u/Argg1618

A classic piece of whetstone history. Alot of these stones were white all throughout, but not necessarily all of them. You will find examples with colors throughout and sometimes a few "wormholes" on one face or the sides. Examples of orange and pink spots are found on this spotless NOS example of a 1930s era Norton Lily White Washita. Box has a spot that was squished.
What's cool about that is I believe it was squished from packaging straps and not owner damage.

I am experiencing hard and soft spots on the stone as I sharpen
Photos in comments
Crediting u/Alphabet-soup63 for that term "tink test"

I love the sound of birds in the morning.

My least favorite part is cleaning them. I like this method, so far this seems to speed things up alot.

This was a gift to a mans brother in law in 1880, and later to his son in 1914.
Fully cleaned and degreased, it is in fact yellow.

Cleaned and degreased, it is in fact a yellow color. Some say butterscotch translucent arks are oil stains, I disagree.

This was a gift to a mans brother in law in 1880, and later to his son in 1914.

A stone for sharpening

From local Woodcraft for about $60. It's good I guess. I don't have specific gravity measurements to see where this would fall under Dans Whetstones grading but it's not soft or super hard. I have a Washita harder than this stone. A modern quarried ark from who knows where. Great for the kitchen and general Arkansas stone needs. I would buy another one just for size and price.

A special stone. This is my softest Washita stone. At least from using it. It is the fastest cutting and quickest dishing washita I have. This will kick up swarf instantly. Despite that, it leaves a fine edge.

The most translucent Washita I own.

Completely degreased, it is covered with orange/red blush marks as according to old descriptions of the "Rosy Red Washita"

Probably a 6x2 Lily white or a No.1. Not really important to me which. In between a soft washita and a harder washita. Performs like a Lily white. Can't tell in the dark. A very homogeneous stone with no air pockets. There were softer and harder varieties of washita stones. Vintage washita stones had a SG range of <2.25-2.5.

An 8"x1.5"x1.5" vintage Washita in a hand carved box. No clue as to date quarried and by who. A very homogeneous stone with no inclusions or air pockets/worm holes.

A 1930s era LB-6. The "Lily White Washita". Where can I even start. There are so many stories, lore, and legends about this stone. This stone along side the "Rosy Red Washita" were sold as the highest grade Washita stone by Pike and later Norton. This era of Lily White has no end label grading softness or fineness. Regardless, these were fast cutting stones like any Washita, and generally left quite a fine edge.

Anyone who has used natural stones will tell you Washita stones cut surprisingly quick for a natural.

This stone had never been used or seen a drip of oil. It took me about 5-10 seconds to lap both sides dead flat. My only collector grade stone. I will probably never use it.

My rarest washita. I don't see many examples of this stone. There is one picture online and one owned by someone else on this subreddit. You can still makeout the words "Washita Oil Stone"

-1 vintage 8x1 5/8 vintage Arkansas stone(I'm leaning soft ark) Very homogeneous stone. Small fissure in center. Leaves a medium fine edge.

Lapped both sides.

-Soft ark 8x2.5x5/8" Fast cutting stone, medium fine edge. One side lapped

-Vintage smiths (hard or soft) not sure what kind. But a fair bit harder and finer than the other two. Leaves a fine edge. One side lapped

$100 all together.

$40 if bought individually.

I'll consider any offer so shoot me offers.

https://ebay.us/m/f2ie7q

Sharing this link if anyone was interested!!