Couple of Slates

[Steve56]

Hi Folks,

Picked up a couple of small slates/waterstones and was curious about them - they're quite different. Any information would be helpful. I know I've seen very similar images but I'm not an expert and asking is the way to get better.

Slate 1 is a kind of a sage tinted gray base with reddish patterns in it. They're a little redder than the image in sunlight, and the base a bit grayer, but the image is pretty close in appearance. It slurries a gray/rose khaki, that is a brownish gray with quite the pinkish cast from the reddish inclusions. It's not too hard, the previous "custodian" had put 2-3 pretty shallow grooves in one end, probably to sharpen fishhooks, and in dressing the stone and edges with 600 WD, a lot of it came out. It is impervious to oil. It had oil on it as received, but it wiped off with alcohol dry as can be - no trace whatsoever.

It kind of reminds me of the Schwedenstein, but there are no streaks in it, the inclusions are more cloud-like. Maybe?

Slate 2 is easier. It's just a dark bluish gray. Perfectly even, no pattern. The image of it dry is a too blue, but if I mess with it any more the color get less accurate. It's harder than Slate 1. It slurries gray with a blue cast. The slurry image may show a bit of other colors, but that's an artifact of the light. Gray-blue stone, light gray with bluish slurry. And that's about all I can say - didn't put any oil on it to test!

Thanks everyone for any wisdom on the slate's identity, fineness, usefulness, trivia, etc.

Cheers, Steve

 

[Steve56]

Oh, Slate 1 is of German origin and the manufacturer's name was apparently Feinster Streichriemen.

Cheers, Steve

 

[Brooksie967]

Looks like a schwedenstein

 

[Steve56]

Thanks Jeremy, I've only seen two images of Schwedensteins other than the other one I have, and they all have streaks in them, but they are a similar coloration.

Cheers, Steve

 

[Brooksie967]

I believe the other two are thuringian stones. Boxes look right and everything. Creamy creamy slurry when honing?

 

[Steve56]

Well at least when lapping yes. Light creamy gray with a blue tint. Any idea of the fineness Schwedenstien vs Thuringian? These are new to me.

Cheers, Steve

 

[Brooksie967]

I've never had a swede but I've heard they are similar in performance perhaps not quite as good.

 

[Gamma]

Nice finds.
Personally - I think it's just about impossible to ID an unlabled slate.
So many different types were mined over the centuries - all over the globe too.
Two stones that look similar, or even identically - are not necessarily the same stone.
Even two stones from the same mine/vein will differ, so comparisons are difficult; even with the two stones in hand.

My approach has always been to just test them and enjoy them. Putting a name on them is nice, but anything past 'looks like' becomes wishful thinking.