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Pike Washita Oilstone

I found this Washita in an antique store and know that it is for bevel setting and mid range work. Is that correct? I am interested in adding a hard ark to my den for finishing.

Would I be good to just buy a translucent ark for finishing after using the Washita? I’m new to this and would appreciate any information. Thank you!
 

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Washita's aren't great for razors imho, but you have one of the best knife and woodworking tool hones out there in your hand.

You can use them for razors, but definitely not ideal.


Washita range even wider than Arkansas do. The soft coarse ones can leave a very toothy edge, but cut like a bat out of hell and the hard/fine ones get up very close to shaveable refinement.

The Lily Whites were graded from Soft/Coarse to Hard/Fine, with a number of intermediate grades to assist with buying a stone that suited you... the #1's were not graded, so it was a surprise what grade stone you got.

I've seen Specific Gravities on Labeled LW's and #1's from mid 1.9's to low 2.5's (2.5 SG is where an arkansas becomes a "Hard Arkansas".... so very very hard). Yours could be anywhere in that range.
 
Washita's aren't great for razors imho, but you have one of the best knife and woodworking tool hones out there in your hand.

You can use them for razors, but definitely not ideal.


Washita range even wider than Arkansas do. The soft coarse ones can leave a very toothy edge, but cut like a bat out of hell and the hard/fine ones get up very close to shaveable refinement.

The Lily Whites were graded from Soft/Coarse to Hard/Fine, with a number of intermediate grades to assist with buying a stone that suited you... the #1's were not graded, so it was a surprise what grade stone you got.

I've seen Specific Gravities on Labeled LW's and #1's from mid 1.9's to low 2.5's (2.5 SG is where an arkansas becomes a "Hard Arkansas".... so very very hard). Yours could be anywhere in that range.

Thank you for the reply. Is mine a Lily White?
 
No, #1 was the label just below lily white.

#1's were not sorted by grade and could include visual imperfections that did not impact function that would prevent them from being labeled as lily whites.
 
I don't like them for razors mostly because they really need some pressure to work in their window and razors shouldn't really be honed with that level of pressure.
 
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