Search:

I was afraid that it was oil. I tried alcohol and paint thinner on the hones last night and it had no effect. I guess I'll just keep lapping away!
Thanks for the info.

I bought a couple of old Carborundum hones off of eBay from separate sellers and found that both had identical oily black residues on them. I tried out the hone on a crap blade and found the residue...