If there are sand pockets/etc flaws that usually means a #2 (though I've found a few higher grade ones that had those revealed after some use).
Completely clean and even grit throughout could be any grade (or ungraded/non-Norton branded)
Never can be sure because it seems ratings were kind of a binning process, so if someone worked past what got a particular stone binned down in the first place it could be in every way a higher grade stone than it started... even if originally it was a #2.
Also, there've been some things to suggest that #1's were of the same quality as LWW and RRW, but the latter two cost more because they were also sorted for grit/softness (the end labels on LWW, and I suspect all RRW were guaranteed soft/fast even if the labels don't say it) and presumably returnable (the warranty talk on the labels).
All that makes ID'ing the label/type of washita basically impossible on a naked stone.
Beyond that, just for ID'ing washita's that don't stick to the very characteristic/standard looks there can be a lot of challenges.
Soft arks vs washita's can be a tricky thing if you don't have a good eye for it, but there are tricks to it. Washita's get pretty crazy. I've had a couple as translucent as translucent hard arkansas. Really clean white ones you need to be right up close to in order to tell them from white soft or hard arkansas. Once they take on some oil, they tend to be a lot easier to ID, but it's still not always easy.
Completely clean and even grit throughout could be any grade (or ungraded/non-Norton branded)
Never can be sure because it seems ratings were kind of a binning process, so if someone worked past what got a particular stone binned down in the first place it could be in every way a higher grade stone than it started... even if originally it was a #2.
Also, there've been some things to suggest that #1's were of the same quality as LWW and RRW, but the latter two cost more because they were also sorted for grit/softness (the end labels on LWW, and I suspect all RRW were guaranteed soft/fast even if the labels don't say it) and presumably returnable (the warranty talk on the labels).
All that makes ID'ing the label/type of washita basically impossible on a naked stone.
Beyond that, just for ID'ing washita's that don't stick to the very characteristic/standard looks there can be a lot of challenges.
Soft arks vs washita's can be a tricky thing if you don't have a good eye for it, but there are tricks to it. Washita's get pretty crazy. I've had a couple as translucent as translucent hard arkansas. Really clean white ones you need to be right up close to in order to tell them from white soft or hard arkansas. Once they take on some oil, they tend to be a lot easier to ID, but it's still not always easy.
