What grit is my oilstone?

[Joe McMahon]

A friend gave me an oilstone. It is a commercial stone in a form fitted oak case. The large stone is 12" X 4" X 7/8" and is maroon/brown in color (being pastel color blind, maroon/brown is the best I can do). The grit feels to be fine to the touch.

It is accompanied by a smaller stone which fits in a separate space in the box. The smaller one is 1" X 3 1/2" X 5/8". The small stone is white on the sides and maroon on each face. I assume the smaller stone got the maroon from the larger stone as it is either a flattening stone or a nigura?

There are no marks or writing on either stone or on the box. Can someone help me identify the grit of my stone?

[Jim Koepke]

A friend gave me an oilstone. It is a commercial stone in a form fitted oak case. The large stone is 12" X 4" X 7/8" and is maroon/brown in color (being pastel color blind, maroon/brown is the best I can do). The grit feels to be fine to the touch.

It is accompanied by a smaller stone which fits in a separate space in the box. The smaller one is 1" X 3 1/2" X 5/8". The small stone is white on the sides and maroon on each face. I assume the smaller stone got the maroon from the larger stone as it is either a flattening stone or a nigura?

There are no marks or writing on either stone or on the box. Can someone help me identify the grit of my stone?

My guess is that if it is an oil stone, there are two stones, one for rough work and the other for finish honing.

My way of telling would be to take a piece of mirror polished steel and abrading it with the stone. Then I would compare the appearance to abrasion caused by different grades of sandpaper.

I would get in the ballpark on the sandpaper first just by touch.

Then to figure out where you are, compare it to the chart at:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=46224&cat=1,43072

There are a lot of different charts out there that may give different micron sizes for sandpaper, but this is the one that was found first on my search.

My guess is you have a Fine India and an Arkansas stone.

Maybe someone else has a better idea. It would surprise me if they don't.

jim