Dragging up this mystery hone again. Any guesses?

[SliceOfLife]

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/Lithan1/PICT0017.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/Lithan1/PICT0018.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/Lithan1/PICT0019.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/Lithan1/PICT0020.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/Lithan1/PICT0023-1.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/Lithan1/PICT0024-1.jpg


Bought this hone a few years ago on eBay. Seller found it in an attic or something. Was a seller in the US.
It's around 6x1.5" but not rectangular, a bit over 1/4" thick, in a custom carved paddle (I don't know woods but It is extremely light, almost driftwood-light, but with a dark color to it).

At first I thought it was an unusual dark coticule, but that's not the case. The color is a dark tan with a hint of green and a lot of sparkling (glitter/fools gold looking sparkling). It looks and feels (dry) kind of like sandstone... a bit powdery on top even. When wet it is the second smoothest natural whetstone I've ever used (after my ridiculously hard Nakayama Karasu). The fracture honestly reminds me of ceramic synths... has an almost cement-like appearance inside. The finish doesn't degrade a Thuringian finish any, it appears to even improve it (insignificantly) under the scope and in shaving performance.


Any ideas?

 

[Gamma]

Interesting stone.

Only hones I've seen with swirling like that have been Dalmore/WOA types.
Not saying it is one, just that those swirls in the 2nd photo remind me of them.

My Dalmore has those sparkly things in it like you describe. Feels a bit like a powdery sandstone also.

 

[Brooksie967]

Can we get better pics? The striping reminds me of a Charn

 

[SliceOfLife]

Yeah, definitely not a charn, but I agree the swirls are similar.


http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/Lithan1/PICT0027-1.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/Lithan1/PICT0028-1.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/Lithan1/PICT0030-1.jpg


Stone doesn't absorb water at all, so I don't think it's a Dalmore either.



Box in pics is dark purple.

 

[Gamma]

The second set of pix are easier to see. Or maybe it's because I'm not looking at them on my phone.

The conchoidal fracture says Novaculite.
The riven bottom also has a Euro Novaculite bark look.
Your sandstone description doesn't line up with my experiences with those stones though.
I had a small assumed Llyn that was kind of powdery when dry.
Don't remember if it sparkled though.

Whatever it is, it's a nice looker.

 

[SliceOfLife]

You think? I figure the backside is my best bet for an ID. And yeah it does remind me a bit of some raw bottomed novaculites I've had before. The surface though doesn't really remind me of any Novaculites I've used.

 

[oakeshott]

Here's the bottom of one of my novaculite hones all the way on the right.

 

[Brooksie967]

Have you tried holding a light up to one of the corners or back to see if it is translucent at all?

 

[life2short1971]

It sure looks like coticule to me but there are some very nice novaculites I have used that also look similar. The region escapes at the moment Ian but it was the eastern side of France of believe..

 

[Brooksie967]

I think the Ark is a good guess! Arkansas whetstones can be found with any of the following colors: pink, gray, rust red, black, blue-black, white, brown, purplish red. At times, one will find a combination of some of these colors in the same stone

 

[life2short1971]

There are Novaculites all over the world Brooksie. Arks are just the most (in)famous. Some very good vintage ones come from France if your lucky enough to find one.

 

[Brooksie967]

There are Novaculites all over the world Brooksie. Arks are just the most (in)famous. Some very good vintage ones come from France if your lucky enough to find one.

Thanks Scott, I never knew that one!

 

[life2short1971]

Your welcome.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Yep Novaculite is a geological term. I believe they are distinguished by how the rock is formed, but it's been ages since I read up on them, so I may be remembering incorrectly. Charnleys are Novaculite, I wanna say that Turkey stones are as well?
The translucence test was a great idea. Can't believe I had never thought to try it. Tried it, and it is not in the slightest bit translucent.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I assumed for a long time it was a novel little coticule too... based also on the fact that it does look a lot like a coticule.


That said... on MUD-thick slurry it leaves a Thuringian-level finish. I'm talking slurry that I usually would only use on a coticule to bevel on... so I'm pretty positive now that it isn't a coticule.

I finally got a good picture of the surface.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/Lithan1/PICT0033-1.jpg


You know what it looks like? It looks like Jupiter.


That is an awesome looking rock by the way, Mark. Vintage Hard Ark I presume?

 

[life2short1971]

Sorry I can't be of help but I have seen a good number of similar paddle cased hones originating from Europe it seems. The edges are every bit as nice Thuringians but the surface of the hone is much coarser to the touch.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Thanks. It's not really any coarser to the touch than a Thuri. If hard pressed to ask for a couple distinctions, the first would be that the slurry is EXACTLY the color of the stone, which is a bit unusual for a thuri, and the second would be that the slurry seems to bind more when it dries on the stone... by which I mean, a light brush will usually dust away any slurry remnants I've left on my thuri's, but this stones slurry tends to stick together a bit more.

Whatever it is, it's a nice stone to use. I may try using it with my nagura next and see how it works as a surface for that work, though it's a bit small. Then I may give it a try with oil.

In the end I'll probably cut that little pointed bit off the end to use as a slurry stone.


A few more notes:

It's abysmally slow on water. 100+ laps did nothing noticeable to a trans ark finish under 400x (trans ark is a VERY identifiable and rough-looking finish at that resolution). Slurry, even a small amount makes the stone feel like it's a beveler. The slightest bit of slurry makes the stone go from feeling like glass to feeling like a 1k synth. 100 passes on thin slurry and the edge is right around a Thuri finish. Maybe a touch better or worse both under scope and in shave, but definitely much closer to Thuri edge than to either Coticule (coarser) or my Karasu (far finer).


The stone is harder than either of the Eschers I compared it to (blue-Green and Dark Blue), but much softer than a Charnley, my Karasu or my tomonagura.

 

[Brooksie967]

Sorry I can't be of help but I have seen a lot a good number of similar paddle cased hones originating from Europe it seems. the edges are every bit as nice Thuringians but the surface of the hone is much coarser to the touch.

Perhaps it's one of the fabled 'trout stones' that are being talked about at other places online?

 

[oakeshott]

You presume correctly. I just started using it more regularly. Its finished edges on a batch of four razors I did last weekend are so far among my very best. Combined with the jnat in the same pic, it's like an all star team of rocks.

I'm really fascinated by that stone of yours. It looks clearly like a sedimentary rock. I wonder if it was just something a farmer picked up and got good results from and put in a base because it was so valuable. Maybe it was brought to Europe by a 19th century immigrant? Who knows.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Well quite a string of coincidences after starting this thread. I browsed eBay, came across what I believed was a very pretty WOA stone that the seller was unsure of but suspected was a LI or Cutlers stone. We messaged back and forth a few times and near the end he mentioned offhandedly another mystery stone he was selling that he thought was a coticule. I checked it out and what do you know... it looked pretty familiar. Honestly it probably will turn out to be a coticule, but if not, getting a larger version of the stone in this thread would be quite exciting. It'd also solve the problem of what to slurry with.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181228588349?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649


I guess the booby prize would be if it turns out to be a Dalmore yellow, but I figured the risk was worth the chance to get a mate for this stone here.