Thread: black escher stone

i recently purchased a razor hone for a local antique store, didnt know what it was untill i looked it up on the site, and much to my surprise, it and escher. the label on the one side reads" the celebrated water razor hone" in bold letters, unfortunately, where the cup would be in the center, that area is torn out, like it got caught on something. but here is my question, the actual working surface, looks like it has a glaze on it, is there a specific way to lap it. thanks for the information. im such a noob.

Put some fine (400 or more) grit W/D sand paper on a straight surface
make it wet and lap your hone.
Please be careful not to slurryfy it uselessly. Less is more.

Olivia is right, do as she suggests and you will have the ultimate blade finisher.

Here is an tutorial on how to lap a hone from the SRP Wiki. I've gotten a couple of those that were as you describe and once the patina was lapped off they were a more gray than black. It will be interesting to see if yours is a different color after lapping.

I agree with rest of the people.As Jimmy said lets see it is more likely gray then black?
show us picture when you done please

i will definately stop at the hardware store tommorrow after work. i guess my next question is this, if it is gray, is that a good color to have. i am completely clueless in that regard. I will ask also if 18.00 dollars is a good buy for an escher

For the money, yes, that is a great buy. I would suggest taking photos before an after, if you can, for your records.

will try to do so, have to get cameras for the wifes batteries, check that more like batteries for the camera, then take a pic of it before and after.

lapped the hone this afternoon, have some before and after pics, but unable to download at this time, hopefully will do so soon. once the patina was gone, it looked a whole lot better. and for the record, it is a darkish grey, or so my daughter tells me, i have to rely on better eyes when it comes to colors, being colorblind has many drawbacks.

Originally Posted by wvloony

lapped the hone this afternoon, have some before and after pics, but unable to download at this time, hopefully will do so soon. once the patina was gone, it looked a whole lot better. and for the record, it is a darkish grey, or so my daughter tells me, i have to rely on better eyes when it comes to colors, being colorblind has many drawbacks.

Very funny. I too just found an Escher at an antique store. I too am a newb. I too asked a close female (my girlfriend) for help identifying tge color since I'm colorblind