Help identifying oil stones

[Brian Deakin]

Can anyone please comment on the identity and value of the stones shown above .The stones are for sale in Leicestershire United kingdom in the same location where Charnley stone was mined The mines being less than 3 miles from the location where the stones are for sale
Could these stones be Charnleys

Reason... I am interested in purchasing a set of oil stones but have difficulty in establishing the identity and quality of stones


regards Brian

[David Weaver]

Top right is a washita, probably white when new and now oxidized or stained by oil. The top left looks like an older hard white arkansas I have, it is unlike a new hard white arkansas in that its behavior is exactly like a translucent but it doesn't pass light like a translucent. IT is a bit too dirty to tell if that's the case, though, for all we can tell with that much dirt, it could be anything, and the color might be influenced by what oil it was used with.

The bottom stones, the purplish stone on the top is a purple welsh slate, similar fineness to a translucent arkansas, maybe a bit finer. If there were any questions about it being natural, they're erased by the green spots in it, which are common in purple slate hones. What's under it either could be black or it could be just dirty. If it's black, it's likely also a slate hone. Black slate hones can be just about any fineness from medium stones to very fine, you can't know without using it.

Can't give you an idea on value without knowing their sizes, and knowing for sure what the stone top left is.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I'm not one to be able to guess at all from those photos, but the first thing that strikes me is that they seem awful narrow for using with things like plane blades. I don't tend to get too worked up about having super wide stones, since I tend to free hand sharpen with the blade at quite an angle to the length of the stone, sometimes even totally sideways, but these look narrower than even I'd like to use. Again, hard to tell without something that gives scale.

Are these pictures of four different stones for sale? (two in each photo?) I got confused trying to match the two pictures to each other at first thinking they were different pictures of the same items.

[David Weaver]

The purple slate was probably a special purpose stone, possibly intended for a razor user who was used to a thin stone like most charnleys are.

As for the other two stones, it's not uncommon to find long narrow stones in the UK when they are made of a material that doesn't need to be narrow. I don't know if that's a matter of economy or if it's just preference. It's easier to keep a narrow stone flat than it is to keep a wider stone flat (by that, I mean without lapping it).

[Brian Deakin]

Each picture represents two stones which are for sale together That is top picture of two stones is one auction item, bottom picture two stones is a second auction item

regards Brian

[Tony Zaffuto]

It might be of some value if we can set up a place to post pictures of vintage stones that still have labels or are in original boxes.

[David Weaver]

I should add that I don't think any of those are going to meet your needs as a woodworker. The welsh slate could be a good finish hone if it was wider, but it's not.

If you're in the UK, there is a guy selling newly mined purple welsh slate for not much money. Big wide stones are in the neighborhood of $45.

You can likely find a larger washita stone for about $40, like an 8x2.