I just bought ALL of the Arkansas Stones. All of them ever. Well, almost...

[Luke Dupont]

Found this on ebay for $55 + $15 shipped:

342987

No, I don't need that many stones. And, I feel a little bit crazy purchasing this many. But, seeing as they're all in new or like-new condition, and the whole package comes out to $3/stone, I couldn't pass it up and figured I could resell or even just give away most of them.

Most of them appear to be Soft Arks, but I'm hoping one(/some?) of these might be a Lily-White Washita (if anyone thinks that they can identify a candidate, please let me know! The one at the bottom, and some of the white ones look like candidates to me, but I'm not confident in my ability to identify them). I know, there's a very small chance of that, but hey! There also looks to be a Black Translucent, and... What's that little brown stone with rounded corners?

Anyway. Ummm...

I don't think I'll be wanting for stones for a while.

[Bill Houghton]

Little brown one looks like a razor hone.

[george wilson]

I am pretty certain that the little brown stone is a Frictionite Razor Hone,which was the stone I used in the 70's and 80's. Today they are quite valuable among the AXE THROWERS in Australia,IF they are in new condition. Yours has been used and seems that it has been flattened until it is thinner than a new one. Could still bring $100.00 or more.

[Warren Mickley]

I have the little brown stone. It is a manufactured razor stone called Tonsorial Gem. The blue side is somewhat coarser. I would use it with lather.

[george wilson]

I'm not seeing a blue side,Warren. I still think it's a Frictionite. Made in Moravia,Iowa(or was that Ohio?) Some time ago I had a good stash of those,and got David Weaver to sell mine for $350.00 each. But mine were new old stock,still in the wrappers. They were only about $6.00 each back when I bought them. I even had larger ones made for straight razor factories to use.

[Stew Hagerty]

The one in the darker box looks just exactly like my Hard Arkansas from Dan's.

[Patrick Chase]

Nice find!

w.r.t. stone type, it's a lot easier to tell by using it than by squinting at photos, unless they're micrographs that reveal the novaculite grain structure as outlined in the other thread. Soft and hard arks have distinctly different "feel".

[Trevor Goodwin]

I don't think I'll be wanting for stones for a while.


You will always find an excuse to buy more!

[Luke Dupont]

> Stew
Did you buy your Hard on sale from Dan's? It "looks" like a Soft, but the truth is that the way an Arkansas stone looks and the way it cuts/it's actual rating aren't always the same. There are hards that look like softs, and vice versa. Dan's often discounts these, because of consumer expectations I guess - though it makes no difference in the actual qualities of the stone.

> George and Warren
Thanks guys! According to the seller, one of the stones is marked "Panama," which I found to be a brand of razor hone matching mine. Trying to research how much it goes for now.

> Patrick
Yeah. I imagine I'll just have to put some oil on some of them and see how they feel / cut. Though, I guess it's hard to draw any real conclusions until you've used a stone for a while.
I hate to go getting them messy if I'm going to resell them, but I guess I have plenty enough of the same types to try out.
I have some softs and hards to compare to, but I have no clue what a genuine Washita feels like.

> Trevor
Haha. I hope not... But, I probably will.
I have this conflict going on. On one hand, I want to rid myself of all necessary things and adopt a minimalist life-style. On the other hand, I want to try everything under the sun first ;)

Right now I'm operating on the, probably very flawed logic that I'll try everything, pick out what I like the most, and get rid of the rest. Because, we all know how easy that last step is :D...

Here's to hoping they all arrive in one piece. Not sure how the seller plans on packing and shipping all of these for $15...

[Jim Koepke]

Nice score.

jtk

[Frederick Skelly]

New Duck!....

[Tony Zaffuto]

Looks lke a great haul! Hard to tell what type stones they are from the pic-but run your fingernail across the tops to sort out which are finr and which are coarser. Then try usng them to see how they work! If all natural arkansas stones, you'll need some oil on them.