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Escher/Thuringian love. show of your rocks

Can I use vinegar instead of hydrochloric acid? A site that describes the acid test as above says that you can substitute vinegar but it’ll have a less noticeable reaction. Anyone tried it for this purpose?
I have a little guy that seems to be a synthetic based on size and shape, but seems finer than most typical synthetic razor hones. I would love to test it and vinegar is much easier for me.View attachment 1452716View attachment 1452717
I'm not a chemist, but you could try using vinegar on a known synth and see what it does, and go from there.
 
Can I use vinegar instead of hydrochloric acid? A site that describes the acid test as above says that you can substitute vinegar but it’ll have a less noticeable reaction. Anyone tried it for this purpose?
I have a little guy that seems to be a synthetic based on size and shape, but seems finer than most typical synthetic razor hones. I would love to test it and vinegar is much easier for me.View attachment 1452716View attachment 1452717

Short answer yes. Long answer it may work based on the amount of carbonate minerals in the stone. It may not. It maybe very slow and you may need to get really close with a loupe and watch carefully. It will be harder to get a conclusive answer unless it has a high carbonate amount Basically since the acid is week. So try it and see, but you will still be left wondering unless it obviously works. Now if it doesn't work it could be there are no carbonate minerals present or it could be the acid is not strong enough and not a high carbonate amount. So if it works you will at least know, if it doesn't well then it is still a guess.

I went through this same scenario with two similar stones one was said to be a type of marble. So to tell them apart I figure try the vinegar. Nothing on either stone. So I got some full strength hydrochloric acid and well still nothing on either. Turns out the one that is said to be marble was never marble to begin with. So I had to confirm with others with the same stone and no ones seemed to marble. So it isn't always easy to know what is happening when nothing happens.
 
Tried it with vinegar on a Franz swaty image.jpg
You can see the bubbles. Now on the one in question.

I tried it on the one in question and I don’t think there are any bubbles. Originally I thought there were some tiny ones, but upon looking closer it was the surface itself. Still not 100 percent sure , but tentatively I think it’s a natural. Thanks all for the tips!
 
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Oh it should be mentioned small drops in an indiscriminate area. I used a side scraping from said stone. I have not done this much though. Just on a very few.
 
Short answer yes. Long answer it may work based on the amount of carbonate minerals in the stone. It may not. It maybe very slow and you may need to get really close with a loupe and watch carefully. It will be harder to get a conclusive answer unless it has a high carbonate amount Basically since the acid is week. So try it and see, but you will still be left wondering unless it obviously works. Now if it doesn't work it could be there are no carbonate minerals present or it could be the acid is not strong enough and not a high carbonate amount. So if it works you will at least know, if it doesn't well then it is still a guess.

I went through this same scenario with two similar stones one was said to be a type of marble. So to tell them apart I figure try the vinegar. Nothing on either stone. So I got some full strength hydrochloric acid and well still nothing on either. Turns out the one that is said to be marble was never marble to begin with. So I had to confirm with others with the same stone and no ones seemed to marble. So it isn't always easy to know what is happening when nothing happens.


Funnily enough I tried this on a piece of marble the other day using white vinegar, and couldn't notice anything at all. Same piece of stone previously had a very strong reaction to (25-30% ish) HCl.
 
As long as the binder holds it should be OK. I'm tempted to get a junk one for cheap and put my name on it in acid to use on tools and axes.
Yeah. Looks ugly though. If it really irks me I can try to lap past it I guess. I hit it with w/d 2k and it held up, so I think you’re right that the binder is unaffected.
 
Yeah. Looks ugly though. If it really irks me I can try to lap past it I guess. I hit it with w/d 2k and it held up, so I think you’re right that the binder is unaffected.

I don't remember the process or what they used, but there is a way to refresh those and that may fix it. I think it is mineral oil used on these to refresh. That might fix the spot.
 
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I've tested with vinegar as well as the full range of acids from a gold testing kit. It all works, but as noted, the stronger the acid, the more noticeable the reaction.

I seem to remember that some guys recondition old synths by rubbing Vaseline into them... If it soaks in, it'll probably darken that spot a little at least... may save you some lapping. @Gamma (Acid test on Swaty left a dull patch that bothers Yanky, could Vaseline help or is his best bet lapping past it) for his opinion. I think he has some experience with this.
 
I've tested with vinegar as well as the full range of acids from a gold testing kit. It all works, but as noted, the stronger the acid, the more noticeable the reaction.

I seem to remember that some guys recondition old synths by rubbing Vaseline into them... If it soaks in, it'll probably darken that spot a little at least... may save you some lapping. @Gamma (Acid test on Swaty left a dull patch that bothers Yanky, could Vaseline help or is his best bet lapping past it) for his opinion. I think he has some experience with this.
I had to lap past it in the end. The area felt rough to the touch, and was rough under the blade. It wasn’t that deep so it wasn’t that bad. Lesson learned
 
It’s about an inch wide. After lapping the color looks grey/ green. There’s a little brown towards one end
image.jpg


But inclusions can be in any layer I think so not much of a clue. The slurry was more grayish than anything else. @Empire straights you stayed away because of the gouge in middle? I didn’t notice it before purchasing but it lapped out pretty fast.
 
No @Yanky I stayed away because I've bought too many pretty green stones from the UK and Belgium and I've yet to recieve them. I would've grabbed that one and another lot that had a suspect and 2 coticules. If that stone was much bigger and in a different box that little line would make me thing charnley. Just from the colors.
 
It’s about an inch wide. After lapping the color looks grey/ green. There’s a little brown towards one endView attachment 1460841

But inclusions can be in any layer I think so not much of a clue. The slurry was more grayish than anything else. @Empire straights you stayed away because of the gouge in middle? I didn’t notice it before purchasing but it lapped out pretty fast.

I was watching that one too, but the gouge in the middle made me think twice. Good to hear that it is not a problem. I hope it performs well !
 
I was watching that one too, but the gouge in the middle made me think twice. Good to hear that it is not a problem. I hope it performs well !
Maybe it gouged easy because it’s soft, and that’s why it was easy to lap. I’m happy you left it for me!
I didn’t test it extensively yet, but it felt very fine on the few blades that I did put to it. Finer than other little boxed ones that I have. Had a different feel than regular Eschers, maybe more chalkboard than dense stone (if that makes sense). I find it very intriguing. I have to read up on these guys when I have time.
 
This stone had been at my local shop for a while. I had a hunch on what it could be but wasn’t 100% sure. Looking at it cleaned and lapped I am certain it is a thuri rubbing stone. Under magnification they look near identical. The stone on the right is a known Escher
D89D3E7C-ED54-41E7-82AB-61C3D0F77F47.jpeg
B1D0FC1D-96A7-4DAE-B3C5-ABBEA30ABC30.jpeg
 
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