Yet another hone ID thread!!!

[Rosco]

I know you rock hounds love to have our heads picked and your knowledge tested, so here are two rocks I found in some houses I was working on. The first one, I found last week. It was dirty as hell, but proved to be pretty flat when I lapped it, which makes me think it wasn't used for any heavy grinding, and may actually be suitable for razors. It actually gave off a creamy kind of slurry, very similar to coticule slurry, when I lapped it. The measures about 11"x2".
The second hone is much smaller, about 5"x1". I found it a while back. It is the smaller of the two in the pic. The larger one is a NOS Thuringian I bought from Kees. The hone has a slightly grey/green tinge to it as opposed to the charcoal black of the Thuringian. It has a few scratch marks on it even after lapping. I think it may have been used to sharpen fishing hooks or something.
So, any ideas on what they might be?
And before you all say, have a go on them and see what they are like, know that I am a very novice honer and have learned that too much variety is a bad thing for the novice. I am sticking with the Norton until I am competent enough to try other hones.

Connor

[nun2sharp]

Are those streaks in the stone red? If so I would say its probably a Charnley Forest, a very hard oilstone, it will polish an edge absolutely wicked sharp. Hi_bud_gl has one and that thing is a beauty!

[joke1176]

gawd. It seems like everybody has a damn Charnley forest but me!


Gaah. Test those hones out and keep us posted!

[Rosco]

Probably more of a light brown, and not as pronounced as it appears in the photo. The beautiful swirls of light and dark green seem to be more the defining fatures of this hone. The dark mark at one end of the hone is just a small chip which is still full of dirt.
Oh, and it seemed to be both pretty soft ( Not super hard anyway) and reasonably flat when I lapped it. Probably about as hard as a Thuringian or a Coticule. But then again, what do I know?
Connor

[nun2sharp]

gawd. It seems like everybody has a damn Charnley forest but me!


Gaah. Test those hones out and keep us posted!

Everybody but you and me,

[ChrisL]

Are the swirled areas brown to reddish brown almost purple? The picture on my screen looks like a Fox brand razor hone that I own. Medium hardness, billed as the "finest razor hone in the world" according to the paper label in the wooden box mine was in. Very smooth stone when lapped. That's my guess.

Chris L

[Rosco]

I'm no photographer,so I managed to get my girlfriend to take some better pics.
Light and dark green swirls throughout, with those two light brown lines.
The second picture shows the tiny black flecks which I have just noticed sparsely populate the entire hone.
Hope this helps with the diagnosis.

Connor

[joke1176]

Well, it sure is cool looking. I hope it hones well. IMHO, some of the neatest razor accouterments are the currently unknown items.

You might have the hone equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster.

[thebigspendur]

Actually this has nothing to do with the post but we always get these posts like this saying what's this or what's that and I have to tell you no self respecting Geologist either professional or amateur would ever look at a rock and say to you this is... If its something really obvious he might say well, it looks like... The reason being that the surface you are looking at is usually weathered and what lies beneath often looks far different and I don't think you want someone to break your hone in half with a rock pick. Also he would want to do some tests on it.

So what do you have there? I don't have the foggiest.

[ChrisL]

Actually this has nothing to do with the post but we always get these posts like this saying what's this or what's that and I have to tell you no self respecting Geologist either professional or amateur would ever look at a rock and say to you this is... If its something really obvious he might say well, it looks like... The reason being that the surface you are looking at is usually weathered and what lies beneath often looks far different and I don't think you want someone to break your hone in half with a rock pick. Also he would want to do some tests on it.

So what do you have there? I don't have the foggiest.

Rather than desiring specific geologic information regarding that stone, I assume he quite simply posted pictures of a very interesting looking stone that was clearly designed for honing steel in hope that one of us may know, based on the stone's distinct appearance, what it may be. I don't see anything wrong with that, and I'd do the same thing (and have) if I've found natural honing stones that are unidentifiable to me.

IMO, keep pictures like these coming, guys!

As for THIS stone........I fold. I have no idea.

Chris L