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Cleaning a Norton Washita oil stone

Today I found labeled "Norton Abrasives No. 1 Washita Oil Stone" for less than $15.
The label also has the "Pike" logo on it.

The stone is 6" x 2" x 1" with only two small chips on two corners. Both working sides are smooth and ever so slightly dished. The color is grayish from use but a light will still show through it somewhat.
I would like to clean it with an over night bath in SG like I have with my other hard arks but I fear this would cause the label to come off or worse cause the ink to wash away. I want to flatten this stone and use it but I don't like using oil with my arks.

So I would like to know, should I put the label at risk and give it a SG bath.
Or just flatten it and leave the little bit of dirty oil in there.
Or do nothing at all to it because I unknowingly found the "Mother-of-all-Washita-Stones"?
 
If it goes in the green the label will bleach out and disintegrate. Is there a loose corner to the label at all? You could try teasing it off
 
One corner of the label was not attached so I used a razor knife to see if I could remove it but the only thing holding the label together seems to be the glue holding it to the stone.
The label is on the 1" side of the stone so I could only soak it in less than 1/4" deep SG.
This is only the second hard ark I have that has a makers name on it, the other is a Camillus with the name stamped into the leather storage sleeve.

What I need to know is just how important the label is. I have 8 hard arks, 3 are very old razor hones. They range in color from white to yellow/butter scotch to rusty orange. I would like to see how this one compares to the others but it looks like just trying to flatten the stone will destroy the label.
I know that some Washita arks are highly sought after and with 8 arks I really don't need to use this one.
I don't want to be like the guy who melted down a silver teapot made by Paul Revere just for the silver when the price of silver shot up.
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This is the stone. The upper right corner of the label is missing where I tried to remove it and the stone is white underneath where it was. The box is a little to big for the stone so I don't think it came with it.
 

kelbro

Alfred Spatchcock
Nice stone that does have some value but the market is limited. I doubt that they will ever go up the way that Eschers did but you never know.
 
I've removed more than a few Ark/Washita labels successfully.

No matter what technique is used, trying to remove that label without killing it is a gamble. Due to age, and the presence of oil in the paper, the odds are not favorable.

But - labels like that, and older and more damaged can, possibly, be removed. If you try to remove it and it dies, the resulting feeling is never a wonderful one. If you succeed, you are on top of the world - but then you want to reattach it after cleaning the stone and a new quandary arises.

On one hand, the same stone with no label, a runined label or a perfect label all hone the same. On the other hand, history and provenance are to be respected. Which is more important?
On a purely financial note, I doubt the value of that stone will ever acheive superstar status.

I would never suggest trying to lift that label by prying it off - you would need a perfect storm of perfect conditions for that to be successful and the odds of those stars aligning are slim. SG will kill the label. Your best best is to try and dissolve the glue and lift the label with surgical precision. That requires some skills, patience and a serious amount of luck; those labels can split in half when hit with a slight breeze. After the glue releases, placing the label perfectly flat onto a clean sheet of paper is a good idea.

Among things that will release the glue, three popular approaches are: applying heat, soaking in hot water, and using solvents like Naptha. I am not in anyway suggesting that employing those treatments insinuates a reasonable expectation of success.

Here's an ancient Lily White label I removed. This took a long time to execute, and I did not expect success. Even though it looks shredded here, it was pretty tattered to begin with. The stone is getting de-greased and when that's done I'll attempt to reattach the label. I am not positive that the reattachment will be successful because the paper so old and thin that it's translucent and brittle.

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Thanks for all the advice. I've read that No. 1 Washita are somewhat sought after and I want to hang onto this one and USE it, not hang on to it and sell it for $$$ should the market go there.
As I said I have 7 Arks with no background info but I know this is a No. 1 Washita and I can compare the performance of the other Arks to this one.
I'll try and save the label as best I can but this is going to be a working stone as it was meant to be.
I also have 8 Thuringians and only one has a fully intact set of Escher labels, it's the only one I don't use because it's a blue/green and I have another Escher missing most of its label that is the exact same color. I feel if you have the stone use it unless you have two that are the same.
Thanks again and Good Honing.
 
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