The nice old box thread
- Thread starter Legion
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.- Thread starter
- #82
My guess (just a guess) is that the rubber was a strip of old gum rubber inner tube, that has long since perished.
Oh god... I don't know. Legion's your expert for this kind of thing!
If you can tell whether it's natural or synthetic rubber then you might be able to have a guess at age in some way I imagine. Synthetic rubber started being produced around 1900. Before that natural rubber used in the UK would mostly have come from India, I believe.
(Not certain about the above. Just something I have in my mind).
I'm 99.999% it's raw, natural rubber latex. It's completely dehydrated of all oils and/or water, but the touch it unmistakable, poppies are the only latex that feels similar but thicker at first exposure.
Maybe if it was turned into latex gum again or melted extremely carefully. No nails or glue that I can tell in the base, I don't know, everything about this one has kinda thrown me. I keep beating down every idea that I think is reasonable after close inspection.
- Thread starter
- #86
On my last one, it had marks, paint(?), Mold(?), who knows. I gave it a light enough sand to get rid of the scum, then gave the box two rubs of boiled linseed oil, which was probably what they used in the day. You can’t tell which areas were sanded.
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- #87
The side that you identified as leather, was that because of the colour? Just from the pics, I call unvulcanised rubber on both sides.
The one that im calling plain leather because it feels like old cheaply tanned leather. But the other side I think your right.
Thanks for the tip!
No idea on age, never tried to clean it either.
Did that stone flatten surprisingly easily? Was it kinda soft for novaculite(assuming that's what it is)?
It wasn't to bad to lap, nothing like an Arkansas stone or my other Idwal. I don't use it much now that I have the other Idwal and a nice Charnley
A Tam O Shanter box and stone I worked on over the weekend.
Got round to doing a cursory sand-n-oil on the boxes that came with a couple of (6" & 9") stones found recently. Both of these are excellent stones that completely nail what I like about old Washitas, with the larger in particular being really quite special.
New old Turkish. At some point I'll get round to making a couple of little wedges for it (along with all the other boxes I've been meaning to do for ages!)
- Thread starter
- #98
I bought this one because it was advertised as a natural stone (from the pics I was hoping for an Idwal) and I liked the box. On arrival it turned out to be a India. But the seller was ok and gave me a partial refund, so now I have another India, in a box that someone spent a ridiculous amount of time on, for an inexpensive, hardware store hone.
The main problem is the box is so well made that the stone is completely wedged in place, with not enough showing to grab and try to pull it free. I'd like to use the box for a fancier stone, but the India is stuck in there like Excalibur, and I am not worthy enough to remove it.
The main problem is the box is so well made that the stone is completely wedged in place, with not enough showing to grab and try to pull it free. I'd like to use the box for a fancier stone, but the India is stuck in there like Excalibur, and I am not worthy enough to remove it.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
This idea is way out there and I have no idea if it would work, but could you drill say a 1/4” hole in the bottom of the stand to the stone and use a rod to apply pressure to the stone? Something like a 2-jaw gear puller might allow you to keep a little pressure on the stone while you heat it up.
If it wasn't banged in there with plaster under it. Drying it out and holding it over say your bed and wacking the edge upside down on your hand it should come loose. I have stones that in the humid times only release by doing this since they fit so tight. You can try twisting the wood lightly while upside down too. Wood expands in the humidity and shrinks when dry. Just some ideas to try anyway.
