Is this an Arkansas stone?

Picked up this one in a nice fitted wooden box that shows quite a bit of age.

Cleaned off some oil that was on one side of it and was surprised to see a reasonable looking surface emerge from under the grime.
I bought it to sharpen some knives and am axe with.

Any ideas what it is?

It's a washita. So yes a it's a Arkansas stone. Should be great to sharpen knives on. Some are fine enough to set bevels on straights with I believe. I had a Lily white washita that was really fine, just didn't care for having to use oil with it.

I would say yes, looks like a Washita Oil stone.

hig789 said:

It's a washita. So yes a it's a Arkansas stone. Should be great to sharpen knives on. Some are fine enough to set bevels on straights with I believe. I had a Lily white washita that was really fine, just didn't care for having to use oil with it.

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1+ to Hig's reply

Must oil be used? Can't just substitute with water?

Some people use dish soap..I wouldn't use plain water. That's a sweet stone.

hig789 said:

It's a washita. So yes a it's a Arkansas stone. Should be great to sharpen knives on. Some are fine enough to set bevels on straights with I believe. I had a Lily white washita that was really fine, just didn't care for having to use oil with it.

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You still have your washita?

Dcaddo111 said:

You still have your washita?

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Nope. It's been gone for quit a while.

You'll love that stone. Very effective in my experience.

A Washita can be used to bevel set easy enough. Surface finish changes their characteristics a lot. Finished at 200 grit, they cut quickly. Once they are broken in, you can almost shave off them. You have two sides to that stone, lap them both to 200 grit, and use one side to remove a chip from a razor. This shouldn't take as long as you think, the oil will get black quickly. By that point, it should be pretty well broken in. Now you have a two in one stone. Use the other side for rough work, and use the broken in side to take you up in sharpness.

Oh, and oil vs. water. I have only used mine with oil, but you should be able to use soapy water if you wanted. The oil does a good job of keeping swarf out of the pores so the stone doesn't clog. Soapy water should do about the same. Plain water could lead to clogging/reduced cutting capability. With that said, I have some new Arks (Soft, Hard, Black, Translucent Black) and I am going to try using soapy water only on them, and see how it goes. Worst case, I have to lap the softer stones to remove the swarf, at which point I can switch to oil.

How big is your stone?

Great info papa fish et al, exactly what I was hoping to learn.
Will lap and see how it goes. It felt like a stone that might set a bevel, which would be great.

Stone is rather large compared to the cotis I'm familiar with, roughly 12 x 3-3.5 inches, and about 1.5-2in high. Faurly heavy, dense stone.

I sharpened a hatchet with it on oil last night with great results, stone is so hard that it hardly made a scratch on it, but oil turned dark quickly and really straightened the blade out.

Will be interested to see what it'll do on some razors for bevel setting
Thanks again all,
Alex

Had a Washita for a bit. As a matter of fact it was able to produce a serviceable edge. The shave off it wasn't all that bad either

Quick update and thanks to the members who opined.

Gave the stone a go last night on some oil. Seems to be a pretty nice bevel setter. Will keep at t and see how she mellows out over time. Thanks all!