Thread: Natural stone hunt

Tonight I was minding my own business, walking to buy some rice for dinner when I walked past the pork seller on the side of the road. Something caught my attention, he was honing a knife on what looked like a lump of wood. As I got a little closer I thought maybe its a house brick. This made me think Thais don't really know what sharp is.

As I got even closer I saw that his hone had a wood grain running through it and it was at this point that my heart started to beat a little faster. On my way back I stopped to ask him about his hone and get a closer look. The colour of the stone was a creamy colour with a darker creamy coloured wood grain running through it. The rough size of this stone was about 4inches by 4inches by about 8 inches.

I asked him where he bought it from and he pointed down the street and gave me some directions which I didn't understand.

So tomorrow I am going on a stone hunt. I'm going to talk to this guy again and get him to write down the location of the shop that sells these hones and the hunt will be on.

Good luck! Sounds lovely...

Look forward to results!

Good luck.

Sounds mighty interesting this Thai woodgrain stone.

i had similar experience.i went to shoe repare store and guy brought to me his sharpening stone color was gray but larger then any escher .thicker too.i ask about it he said it comes from colorado.hmm anyone has any ides?

Today I went hunting for this elusive stone. I walked all the way down this street and all the way back. A long way when you are tired after work in the afternoon heat. Sadly the closest thing I could find to a hone was a 182/220 combination stone, aka, junk.

My wife suggested that I talk to the guy again when she is with me and I will get better directions. I'm also going to have a look at another store I know of that sells knives and machettes tomorrow.

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

i had similar experience.i went to shoe repare store and guy brought to me his sharpening stone color was gray but larger then any escher .thicker too.i ask about it he said it comes from colorado.hmm anyone has any ides?

There were different types of hones native to Colorado, but I haven't been able to find out a great deal about them. This snippet from Google Books mentions Oilstones and Razor Hones, Bulletin - Colorado Geological Survey - Google Books and there was also a Colorado Turkey Hone Stone Co. that sold locally mined hones.

Kindest regards,
Alex

ndw76, are you thinking that this stone is native to Thailand? If not, there is a Japanese Hone, Iyo Meshima Arinoki, which is in some circles known a wood-grain honestone. They have the most spectacular figuring of any stone I have ever seen, unfortunately, they are coarse, low-grit hones so I never picked one up. I think that 330mate used to carry them.

Kindest regards,
Alex

It could be a Japenese hone left over from the Japanese occupation of Thailand during WW2. But I am hoping that it is a native Thai stone and that I will be able to find another one the same. After today I'm starting to doubt my luck.

Have you found out what the stone was yet?