[Let's preface this by saying I have nothing like the level of experience using Washitas that some people here do, but I have a bit; I use them as part of my work pretty much every day. Nevertheless some of the things below surprised me.]
The last two Washitas I got were chalk and cheese, if you put the two in my hand I would tell you categorically they were not the same stone. But of course they are, just very different ends of the spectrum. Which I was quite pleased about - I didn't have stones at these extremes before. So I thought I'd try removing as many variables as possible and having a go at them. They've been cleaned, surface lapped on an atoma 400, and I've got two identical, brand-new, 150mm Tosa blades in for the ride.
The stone on the top is a Pike Lily White, SG 2.45. On the bottom an old unlabelled Washita, SG 2.08.
The LW is highly translucent - far more so than other Washitas I've seen. The smaller stone is fairly similar to my others (pic is actually of a different stone, but you get the gist).
The LW also, as you can see, is not all that lily white; it's a kinda greenish toffee colour, and it stays like that whatever I do to it. That's just how it is apparently. The smaller stone however is white, with some of those pinky / orange bits on it.
They also, as you'd expect, feel quite different. The LW is smooth and hard, the other is coarser, lighter and more 'abrasive-feeling'. As well as being different colours; the smaller one is notably more porous and cleaned to pretty much white in no time, the LW had several much longer soaks, and just stays that kind of caramel/butterscotch. To be honest; even though I know these are both old Washitas, I'm not expecting them to look very similar under a scope either, or to act particularly similarly. They're clearly very different.
So this I must say, surprised me...
Because they're also very clearly the same. Under a microscope Washitas look quite distinct from any other novaculite (or any other stone) I've looked at - you're not mistaking one of these for something else, it's unequivocally Washita. The LW on the top is a bit finer, more homogenous, and more compact, but they're incredibly similar really. Much more so than they are to the touch and naked eye.
[Trying them out to follow in Part 2]
The last two Washitas I got were chalk and cheese, if you put the two in my hand I would tell you categorically they were not the same stone. But of course they are, just very different ends of the spectrum. Which I was quite pleased about - I didn't have stones at these extremes before. So I thought I'd try removing as many variables as possible and having a go at them. They've been cleaned, surface lapped on an atoma 400, and I've got two identical, brand-new, 150mm Tosa blades in for the ride.
The stone on the top is a Pike Lily White, SG 2.45. On the bottom an old unlabelled Washita, SG 2.08.
The LW is highly translucent - far more so than other Washitas I've seen. The smaller stone is fairly similar to my others (pic is actually of a different stone, but you get the gist).
The LW also, as you can see, is not all that lily white; it's a kinda greenish toffee colour, and it stays like that whatever I do to it. That's just how it is apparently. The smaller stone however is white, with some of those pinky / orange bits on it.
They also, as you'd expect, feel quite different. The LW is smooth and hard, the other is coarser, lighter and more 'abrasive-feeling'. As well as being different colours; the smaller one is notably more porous and cleaned to pretty much white in no time, the LW had several much longer soaks, and just stays that kind of caramel/butterscotch. To be honest; even though I know these are both old Washitas, I'm not expecting them to look very similar under a scope either, or to act particularly similarly. They're clearly very different.
So this I must say, surprised me...
Because they're also very clearly the same. Under a microscope Washitas look quite distinct from any other novaculite (or any other stone) I've looked at - you're not mistaking one of these for something else, it's unequivocally Washita. The LW on the top is a bit finer, more homogenous, and more compact, but they're incredibly similar really. Much more so than they are to the touch and naked eye.
[Trying them out to follow in Part 2]