A Escher that is one of a pair I recently scored. This came from a retired barber. He has happy it was going to a good home. A nice 7” stone
The second is a CL score. A 1880-ish Pike Translucent Arkansas with the old “use sperm oil” label inside
These two stone are part of a four stone lot I rescued from the wild. Out if the four, these two are the ones that impressing me the most. I have no idea of what they are other than naturals. Neither were lap, both had peaks and valleys on the surfaces with no chamfer on the edges. No marks, stamps or anything identifying them The larger measures 210 x 70 x 31mm, 1060g. It performs as a upper mid range stone. Freckled gray surface and covered with chisel marks on side and bottom. Sealed with some type of maroon/burgundy coating. Has a feedback with some feeling of grit. Tried shaving off of it, but was not there and had a little more to go. The second has finishing potential. Measures 180 x 67 x 35mm, 1172g. The surface has a nice cloudy blue-green with a creamy yellow inclusions. Has pronounced saw marks on sides, chisel and scraper marks on bottom and sealed with a clear coating. Took the same blade to this stone and was rewarded with a comfortable edge. Tried just water but got nowhere fast. On the hard side, no auto slurry or scarf. Used a slight diamond slurry and that was the trick Whatever they may be, for being found the in the wild, a nice addition and warmly welcomed to the den
If you want to take the label literally, YUCK! That is the wording for a common lube of the time. To the best of my knowledge, Pike used the early label until they removed the word “Lard”. It was turning rancid on the stones. Pike then recommend just “Sperm oil” for years until they came out with there brand of lube, “Stonoil”. That was until Norton came along and purchased the company. That’s my story and I am sticking to it A few of my vintage labels from the early years. The Rosy Red and Q.C. use Stonoil
Most are from flea markets over many years. Some are from estate sales, thrift stores, antique shows, and yard sales
Eschers Thuringian 5 1/8 X 1 1/4 X 3/8+ inches approx. Another fine stone acquired from the UK, with a lot of help from @Billyfergie . It arrived a couple of days ago, and I just used it on three restoration razors. Excellent stone. The wooden box looks newish. With water on it: Dry Reverse side, not used:
What have I got here? This stone was a present from a colleague. His hobby is sharpening chef and sushi knives. He picked this because it is a finishing stone and was told it is more suitable for a razor than knife. I think it is an Ai Iwatani awasedo(finishing stone). We have talked stones before and he knows I have never used a JNat before but they are famous among us straight razor folks. The sides and base are sealed with lacquer.
Well, the stamp that looks like a flower on the left is the stamp of the Kyoto Miner’s Association, the members of which are almost gone from age now. The middle stamp says Aiwatani polishing stone, and the one on the right says that it’s a specially selected stone (fairly common stamp actually). It looks nice, very pure. Do you have a slurry stone? If not you can use a fine diamond plate with light pressure. Try finishing with it after say 8k with very thin slurry and/or clear water. Here’s more than you probably want on stamps: https://historyrazors.wordpress.com/2017/03/31/kanji-japanese-natural-stones/ Good luck, glad to help if I can.
So of course I could not wait to give this stone a try. My only experiences with naturals is my Zulu Grey, which is a slow hard stone. I usually finish with a Shapton Glass 16k or Gokyumo 20k both of which are quick and leave a sharp edge. I picked my Dovo Master's because it is easy to hone, it is flat and spot on geometry, also it is almost time for a refresh. I don't have a slurry stone so I used a DMT to make sure it was flat and then raised a slurry. I diluted the slurry as I honed until I had clear water, then my usual pasted strop progression of CrOx thenFeO3. Test shave today was excellent, very sharp and very smooth. So far 1 for 1 with my new stone.
A mystery hone from the flea market. Measures in at 9 x 2 1/8 x 1. A hard stone that has some characteristics of Novaculite. Doesn’t appear to be a slate. I am leaning towards a Charnley Forest but the colors are not right. It is predominantly maroon/mahogany colored, not in the green family but does have the 3-D green orbs. I lapped and was given a smooth, polished surface. Has no translucency and when tapped with metal, I get a thud, not a high pitch ring. Taking for a test drive using oil, a mellow, glasslike, low grit feel under the blade. Don’t know what it is but I like this rock and the polished edge it gives up
I was on the road for work today, and spent my lunch hour at a antique shop. I was mostly looking for anything shaving related, when I spotted a hone in a glass case. I asked the attendant working there to unlock the case, so I could get a better look. Before she unlocked the case I couldn’t see a price on it. Once the case was open, and I inspected the stone, I then seen the price tag of $5. I’m so excited, I just had to take a picture of it while I was still in the parking lot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
thanks, but I think I’ll hang on to this one. I couldn’t get the money out of my wallet fast enough when I seen the price! Lol
I ‘lucked’ into an $80 Nakayama koppa from Chef’s Knives to Go, they get 1-3 in once in a blue moon and they go usually in minutes. The bad news is not the line, you can’t feel it, but that there isn’t much of a long edge on it anywhere so honing a normal straight takes some patience. It could be a good kamisori stone if you straightened out the big edge, and the pointy nose could be good for honing those silly ground Dovos, etc. The good news is that it’s thick, fast, and fine, a deep strata rock. So the user F14 got the nod for a test run and the slurry is from a worn 1200 Atoma, so it was all base rock. It’s hard but not stupid hard, about like you want a razor jnat to be. It may well end up as tomo nagura because of it’s shape, sometimes that’s the most efficient way to get the most out of the grit, and I can get 3-4 nice ones out of it. A nice razor tomo sells for about $35-40 so I would not be unhappy with that outcome.
This one arrived from Japan a few hours ago, pretty cheap for a Jnat and I got REALLY lucky this time. It’s a deep strata Nakayama (most likely) kiita/asagi, could be two sided, and it’s super pure, super smooth, and super fine. And it’s fast too as most deep strata stones are. The seller said that it was his grandfather’s razor stone, and that his grandfather said that ‘it was worth it’, implying that it was an expensive stone. The seller also said that he hoped that someone could use it. Well, it has found a home in which it will be honored. Preliminary tests with HHT and diamond plate slurry are spectacular, shave tomorrow.