Post your local/flea market stone scores. (There's none left. Tim found them all.)

[PaulMallorca]

Drooling at the buterscotchs, love those stones! The only one I have is by far the favourite in my collection.

The picture and your description are indeed characteristic of the purple la lune. Great stones. Most are very dense and show swirls in the grain structure.

 

[PaulMallorca]

The green swirly could be indeed a lynn, but I've seen Canadians a bit on that style...

 

[HippieDave]

I have lapped the mystery stone. It has some personality to it. Pictures taken in sun and wet. I had to put on a belt sander to get the surface past the divots on the surface. Lapped to 600 grit. I played a little with some steel and it has potential for being a good hone. It is medium hard and not muddy. I will play some more when time will allow. The purple stone has been a joy to use. I feel it is a La Lune, but not sure. It is not as aggressive as a Special Stone but gave up a keen comfortable edge. I like this stone. The Coti is still on my work table looking at me. Have not touched it, YET.

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I haven't been here in awhile but I saw the photos of your mystery stone and felt I had to show you these stones.

As you can see in the first photo they look a lot like your mystery stone but they look like they where hand cut from a larger stone. One, also, has a rounded edge. They're harder than an Escher or a Coti and I like using them before I go to an Escher or a Coti.
However...….I think they where cut from an old slate patio stone that came from who knows where. I got them at two different flea markets.

And that brings me to this stone.

It's a piece of a 150 year old slate roofing tile that I'm pretty sure came from Pennsylvania.
It's a just a little softer than the "patio mystery stone" and I like to use it before the Escher or Coti. It's a little over 1/8 in. thick and I cut 5 of them out of one tile. The tile cost $3.00.
So if any of you see some one selling old slate roofing tiles at a low price you might want to pick one up.

 

[timwcic]

Drooling at the buterscotchs, love those stones! The only one I have is by far the favourite in my collection.

The picture and your description are indeed characteristic of the purple la lune. Great stones. Most are very dense and show swirls in the grain structure.

It was a very satisfying acquisition of stones. It was from a seller that I have been working on for quite some time before he sold me these stones. A group shot of my three butterscotch Arks. I have a few more measuring in at 100x50 mm. Coincidentally, it came from the same market I got my first Butterscotch, top left in picture, years ago but from a different seller. It has for years one been of my favorite stones.

The purple hone is also a very good finisher. It feedback and characteristics are similar to my special stone, just not as aggressive. It like oil when in use

The green swirly could be indeed a lynn, but I've seen Canadians a bit on that style...

What is a Canadian? That is something I am not familiar with

 

[timwcic]

I haven't been here in awhile but I saw the photos of your mystery stone and felt I had to show you these stones.
View attachment 937326
View attachment 937327 As you can see in the first photo they look a lot like your mystery stone but they look like they where hand cut from a larger stone. One, also, has a rounded edge. They're harder than an Escher or a Coti and I like using them before I go to an Escher or a Coti.
However...….I think they where cut from an old slate patio stone that came from who knows where. I got them at two different flea markets.

And that brings me to this stone.
View attachment 937333
It's a piece of a 150 year old slate roofing tile that I'm pretty sure came from Pennsylvania.
It's a just a little softer than the "patio mystery stone" and I like to use it before the Escher or Coti. It's a little over 1/8 in. thick and I cut 5 of them out of one tile. The tile cost $3.00.
So if any of you see some one selling old slate roofing tiles at a low price you might want to pick one up.

You have some good looking stones. I have several that have the same “homemade” look and defining character as yours. Nothing I have comes close to the large hone except maybe my Butterscotch Ark. It is definitely a finisher, refining a Escher edge. It gives me a edge equivalent to as if is was north of 15k. I enjoy the long length allowing to do long slow cycles on oil.

As far as slate roof tile, they are not much in use in Florida. Never saw one at a market. Do not want them flying around in a hurricane. I do remember of one church that has a stone roof, the only structure that I know of but I am sure there are more. I will keep on the lookout when I go shopping in NE this summer

 

[timwcic]

Two stones from this weekend flea market adventures. A size 5 Trans Norton Ark and a 7’ Coticule in a nice wooden box. Nice way to end the year.

 

[David]

Awesome scores, Tim.

 

[timwcic]

Some nuts from this weekend hunting gathering. A 4” Lily White, a 7“ Coticule and a 8x2” mystery stone. It might be a Charnwood. There are sparkles on the surface, so I am not sure. It is hard, not quite Surgical-Trans hard, but close. It was found flat, chamfered and no signs of oil. There were some deep scratches on the surface, so I wanted to refresh the surface and needed to bring out the SIC. Gave up when I broke a sweat, need some more work at finer grit

 

[eKretz]

That mystery stone looks somewhat like a Pierre du Levant or whatever they're called.

 

[timwcic]

That mystery stone looks somewhat like a Pierre du Levant or whatever they're called.

Thanks for a direction to look. Does the P.D.L. have a relationship to a French or Belgium Turkey stone? For anything I was thinking is could be, this is a hard stone, and I know of none this hard have a sparkling surface. It is definitely a finisher, feels equivalent to a 10-12 K surface.

 

[eKretz]

Not to my knowledge. They are a sort of hybrid mix of slate and sandstone IIRC. I believe I have 3 of them. This is the official name I think:

Pierre Aiguiser Naturelle de Saurat/ Pierre a
Menuisier (Genre Levant)

And the mine website with more info:

Pierre à aiguiser naturelle des Pyrénées

There are a few variants hardness-wise as well, which affects the perceived fineness.

 

[Michael S]

Some nuts from this weekend hunting gathering. A 4” Lily White, a 7“ Coticule and a 8x2” mystery stone. It might be a Charnwood. There are sparkles on the surface, so I am not sure. It is hard, not quite Surgical-Trans hard, but close. It was found flat, chamfered and no signs of oil. There were some deep scratches on the surface, so I wanted to refresh the surface and needed to bring out the SIC. Gave up when I broke a sweat, need some more work at finer grit

Nice rocks, congratulations! Re: the mystery stone, the only very hard/smooth rock I know with sparkles is the French Pierre La Lune, but the La Lune is somewhat darker I think and may not have such pronounced 'waves'. My Belgian Pierre du Levant and French Pyrenees stones have a somewhat similar aspect but are quite coarse i.e. they don't fit your 10-12k description (I don't use the latter for razors and the former is a bevel setter mainly for me). I looked in Bos's Grinding and Honing Part 3 and there are literally dozens of grey possible 'candidate' stones.....some UK stones have the waves....More important, how does she hone?

 

[timwcic]

Nice rocks, congratulations! Re: the mystery stone, the only very hard/smooth rock I know with sparkles is the French Pierre La Lune, but the La Lune is somewhat darker I think and may not have such pronounced 'waves'. My Belgian Pierre du Levant and French Pyrenees stones have a somewhat similar aspect but are quite coarse i.e. they don't fit your 10-12k description (I don't use the latter for razors and the former is a bevel setter mainly for me). I looked in Bos's Grinding and Honing Part 3 and there are literally dozens of grey possible 'candidate' stones.....some UK stones have the waves....More important, how does she hone?

The mystery stone is a strange rock. It does have a finer grit feel to it. I still need to do additional work to the surface, but lapping the middle on 600 W/D resulted in a burnished and reflective surface. It makes me thick a type of Novaculite, but the chip out on bottom says a type of sandstone. Also the waves are strange, makes me think it the direction of a Scotch Dalmore. I have a La Lune and a Special Stone and other than the sparkles, it does not make me think in that direction. It also does not have the “waxy-coated” feel to it. I have been trying for the last few weeks to open the Henk Bos’s Essays, and for some reason, I can not open any of the four, I will keep trying.

 

[Michael S]

I have been trying for the last few weeks to open the Henk Bos’s Essays, and for some reason, I can not open any of the four, I will keep trying.

Me too but they open when I hit the 're-load' button. Or PM me for the PDF

 

[eKretz]

The mystery stone is a strange rock. It does have a finer grit feel to it. I still need to do additional work to the surface, but lapping the middle on 600 W/D resulted in a burnished and reflective surface. It makes me thick a type of Novaculite, but the chip out on bottom says a type of sandstone. Also the waves are strange, makes me think it the direction of a Scotch Dalmore. I have a La Lune and a Special Stone and other than the sparkles, it does not make me think in that direction. It also does not have the “waxy-coated” feel to it. I have been trying for the last few weeks to open the Henk Bos’s Essays, and for some reason, I can not open any of the four, I will keep trying.

The description and images are a dead match for the Levant stones. They most certainly do have sparkles. If you use them in the roughened state or with slurry they are pretty coarse, but if you let them glaze up they will finish a razor to a shaveable edge. Not like a top-tier finisher but decent. I think your grit estimate is probably pretty high even just looking at the apparent abrasive grain size in the images. A Thuri is probably more like the 12k equivalent level IMO.

 

[Michael S]

The description and images are a dead match for the Levant stones. They most certainly do have sparkles. If you use them in the roughened state or with slurry they are pretty coarse, but if you let them glaze up they will finish a razor to a shaveable edge. Not like a top-tier finisher but decent. I think your grit estimate is probably pretty high even just looking at the apparent abrasive grain size in the images. A Thuri is probably more like the 12k equivalent level IMO.

Here's my Levant, eKretz you may well be right!

 

[timwcic]

The description and images are a dead match for the Levant stones. They most certainly do have sparkles. If you use them in the roughened state or with slurry they are pretty coarse, but if you let them glaze up they will finish a razor to a shaveable edge. Not like a top-tier finisher but decent. I think your grit estimate is probably pretty high even just looking at the apparent abrasive grain size in the images. A Thuri is probably more like the 12k equivalent level IMO.

I find some strange stone in some strange places. A French stone in a dirt field in Florida. Your description is spot on. Roughened it is course, lapped it could be a finisher but not a top tier one, and it is courser compared to Thuri. Pictures are a match for the Levant stones. Thank you for your knowledge. I will finish it off but it may be neglected. I have too many other stones I want to play with.

Here's my Levant, eKretz you may well be right!

PM sent

 

[eKretz]

LOL. Yes. Yes you do. Not a bad problem to have for us rock hounds though. I don't use mine too often either, but I do get them out to play with now and again.

 

[timwcic]

This weekends low hanging fruit from the markets. A boxed Washita, 8 x 2 with its shipper, a 7 x 1.5 natural Coticule and a 1 x 4 penknife Trans Ark. The Washita is an exceptionally good looking stone. A white stone with rivers of pinks, browns, orange and purple running thru

 

[Seveneighth]

This weekends low hanging fruit from the markets. A boxed Washita, 8 x 2 with its shipper, a 7 x 1.5 natural Coticule and a 1 x 4 penknife Trans Ark. The Washita is an exceptionally good looking stone. A white stone with rivers of pinks, browns, orange and purple running thru

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All three look good. How on earth do you find these?