Another sharpening stone ID

[DTR]

Afternoon all,

I picked this up at my last boot sale on a whim. I have all the stones I need but I thought this might be worth a punt. I'm guessing it's a natural stone as it's longer and more narrow than an India. It's also wedged firmly in the box and is rough at the edges in the typical style of a natural stone.

(It's slightly more orange in real life. I must stop being lazy and use the Nikon instead of the cleverphone)

Any ideas what it might be?

 

[bugbear]

Looks like a washita - I find mine VERY useful as an intermediate stage between a India so-called-fine and a finishing stone like a coticule or arkansas.

It's like sandpapering - for best and quickest results, don't skip grits!

BugBear

 

[Trafalgar]

Washita.

Make a solution with automatic dishwasher powder and water and let it soak overnight. Make it strong -- a lot of powder and just enough water in a small bucket to cover the stone. Stir the powder until it dissolves before you drop the stone in. A quick scrub the next day with a coarse brush, a good rinse, and it should be good to go.

 

[AndyNC]

Mr Stanford: Does your suggestion get rid of the rusty looking stains. I have a really nice one with the original label on the back.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/download/file.php?id=14705&mode=view

I'm sure these are supposed to be "white".

Cheers


Andy

 

[Trafalgar]

The Lily White Washita was indeed mostly white though others considered to be of 'lesser' grade are not. I have what Norton called a No. 1 Washita which has a russet coloration in areas. I thought it was a stain, but I don't believe it is. It appears to be natural and not an accumulation of grunge.

The soaking will produce a surprising amount of grunge in the soak water. If you feel something stronger is needed you can use driveway degreaser at twice the recommended concentration. It will strip the stone as clean as it will ever be without removing a few mils of material by an abrasive means. Again, a light scrub and thorough rinse complete the job.

 

[bugbear]

Mr Stanford: Does your suggestion get rid of the rusty looking stains. I have a really nice one with the original label on the back.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/download/file.php?id=14705&mode=view

I'm sure these are supposed to be "white".

More of a "name" than a colour.

A while ago I found a stone that I didn't know (at the time); it looked like this (I lapped it a bit, so the end is "fresh" stone)

A super-close up of the blue area looks like this:

A goodly while later I found a labelled Pike Washita in its box and was able to compare the two; they were identical.

BugBear

 

[DTR]

Thanks chaps

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

The Lily White Washita was indeed mostly white though others considered to be of 'lesser' grade are not. I have what Norton called a No. 1 Washita which has a russet coloration in areas. I thought it was a stain, but I don't believe it is. It appears to be natural and not an accumulation of grunge.

The soaking will produce a surprising amount of grunge in the soak water. If you feel something stronger is needed you can use driveway degreaser at twice the recommended concentration. It will strip the stone as clean as it will ever be without removing a few mils of material by an abrasive means. Again, a light scrub and thorough rinse complete the job.

Lily White was considered top of the grade, and followed by No. 1 and No. 2.

I've made a habit of buying oil stones at various sale,/auctions through the years, and have quite a few washita's. I do have a smaller (2" X 6") that is basically unused, and the color is much lighter & mottled, but not quite white. Found in the wild, most seem to be an orangish color. Hint for purchase at flea markets: look for stones in carved boxes, as the owner generally thought enough of them to spend the time to carve out a nice box. Most of mine (except the auction ones, or ones I really want because of the container) only cost a couple of bucks American.

Charlie, thanks for the cleaning tip. I generally don't spend a lot of time cleaning, other than wiping off the grunge and maybe a scrub with "Bartender's Friend" scouring powder (unless I decide to make the stone a user).

Washita's sometimes show a bit of dishing after decades of use, and any of the typically discussed flattening methods usually work. I have to say I don't get overly anal about flattening stones.

 

[bugbear]

Most of mine (except the auction ones, or ones I really want because of the container) only cost a couple of bucks American.

In the UK, Arkansas and even Washita were (of course) imported and hence pricy, so in the present s/h market, they're a little too rare to be that cheap here.

We're fighting off cheap infills though. :wink:

BugBear

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

Most of mine (except the auction ones, or ones I really want because of the container) only cost a couple of bucks American.

In the UK, Arkansas and even Washita were (of course) imported and hence pricy, so in the present s/h market, they're a little too rare to be that cheap here.

We're fighting off cheap infills though. :wink:

BugBear

I'll trade Washita's for infills!

 

[bugbear]

Most of mine (except the auction ones, or ones I really want because of the container) only cost a couple of bucks American.

In the UK, Arkansas and even Washita were (of course) imported and hence pricy, so in the present s/h market, they're a little too rare to be that cheap here.

We're fighting off cheap infills though. :wink:

BugBear

I'll trade Washita's for infills!

Nah - I'm holding out for black Arkansas!

BugBear (tough dealer)