Thread: Hone ID

Hey everybody.
I'm sure some of you can identify this hone. A friend gave it to me a few years ago. It was pretty beat up and gouged and I left it just sitting around until the other day I decided to lap it and see what it had to offer.
It's interesting to say the least. 2 1/4" x 8" x 1 1/8" Under my microscope it looks very similar to a cnat, but in other aspects it's not even close. I rate it in the 5k-6k grit range based on the scratch patterns it leaves.
The stone is far softer than a cnat. The slurry is very dark gray, almost black. It has a very smooth feel when honing with nice crisp I guess is a good word feedback.
In the pics the stone is lapped to 1000 grit sandpaper.
I'm thinking that it may be an English Silkstone.... Any ideas?

thats a hard stone to identify maybe a sand stone it looks like it sucks up alot of water or a soft j-nat

I posted a thread about a "mud hone" some time back... Mud Hone There was a lot of discussion, but never any consensus.

Your hone looks somewhat like my "mud hone." Who knows!

Originally Posted by eleblu05

thats a hard stone to identify maybe a sand stone it looks like it sucks up alot of water or a soft j-nat

Actually it's not terribly thirsty, I just put a splash of water on it for the pic.

I guess that's a possibility, but yours is a lot different in color. What does the surface look like under magnification?

It looks a bit like a tiny blue stone I have which may also be around 5-6k with chips similar to pic 4. I don't know what it is though It worked great for sharpening some little gouges and chisels I had sharpened on a 1k/3k, they only took a few strokes.

Silkstones are finishers so I think you can rule that out.

Originally Posted by Piet

It looks a bit like a tiny blue stone I have which may also be around 5-6k with chips similar to pic 4. I don't know what it is though It worked great for sharpening some little gouges and chisels I had sharpened on a 1k/3k, they only took a few strokes.

Silkstones are finishers so I think you can rule that out.

Thanks Piet I appreciate the input. I was under the impression that the smaller silkstones were pretty fine finishers, but that the larger size was a little more coarse. Of course I'm only going by what I've read in a post somewhere because I've never actually used a silkstone that I knew for a fact was one...

From the slurry colour, the softness and the grit, it could be an Aoto. I don't really know any "western" stones around 5-6k grit that are soft, maybe because they are soft and don't last from one generation to the next. Doesn't look like a silkstone. Most of them are a little finer than a fine Chinese natural, and so similar you might find yourself unable to recognise which is which if you forgot where you put them.

Thanks for the input Vasilis. Doesn't Aoto mean blue in japanese? Do they vary a lot in color? I know very little about jnats, except that I'd like to own a bunch

You re welcome. Yes, they do vary a lot in color, hardness, abrasive qualities, and many have inclusions. I have one and I like it for bigger blades. Of course yours could be something else, but, if you like it, no matter its name, it's a good stone.