Washita or a hard Arkansas. If they lap with similar difficulty then they are Washita. If the darker one is noticeably more difficult to lap then it is a hard Arkansas and will feel much different to hone on.

Just my 2¢

the darker stone looks to be a hard ark and the lighter stone could be a india stone

Originally Posted by eleblu05

the darker stone looks to be a hard ark and the lighter stone could be a india stone

The India stone is a solid color.

Originally Posted by Martin103

Same here with possibly a slight chance of perhaps being an Hindostan.

The Hindostan stone is a solid color on top but shows layers on the side.