Arkansas stones differences

[JM2]

Here are some of mine JM.

Thanks for sharing. Some of those are very pretty stones.

Looks like there is one that’s broken and been glued back? Bottom pic second from the right on bottom. Does it still work okay?

 

[garry3]

Dan's says his is not the same stone as the old Washita's. I don't own one but it seems he grades it by density alone determining what a Washita is. It seems the manufactures have been blurry the lines between soft arks and Washita's for a very long time.

Griswold states that the arks and Washita's are not found together. He also talks about the Calico Washita's which I believe are the more modern colored Smith's.
Here is a link to the 1890 survey by Griswold. It might answer some questions....

Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Arkansas

www.google.com

 

[garry3]

Thanks for sharing. Some of those are very pretty stones.

Looks like there is one that’s broken and been glued back? Bottom pic second from the right on bottom. Does it still work okay?

It did for quite some time, but no longer.

 

[JM2]

Dan's says his is not the same stone as the old Washita's. I don't own one but it seems he grades it by density alone determining what a Washita is. It seems the manufactures have been blurry the lines between soft arks and Washita's for a very long time.

Griswold states that the arks and Washita's are not found together. He also talks about the Calico Washita's which I believe are the more modern colored Smith's.
Here is a link to the 1890 survey by Griswold. It might answer some questions....

Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Arkansas

www.google.com

Thanks for sharing my that. It’ll take me a while but I’ll read through it. Pretty cool.

 

[JM2]

So, does anyone know what the name of that dark grey and black stone I showed is? Does it have a specific name? I know I like the way it sharpens.

 

[Papilio]

Here are some of mine JM.

Wow. That is a nice set of Arkansas stones.
Is there a noticable difference between stones of the same "family", for example the Soft ones?

 

[garry3]

Wow. That is a nice set of Arkansas stones.
Is there a noticable difference between stones of the same "family", for example the Soft ones?

There is a lot of variation in the softs. They are all over the place. Same with the regular hard or mediums. Some of these stones would work better crushed for road mix, others are pretty decent.

The translucent stones are very consistent for naturals. Maybe the most consistent natural stone there is?

More variation in the blacks and the Dunstan imposter is out there too.

Lots of variation in the vintage Washita also, but not in a bad way. They are much superior to softs and mostly work in much of the same range.

Of the handful of modern colored Washita I have had they have all been coarse and fast for arks. They are prone to soft and hard spots especially in the highly colored stones. It's not a rule though.

I'm more of a user than collector. There are those out there that have had far more stones than me and may have a different opinion.

 

[JM2]

Thanks for your input Garry.

 

[sceva]

Here are photos of my old Smiths Washita