Help identify material of sharpening stone

[kcb5150]

Curious if you guys have any idea what this material specifically is. These are sold commercially as a final polishing stone for razor blades and fine instruments. It's not novaculite. The best way to describe the way it feels is like incredibly hard, waxy glass covered in a fine layer of corn starch. I thought it may be some form of jasper. These come from Arizona in the middle of nowhere. Thanks for your help.-Keith

 

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[Jim in Idaho]

Maybe quartzite?
Jim

 

[Bajahunter]

http://naturalhones.com/?page_id=1335
Looks like they are pretty pricey.

 

[Bajahunter]

Sorry forgot to say it looks like onyx to me.
Essentially the same thing as jasper

 

[kcb5150]

Nonporous, quite a good stone in its intended capacity. I think specific gravity would be the best way to grade this stuff, but it is considerably more refined of a result than a 12000 grit edge. Was curious because usually when you get into stones this hard, feel goes out the window most of the time and you just feel like you are skating over the stone while this is not that way. It feels like a translucent Arkansas or surgical black in use but the behavior is different. Thank you for your input. I actually have many famous vintage hones that the quarries have been lost to time.

 

[Mackaydon]

Welcome to Treasure Net !!
Three quick guesses and all may be wrong: Variegated jade, Nephrite or marble.
Don........

 

[IAMZIM]

Not sure, but i do notice the concoidal chips out of the edge, which makes me think jasper.

 

[kcb5150]

I've been lapping it in bits because I wanted to get some scratches out from the initial cutting that their own lapping didn't fully delete since a stone this hard can scar a bevel something horrible with surface irregularities. It is completely true, thankfully, but brutally hard. The only thing it doesn't shrug off is silicon carbide.

 

[huntsman53]

I have one just like it somewhere around the house that I obtained many years ago at Jim Coleman's Quartz Mine and Shop. They appear as almost pure true Flint but are more than likely a grey/gray Onyx.


Frank