Any Clue on this stone?

[RobbyC]

I’ve had plenty of WOA’s and I’m with ambiguous on this one,
Here’s a shot of the last two I’ve sold, There is huge huge variance in the material which was mined and sold, both for WOA and Tam Os

From the photos it’s just a highly figured WOA to me

 

[LJS]

So, how do you guys know those were sold as ayre stones? And not Tams or snake stones or some of the many other names? Are yours labeled?

The stone slice posted seems a good bit different to me. And none of us are holding the stone so all is just opinions based on photos.

Some of those just posted I would call a Tam and unless it is labeled......I’d like to know how you can tell the difference for sure.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Were those labeled Robby? I can see a resemblance to this stone, but I wouldn't say from appearance that that's a WoA.

Ambiguous, I'd echo Stone... yours don't look anything like what I'm seeing on this example, rather much more typical WOA. And the one is definitely a dark tam to my eyes.

 

[stone and strop]

I’ve had plenty of WOA’s and I’m with ambiguous on this one,
Here’s a shot of the last two I’ve sold, There is huge huge variance in the material which was mined and sold, both for WOA and Tam Os

From the photos it’s just a highly figured WOA to me

View attachment 1121259View attachment 1121260View attachment 1121261View attachment 1121262

The one on the right is pretty close.
Lets see the label.

 

[kcb5150]

I have seen them be loose and fast with the labels of these. I used to have a huge bench stone nat combo tam where the back is similar to some I have seen labelled otherwise. Idk... I have had a small 3" piece with the tam label similar to the back of this that also called it by snakestone.. Again, idk. Every time uk hone confusion comes up, I wish Neil Miller were still with us to help clarify...

 

[stone and strop]

I have seen them be loose and fast with the labels of these. I used to have a huge bench stone nat combo tam where the back is similar to some I have seen labelled otherwise. Idk... I have had a small 3" piece with the tam label similar to the back of this that also called it by snakestone.. Again, idk. Every time uk hone confusion comes up, I wish Neil Miller were still with us to help clarify...

That looks all TAM to me.
I don't think there could be a natural combo of these.

 

[kcb5150]

Oh I agree but I have seen woa stamps thrown on material that looks like the back of this one. And ones that say tam with the snakestone mention

 

[kcb5150]

I have a dual hone coming at some point but it will be weeks

 

[stone and strop]

Gotcha.
I've seen them in boxes as WOA but never on the stone.
The dual hones are nice and can be very good stones (mine were). I had a fantastic example that I decided to sell as I thought other stones were just better.
Extremely earthy smelling when wet, really cool.

 

[LJS]

Yes, they had WoA labeled on the stone too at some point. Red labels typically on dark stone.

If you want to understand why there was confusion on these years ago, read here: https://outsideecho.com/DGT-BIO_files/PDFs/DGT33.pdf
Really good info on this lot. Henk’s GnH book has some other detail and some good pics as well if I recall.

If you want to see some labeled WoA, check this out: Water of Ayr, Tam O'Shanter, and the Scotch hone - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/water-of-ayr-tam-oshanter-and-the-scotch-hone.576474/page-2#post-10718362

Yep, plenty of variation which is normal to natural stones but compounded with issues around names, quarries, etc.

But I’m not sure any of that matters because when I look at the pictures Slice showed, it doesn’t really look like Tam, WoA, snake stone or any of the locally quarried and randomly named stones. Looks very different to me but who knows...

 

[SliceOfLife]

The back of that one looks like my WoA stone. If I owned that stone, I'd call it a natural Tam/WoA combo... even if I'd be wrong technically. Very Cool stone Kcb

 

[kcb5150]

The back was finer than a normal dark tam far and away. The tam side actually had the squiggly line flaking problem jnats have sometimes and it was hell to lap through. Tams gentle as they may be murder sandpaper for some reason... I wish I still had that, I sold it for a mint to make up for spending a mint on a group of stubtails last year.

 

[RobbyC]

Just realised who is selling that stone, it is the same stone I posted above,

The guy knows his rocks and isn’t lying when he says he has a lot of them, he certainly has more labelled Tams / dalmores / WOA than any of us posting here.
I will try find some more pictures of that stone but it’s a WOA, at least it fits the bill in every way.
came from the U.K. is a mudstone, smells the same as any WOA I’ve had, had Pale brownish white patches I lapped out and black dots joined with thin black lines
Wondered why it looked so familiar
Rob