Waterstone ID help please

[gruff]

Hi,

Hoping someone could help me ID these two waterstones.

A white 2.5" x 8" with a unicorn logo and markings 8RE 280KL V and a dark brown 3" x 8" with WA 500M B.

I've googled to no avail so appreciate any insight into manufacturer and explanation of the markings.

Thanks for looking.

Gareth

 

[D_W]

the white stone looks like fused white alumina - a stone to be used in place of a hard arkansas. I have a bunch of stones like that from japan - would've been good for tipping off dental tools, machine tools, razors, engraving tools, etc.

if the dark one is actually brown after you clean it, it's also most likely alumina (aluminum oxide) and not silicon carbide. The difference being that one is meant to keep its shape and not be friable (aluminum oxide) and the other is meant to be friable (silicon carbide) to favor cutting speed on harder metals above staying flat and accurate.

They're probably intended to be used with oil.

I should mention, the hard solid white alumina stones are a lot like the spyderco offerings, but less expensive to find and much bigger. Similar fineness to the spyderco ultra fine stones, though.

 

[gruff]

That's really helpful - Thank you for taking the time to let me know.