What stones have I got here?

[phil harold]

I am visitin de nephew and supply him with some chisels an planes
So must teach him some sharpenen
scary sharp is covered by a chunk of granite
280629280630

A have some rocks here that I could part with
just dont no what they be
cept da 6th from the right be soft arkansas from norton and the two left ones be made by man
reckon ya'll kin help wit de rest

280628
I be mighty obliged with yer help

[David Weaver]

Top right, not sure what the first long stone is, but probably something agricultural. The next two look like natural scythe stones.

Bottom left looks like a silicon carbide combo stone (might as well keep it, it won't be worth anything). The rest are really kind of hard to tell without closer pictures and pictures of the sides. There were plenty of older stones made of aluminum oxide or carborundum, etc, that were made to look like natural stones.

Fourth from left looks like slate, the slips on the right look like a possible natural or two and maybe some carborundum corporation slips (that look a little bit like natural stones because they're usually fine silicon carbide).

2nd and 3rd from the left look like the have the chance to be natural stones, but can't tell unless a closer picture is taken, along with a picture of the sides. If they turn out to be carborundum corporation stones, then it may not be worth the trouble really to sell any of them. If they are natural stones, they will barely be worth the trouble.

What makes a natural vintage stone worthwhile to sell is either if it's very fine novaculite, or if it's something branded or obviously of the washita type.

I could be wrong about the stones, but the obvious thing you look for when you scan old stones to see if they're worth any trouble (charnley forest, thuringians, coticules, pike washitas, hard arkansas...all with good clean edges) don't appear to be there.

[phil harold]

Well since my nephew's son is nicknamed Dr.destructo
sending a nice stone down there is not a good idea.

the two left lower stones are silicon carbide combo stones
the next two (3&4 from the left) look like naturals

I have use waters stones for forever, is there an advantage to using natural stones?

[David Weaver]

If you have the right steels to use with natural stones, they can be extremely low maintenance. But like everything, the good ones bring money on the internet market and if you don't spot them in person, they're hard to find cheaply.

If you have a practical setup with waterstones, I'd stick with it. You might be able to give a combination of stones (those two naturals) a try to see if you like them. If the whitish one is a natural, it's probably somewhere on the soft/hard (or what's currently considered hard) spectrum. If the black one is slate, they definitely prefer vintage softer and plainer steels.

[phil harold]

closer pic of 3 & 4 from the left