That's awesome! I love little facts and pieces of trivia like that. I'm a big nerd and I embrace it.
Hindostan Info/Photos/ID Thread
- Thread starter eKretz
- Start date
Have you already posted more pictures of those stones elsewhere? I would very much like to see the other surfaces of those rocks.
I have acquired 2 hindos by accident. Both where jet black when i got them. Overnight soak in PBW took off most of the black and a few SG soaks they are mostly clean. One is super hard, just kills a sheet of 60grit paper in minutes. Gotta move to SiC.
Usually use these with slurry or just water or oil?
Usually use these with slurry or just water or oil?
Historically would have to say oil, since every one I’ve seen online has started as a black blob, and mine included. I could have made money off the oil I took out of mine.
What are you going to be using them for? Either works, though I think what I'd prefer might depend on what I'm doing...
(Though with two you might as well have one oilstone, one waterstone
).I plan on using them for sharpening.....(rimshot)What are you going to be using them for? Either works, though I think what I'd prefer might depend on what I'm doing...
(Though with two you might as well have one oilstone, one waterstone
They are very different stones one is soft and one is hard. First i need to get them flat. I did try the extremely hard one with slurry and it cuts fast with slurry. I am not a big fan of oil on stones in general. Even my arks i generally use astroglide or lather as a lubricant. Much easier to clean the mineral or machine oil. Looks like i have some experimenting in my future. After i chew thru 100 sheets of sandpaper getting them flat....
I plan on using them for sharpening.....(rimshot)
They are very different stones one is soft and one is hard. First i need to get them flat. I did try the extremely hard one with slurry and it cuts fast with slurry. I am not a big fan of oil on stones in general. Even my arks i generally use astroglide or lather as a lubricant. Much easier to clean the mineral or machine oil. Looks like i have some experimenting in my future. After i chew thru 100 sheets of sandpaper getting them flat....
Haha! Sharpening what...?
That depends on the stone. So far only a kiridashi. Would like to put together a set to do an american natural edge. Queer creek, washita, soft, hard, black. Maybe the hindo will fit in there somewhere.
Ok, so the reason I asked was that depending on what you're sharpening may influence whether you want to be using water or oil. And I assume you're not just going to be sharpening kiridashi...
.But to make a generalisation - for knives I would use water and slurry, for razors I would use oil. And I would use water on the softer stone, oil on the harder. That's just me though, if you don't like oil, and aren't going to be using it on other stones in a progression then I wouldn't use on either stone. It just mucks things up, and is annoying cleaning and swapping between the two.
A Hindo is likely to fit within the range of an old Washita, though because they're very slow it's also likely to leave lighter scratch patterns. You could probably put it in that progression either after the QC, or after the Soft Ark. There wouldn't be much point putting it between a Washita and a Soft.
FWIW - If soaked and worked with slurry, Hindos can do knife bevel polishing very nicely.
I was thinking about the fact that Hindo's are made of tidal deposits. It's been said that the closer the layers are, the finer the stone. Then it hit me! It makes total sense! A very gentle tide would only be able to move a thin layer of the finest particles.
So far my finest Hindo polishes a razor edge nicely, until it throws a stray particle out and ruins the fun.
Just about the worst experience I've had with old stones was a Hindo that had been used with fuel oil. Rancid, foul, stink up the room. I soaked it for months in Simple Green, boiled it several times in 2 kinds of industrial de-greasing soap, no dice. It would come out of the cleaner looking great and 15 minutes later it would bleed stink and discoloration. I finally gave up on it.
It did however come in a beautiful oak box with a domed top, a real stunner. I refinished it and it was even better looking. I gave it to my boy and he shows it off in his living room. When visitors enquirer, he tells them the things I've told him about Hindustan. Good conversation piece...Let's see...uhh....HSO? Hone shaped object?
So far my finest Hindo polishes a razor edge nicely, until it throws a stray particle out and ruins the fun.
Just about the worst experience I've had with old stones was a Hindo that had been used with fuel oil. Rancid, foul, stink up the room. I soaked it for months in Simple Green, boiled it several times in 2 kinds of industrial de-greasing soap, no dice. It would come out of the cleaner looking great and 15 minutes later it would bleed stink and discoloration. I finally gave up on it.
It did however come in a beautiful oak box with a domed top, a real stunner. I refinished it and it was even better looking. I gave it to my boy and he shows it off in his living room. When visitors enquirer, he tells them the things I've told him about Hindustan. Good conversation piece...Let's see...uhh....HSO? Hone shaped object?
I've noticed with lots of newer soft arks that if you go to them after an old washita sometime they'll take you backwards. The only soft I have that will put as fine an edge on my knives is a very old pike soft ark switch is about the equal to one of smith's hard Arks from the 70s & 80s but it looks like a washita. Queer creek stones will get pretty fine but they are much slower and really no match for a washita. I've done many razors(and knives) by setting bevel on a washita and keep honing until it feels like you could get a rough shave with them switch to a black ark. Washitas are more aggressive on water so you could use water to set bevel and get it up to about as far as it'll go then switch to mineral oil and you can push it quite a bit farther. After you push a far as you can go a 100-250 laps(circles and half strokes go faster) on the black ark and you'll have an edge that's very hard to beat. I've been searching and there are a few things that come close and maybe 2 that tie but imo that's just about the cream of the crop and it only takes 2 stones. Plus it's pretty quick considering it only take 2 rocks.
From the selection as given, a lily white Washita and a translucent Arkansas may be all that you need. Both are versatile stones, responding well to varying pressure.
A Queer Creek to Hindostan might work as a medium progression, but where to go from there? Perhaps some Vermont slate?
2 of the more illusive/expensive arks there are....
Already have a QC, hindo, and slate of unknown origin, might try that. Always like experimenting.
Sorry Erie, I didn’t see this until now. Here are a few pics of the tops and sides. I still haven’t cleaned the new one up.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Thank you! That is the CLEANEST hindo I've seen. Really good. I imagine the appearance of that stone strongly resembles a newly-quarried rock from 150 years ago.
Takes an awfully long time if you need to degrease, but they can go almost white. This is about the cleanest I've ever got one:
So it is normal to have little black specks in a hindo? At first i thought i got SiC powder stuck in the stone but looking at pictures here, it seems normal.
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