Help identifying what I have here

[ylekot]

Stone is finished on 3 sides and jagged/broken on one end. Wooden box is perfectly fitted except for one end of the bottom of the box having been chiseled out for an unknown reason. No identifying markings of any kind. This is all I know about it. Anybody able to shed some light on this?

 

[ylekot]

Anyone?

 

[cotedupy]

Have you got any pictures clean and lapped? It could be a lot of things there I think.

Interestingly - since you posted that originally I've noticed a few old stones with similar open-ended boxes. I wonder why...

 

[Legion]

Have you got any pictures clean and lapped? It could be a lot of things there I think.

Interestingly - since you posted that originally I've noticed a few old stones with similar open-ended boxes. I wonder why...

I think if they are dropped on their end, the weight of the stone punches the side of the box out.

 

[ylekot]

Have you got any pictures clean and lapped? It could be a lot of things there I think.

Interestingly - since you posted that originally I've noticed a few old stones with similar open-ended boxes. I wonder why...

I wouldn't have the first clue how to do that.

 

[ylekot]

I think if they are dropped on their end, the weight of the stone punches the side of the box out.

That makes sense

 

[cotedupy]

I wouldn't have the first clue how to do that.

It looks in alright shape tbh, so an easy thing you can do is give it a bit of a scrub with warm soapy water to clean off any dirt and grime. And then maybe a sheet of 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper on a table or other hard surface.

That might clean it up enough for people to have a reasonable guess hopefully. And closeup pictures of both the surface and the sides are always helpful...

 

[ylekot]

It looks in alright shape tbh, so an easy thing you can do is give it a bit of a scrub with warm soapy water to clean off any dirt and grime. And then maybe a sheet of 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper on a table or other hard surface.

That might clean it up enough for people to have a reasonable guess hopefully. And closeup pictures of both the surface and the sides are always helpful...

I'll clean it up this weekend and post up some new pictures, thanks!

 

[ylekot]

Sorry it took so long……cleaned it up as instructed. It has a definite brown tinge to it.

 

[ylekot]

My lighting is crap today so yeah I'll take some more when the sun comes back out

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Looks like an oil-soaked Washita, with the brown tint in the photo.

How does it cut, put a knife to it and see how fast it cuts and what the stria look like? A Washita should cut fast-ish and leave a fine stria pattern.

Flea market Washita’s look like that. Soaking will remove the deep oil, it can take months of soaking to get all the oil out.

 

[Empire straights]

Looks like an oil-soaked Washita, with the brown tint in the photo.

How does it cut, put a knife to it and see how fast it cuts and what the stria look like? A Washita should cut fast-ish and leave a fine stria pattern.

Flea market Washita’s look like that. Soaking will remove the deep oil, it can take months of soaking to get all the oil out.

That was my first thought too and I buy lots of oil soaked washitas. I freaking love them for everything. They are probably one of my most useful and used tools.

 

[ylekot]

It is definitely oil soaked, the oil keeps rising to the surface and makes it look spotty wet. I have never used a stone to sharpen anything so speed of cut would not be something I could judge. Would it be a good stone for chisels or lathe gouges? Probably the only way to know is to try it. Just a random acquisition so I'm not out anything if I wreck it or find it unusable. Looking around the interwebs it does appear most like a washita. Thanks folks!

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

“Would it be a good stone for chisels or lathe gouges?”

Yup, that was the primary market, \Woodworkers and Knives. A good Washita was a one stone hone for putting on a keen edge in a hurry. That’s why somebody made a box for it, even broken.

Removing the oil will not alter performance, usually the oil has gone rancid and smells, which is why I remove the oil.

Any good degreaser cut with 50% water and let it soak, every couple days pull it out and scrub off the oil that came to the surface with dish soap and a stiff brush and hot water, then back into solution. For a small stone a plastic tub with a lid works well or pickle jar.

 

[cotedupy]

The surface certainly looks quite Washita or soft ark like from those pictures. But the break at the end looks far more slate or schist-y.

If you do chuck it in some degreaser you’d be able to tell for sure one way or the other. Should be a cool stone either way. And if it is a Washita then you’ve struck gold!

 

[Empire straights]

The surface certainly looks quite Washita or soft ark like from those pictures. But the break at the end looks far more slate or schist-y.

If you do chuck it in some degreaser you’d be able to tell for sure one way or the other. Should be a cool stone either way. And if it is a Washita then you’ve struck gold!

I agree, that end looks like slate. I'm not convinced that's a washita but maybe.

 

[ylekot]

OK so a pickle jar full of degreaser and scrub every couple days in dish soap, for how long roughly? 5 days good ?

 

[Empire straights]

OK so a pickle jar full of degreaser and scrub every couple days in dish soap, for how long roughly? 5 days good ?

You can keep putting it back in until it's white if you want, some guys soak stones for an entire year before they are clean. I usually soak until its clean enough to cut well with clogging then you can lap it .

 

[cotedupy]

OK so a pickle jar full of degreaser and scrub every couple days in dish soap, for how long roughly? 5 days good ?

Ah just one day in degreaser and then scrub clean will be grand.

I was looking at the pics on my phone before, but now on a computer... it looks like a synthetic stone to me tbh. Is it different grits on either side...?

 

[ylekot]

Ah just one day in degreaser and then scrub clean will be grand.

I was looking at the pics on my phone before, but now on a computer... it looks like a synthetic stone to me tbh. Is it different grits on either side...?

I noticed in one picture it looks to be bonded together down one side. I cannot reproduce that line in person but it stands out in that one picture. The grit seems to me to be the same on all sides.