What do I have here?

[jamesbeat]

I found this hone while I was moving some stuff around. I'd forgotten I had it, it was in a house I moved into a few years ago, so I have no idea where it came from or what it is.

I had thought for years that it was a slate grey colour The colour was very uniform on all surfaces.
I tried wetting it, but the water ran off as if the stone was oily.
To my surprise, when I gave it a scrub with a nail brush and dishwashing liquid to see if I could get rid of the oiliness I noticed that the edges had turned a light brown.

I 'lapped' one surface of the stone on another stone (just a coarse sharpening stone, not a razor hone) and I managed to remove quite a bit of the dark grey, which can be seen in the photos.
I had to stop because I was making a terrible mess in the bathroom and I'm going out soon, but I'll give it a proper going over tomorrow.

There appears to be some lettering on the end of the hone, but try as I might I can't seem to make out what it says. I revealed it with my scrubbing brush and dishwashing liquid, but I'm afraid to use the stone on the area for fear of removing the lettering.
I thought at first it said 'ENGLAND' but on closer inspection, although i can make out an 'ND', the previous letter doesn't look like an 'A' and it looks like there might be another letter after the 'D'. It's so hard to make out.

The surface feels very smooth, but since I don't have any other hones to compare it to, I don't know what kind of grit size it might be. It's certainly much much finer than 600 grit wet and dry paper. The closest thing I can compare it to would be frosted glass or something, it really doesn't feel abrasive to the touch.

I know it's a long shot, but does anyone have any idea what it is?

With US and UK money for size:

This is the colour before cleaning:

And after some lapping on a stone, note the light brown of the edges:

Here's the lettering:

 

[leighton]

It looks very coarse to me.

 

[jamesbeat]

The photos are a bit misleading, they make it look a llot coarser than it actually is.
It kinda looks like a housebrick on the photo showing the lettering
You may be right though, as I said I have nothing to compare it to.

What should it feel like if it is a razor hone? I've read that it should feel like a TV screen, but I don't really understand that because all the TV screens I've ever felt have felt the same as any other sheet of glass.

 

[SavantStrike]

It's actually pretty hard to gauge how coarse or fine a hone is by touch unless it's at either extreme (really coarse or really fine), and then on the really fine side It's still hard to gauge. Of course my knowledge on hones is pretty limited right now

You mentioned it felt oily. Is it possible the original owner may have used it as an oil stone at one point in time? Have you tried immersing the stone in water to see if a bunch of oil floats to the surface?

As for the lettering, that definitely looks like an ND, and it looks like there is either an I or an L next to the D, and maybe an e or an o before it. I can't tell.

 

[leighton]

The photos are a bit misleading, they make it look a llot coarser than it actually is.
It kinda looks like a housebrick on the photo showing the lettering
You may be right though, as I said I have nothing to compare it to.

What should it feel like if it is a razor hone? I've read that it should feel like a TV screen, but I don't really understand that because all the TV screens I've ever felt have felt the same as any other sheet of glass.

It should feel smooth like a baby's ***

 

[jamesbeat]

No it didn't feel oily to the touch, but when I wet it, the water ran off as if it was oily. I'm guessing it must have been used as an oilstone as you thought.
The good news is that the areas where the proper colour of the stone has been exposed seem to wet well with water, so I guess any oil stayed close to the surface.

You're right about the lettering, It actually looks like 'ON NDI'
I'll try scrubbing it some more

 

[Fnord5]

I found a good way to get oil out of a stone.

Soak in hot hot hot water (near boiling) and pour liquid dish soap over the stone, and let it sit overnight.
Repeat for the other side.

Scrub with toothbrush, rinse, then lap.

I have one of my Grandpas old sharpening stones, a combo, and the coarse side was so slick, clogged with oil and swarf, that it was like glass.
Now it's about 1000grit.

 

[jamesbeat]

I found a good way to get oil out of a stone.

Soak in hot hot hot water (near boiling) and pour liquid dish soap over the stone, and let it sit overnight.
Repeat for the other side.

Scrub with toothbrush, rinse, then lap.

I have one of my Grandpas old sharpening stones, a combo, and the coarse side was so slick, clogged with oil and swarf, that it was like glass.
Now it's about 1000grit.

Yup, that sounds like the condition mine was in. If it does turn out to be that coarse, might it still be useful for tough jobs like getting rid of chips or starting off a bevel?

I have it sitting in water and dish soap right now, but I didn't use boiling water, i will remedy that immediately

The writing may possibly say 'MADE IN INDIA' but it's still not quite clear enough to make out.

 

[jamesbeat]

Well who'da thunk it?
After a while soaking, I scrubbed the edge of the stone and it's a Norton!
I can see 'Norton' and 'Bear' and a cartoon picture of a bear's face, but I can't make any more out just yet.
This is getting quite exciting!

 

[leighton]

Reminds me of a Norton 1k. BUT! I'm not a hone expert.

 

[jamesbeat]

Ok, it says 'MEDIUM INDIA (2 illegible characters) STONE NBB'
Or, it might say 'MEDIUM INDIAN STONE N88' or something along those lines.

Does any of that look familiar?
I'm guessing a 'medium' is way too coarse for a razor unless it's in very poor shape and needs a lot of metal removing?

Anyone got any idea what the grit of this stone might be?

 

[SavantStrike]

Ok, it says 'MEDIUM INDIA (2 illegible characters) STONE NBB'
Or, it might say 'MEDIUM INDIAN STONE N88' or something along those lines.

Does any of that look familiar?
I'm guessing a 'medium' is way too coarse for a razor unless it's in very poor shape and needs a lot of metal removing?

Anyone got any idea what the grit of this stone might be?

Medium could mean anything. If it's a medium knife stone it could be 600 or 1000 grit, otherwise who knows?

 

[jamesbeat]

Yeah, you're right, 'medium' is pretty ambiguous.
I'm used to knife sharpening stones and this hone feels a hell of a lot smoother than what I'm used to. I'm guessing that it is the finer end of knife stones, so your estimation is probably correct.
If wet/dry paper grits are equivalent to stones, then this stone is much higher grit than 600.
This is good right? I have a keen interest in restoring vintage straights, so I'm guessing this stone could come in handy for razors with chips or otherwise damaged edges?

It is in surprisingly good condition given its apparent old age and hard life.. In my efforts to clean it up by lapping, I have tried the pencil trick and discovered that although it is discoloured, it appears to be completely flat.