I think that it is Müller Schleifmittel http://www.mueller-schleifmittel.de/...d23/index.html
Well, I don't think Mueller is digging up Arkansas stones in the USA
You see stones with this label everywhere. Also from a couple of Dutch suppliers. No idea where they buy them, but I am loosing interest in buying a new one. My own Arkansas is not bad at all.
I'm with you on that, but I thought that they might be importing raw material and refining it themselves.
I would recommend that you buy used on UK eBay. I have a 1 3/4x8 Lily-white, 2x8 no. 1 and 2x6 Smith's black. Altogether it was less than a new 2x8 translucent.
However if you want to buy new Classic Handtools in the uk and Rasoir Sabre in France both sells Dan's whetstones.
Just around the corner, the "Beeldhouwinkel" in Scheveningen also sells Dan's. So that would be my first choice to have a look.
I found out about this shop only recently. Not cheap, but they have excelent stuff.
http://www.beeldhouwwinkel.nl/houtbe...weezijdig.html
So, I couldn't restrain myself any longer, and I bought the vintage Norton translucent. I know that it is a real one because it is labeled on the side with Norton and HB8. It is alsmost an inch thick at 23 mm, has a density of 2.6 and feels very smooth on one side. It came in a nice wooden box (Mahogany?). Not really cheap at 80 euros, but similar new ones from Dan's are also like that.
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I tried a chisel quickly last night and it works very well. It raises a small wire edge very quickly (I work a narrow sliver of steel from a hollow grind), which is easy to remove with some back and forth from the bevel to the face on the stone. Even without stropping I can shave some hairs from my arm.
It does feel a little smoother then my previous one, but maybe that is just my imagination. I recalculated the density of the previous one and it is actually also 2.6. My new one is a bit less translucent then my previous one.
Now I just have to learn living with them. And I must make some boxes for my other stones.
For 80 € I think you made a good find. From what I have seen labeled translucents fetch 100+ £ prices on UK eBay.
I am starting to become friends with my black ark, I have flattened most of it on 120 grit SC powder (I have a 2 small dips left in the corners). Right now it is very fast but also rather coarse, but I expect that it will soon settle in.
Unlike waterstones that cut better with a slurry developed, oil stones, well mine anyway, seem to work better with a clean surface. After several years of doing things the way my dad did, I tried washing the stone after rubbing the surface with detergent, just regular dish detergent, then with warm water. The detergent is a bipolar substance and bonds to both oil and water. Then I scrub it with a non-abrasive pad. That removes oil and a good deal of the metal swarf. This works with hard stones that don't release many particles. I expect mileage may vary with other types of stone. Fort what it is worth, I use this on both my washita stones.
You do that every day? Your a better man then I am! But I do wipe the stones clean every time.