Another stone question

[Tony Zaffuto]

Coming across Rt. 30 in PA, I visited a regular honey hole (David knows where!). Here I picked up another stone ($.50). It is about 1-1/4" X 5 to 6" long. The top appeared to be a natural black stone, the bottom, at first I thought was leather bonded to the stone, because it felt like stiff leather.

A bit ago, I began cleaning some items and this stone was one of them. In straightening out what I thought was the black section, turned out to be purple, fairly hard and maybe just a bit softer than a washita. It is a natural stone, mainly because of the irregularity on the sides and bottom. The bottom is a stone, though it appears to be man-made because it is so well molded onto the top section. When cleaning, it comes out a light tan.

My question is concerning the purple part of the stone: any guesses as to what it might be? I believe the stone was used for knife sharpening because of the wear.

And David, no other bargains, though there must be nearly a hundred saws in the $3.00 pile.

[Warren Mickley]

Sounds like a Belgian water stone (coticule).

[Tony Zaffuto]

Thanks Warren. Your neck of the woods (Fayetteville).

The bottom stone feels and looks like a waterstone and the top (purple) really doesn't look like oil ever touched it.

[David Weaver]

coticule, like warren says. That's about the right size for a straight razor stone, too.

The bottom might have a little bit of a fisheye-ish look to it, and it might not (depending on whether it's slate or begian blue, and where it's from).

Not a great stone for tools, unfortunately.

(i've been through that saw bin! it'd be a good place to get saw screws or scraper stock, but when I looked through it, it was so full that the saws were all kind of beat up from being in there so tight. Nothing good when I was there, at least not good enough for me to get it out).

[Winton Applegate]

irregularity on the sides and bottom.


I had a girl friend like that once.

[Tony Zaffuto]

coticule, like warren says. That's about the right size for a straight razor stone, too.

The bottom might have a little bit of a fisheye-ish look to it, and it might not (depending on whether it's slate or begian blue, and where it's from).

Not a great stone for tools, unfortunately.

(i've been through that saw bin! it'd be a good place to get saw screws or scraper stock, but when I looked through it, it was so full that the saws were all kind of beat up from being in there so tight. Nothing good when I was there, at least not good enough for me to get it out).

Have never bought a saw from him or his pile! Just stones, plumb bobs, an occasional chisel (once got a NOS 750 for $5.00!). Guy across the street (MWTCA member) has far better goods, albeit at a higher price. Got a NOS Record QR vise, in box, from him for $60.00, plus he always has center bits dirt cheap. Also has a lot of older woodworking books for next to nothing (Hayward, Wearing, etc.). From a different booth in that building a few months ago I got a set of Greenlee wood chisels for $18.00 (like new, but with green plastic handles like the old Record). Great steel, very comfortable to use and far better than most new chisels (side lands almost as sharp as LN's).

This weekend is the first Hazen, PA flea market - Sat & Sun, take exit 81 on I-80 and travel north on Rt. 28 4 or 5 miles. Easy-peasy to get there and always stuff. Best deal in recent memory was a package price of $20 for NOS (in original boxes) Stanley 71 and 271. Only issue was they're English made, but just as they came off a shelf in a closed hardware store. Going price for common planes (60-1/2, #4's) is $5 to $10. However, not a place for handsaws. There are a few scattered about, but the saw painters have infected most of them. Usually more than a few anvils, but from $2 to $3 per pound.

[David Weaver]

The fact that it has some irregularities is unusual for a coticule, btw. Coticules, especially of that size, are generally intended for straight razors where the evenness of the stone surface (and especially the edge) are important because they can damage a razor if they're not even.

There were some artificial stones put together that looked like coticules, but they looked even more uniform. None of them had backings that looked like belgian blue stone, though, either, which is what's on the other side of the yellow layer when they cut stones from the seam. There's a lot of variation in the natural coticules, though - in fineness and in color (they can be anything from pink to brownish to light yellow to mottled to yellow with black spots in them, etc.).

As far as the flea market goes, I hate to say it, but I need to go the other way and unload some stuff. Well, and we have company this weekend. wonder what the big popularity is with anvils up there. There's a guy here who sells them, and I got a 125 pound soderfors copy a few years ago for about $2.50 a pound, almost no wear and a straight back - great for hammering saws. As expensive as they are, I hope it's the only one I ever have to buy (and it will be as long as it doesn't get stolen).