Identifying unmarked stones

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Slick

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I have recently come into possession of some seemingly random stones and need a bit of help. Since I'm new, I'll provide a bit of background for context - I have had good results with a Spyderco Sharpmaker for years, but now I am seeing the limitations of it and wanted to get into whetstone sharpening to obtain better results and to have more flexibility. I mentioned this to my uncle while cooking chili with him. He then shows up the next day with a Chef's Choice 110 and several stones that had belonged to my grandfather. My grandfather was a great home cook and had a full woodworking shop in the garage, so he did not believe in anything being dull. However, these stones have not seen the light of day in over 20 years and I have no information on them whatsoever. I do not know if he used them for knives, tools, or both. Only one stone has a faint marking on it and it appears to be a GE stamp; all of the others are unmarked. I assume they are okay to be used on kitchen knives (nothing above HRC 58, currently) so I was going to just use them but felt it best to ask a few questions first.

1) Is there a way to identify these stones, even if unmarked?
2) Is it possible to know if they are water stones or if oil should be used with them - or if oil has been used on them?
3) what are the little stones? The black one appears to have a black GE indentation.

I have attached a photo and can upload more for detail if requested. Any obvious recommendations are surely welcome. Thank you in advance.
 

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i would not worry to much about water/oil, i know people are very particular about not mixing, you should be able to tell when you try and use it with water. Though my best guess would be the 3 on the left are oil combo stones, the two on the right looks like water stones.
the last red one looks interresting, cold just be a similar one to the brown just chipped.

as for the small ones try them out, the black one could be a natural finisher, so could the white or it could just be a small synthetic stone for axes and such

i would try the brown followed up by the white if i were you personally, it did seem like he preferred using the oil stones though, with how dished they are
 
I wanted to follow up after trying the stones out on a few knives. The combo stones released oil when submerged into water. I ended up trying them out but did not enjoy the feel while using them, so they will likely not be used on my knives. The brownish stone was a soaking stone, producing an immense amount of mud during use and was noticeably dished after 2 knives. After browsing a few websites to find a one similar, I'm wondering if could it be a King 800.

The chipped red stone and white stone are splash and go water stones. I don't have any guesses as to the identification of those ones yet. No problem with their use, other than the poor surface conditions. Currently, I am planning on getting an Atoma 140 to flatten stones, however I would hate to potentially wear out a pricier diamond stone on an unknown stone. Is there a recommended way to resurface and flatten the chipped red stone more quickly and efficiently than to use an Atoma 140?
 
SiC powder...
Its cheap and you can use it for more of your stones anyway. So it wont be a let down. It's doing the same as flattening, but also resurfaces the stone. Giving them back their original feeling. A must for those stones that glaze after using them a while
You can buy it in coarse, medium and fine. Depending on what gritt wetstone you want to flatten/resurface.

You do need a hardened glass plate or a flat ceramic tile with it though...
And it's a little bit more impractical in use then a flattening stone..
I find it a little bit slower then using a flattening stone, but I also read that others find it quicker 🤷‍♂️
 
One thing to note if you're using SiC powder, don't pour the remnants down your pipes / drain as this would lead to serious clogging over time.
 
Thanks for the suggestion and tips. I had not learned about SiC powder yet but sounds like a no brainer to pick up. I ordered some very coarse grit (F60) powder and will give it a go tomorrow.
 
I wanted to come back and thank you again for the suggestion for the SiC powder. It took a good bit longer than I had anticipated to get through the hard glazed surface, but the stones surfaces feel more consistent now so it was well worth it. A few odd things came from the resurfacing though. It turns out that red one, with fresh surfaces, actually takes a soak and is not a splash and go as it had seemed. The white one kicked off an odor after I got through the discolored and hardened surface. It also seems to absorb some water, but only in the center of the stone. I'm guessing I should keep going on the white stone to get a consistent reaction to water on the entirety of the surface. Am I correct with that assumption?

I still haven't been able to identify the three larger stones (white, red, reddish-brown). But they all share nearly identical dimensions of 8-1/8" x 2-1/2" x 1-1/4" so I'm thinking they're all from the same manufacturer/series.
 
I wanted to come back and thank you again for the suggestion for the SiC powder. It took a good bit longer than I had anticipated to get through the hard glazed surface, but the stones surfaces feel more consistent now so it was well worth it. A few odd things came from the resurfacing though. It turns out that red one, with fresh surfaces, actually takes a soak and is not a splash and go as it had seemed. The white one kicked off an odor after I got through the discolored and hardened surface. It also seems to absorb some water, but only in the center of the stone. I'm guessing I should keep going on the white stone to get a consistent reaction to water on the entirety of the surface. Am I correct with that assumption?

I still haven't been able to identify the three larger stones (white, red, reddish-brown). But they all share nearly identical dimensions of 8-1/8" x 2-1/2" x 1-1/4" so I'm thinking they're all from the same manufacturer/series.

👍 glad i could help.

With the soaking part I'm afraid I can't help you.
I don't have any real soakers to confirm the reaction will change after a long or short soak..
 
I wouldn't describe it as a chemical smell at all, definitely not epoxy or brake cleaner. The smell has actually changed a bit. It started out very strong and quite earthy and musty. But it has since faded to what I can only describe as what I imagine an old, constantly damp brick from an old and unopened garage to smell like. It is a very stale smell so I assume it was permasoaked for years in old water and then sat out for the last 20+ years.
 
I wouldn't describe it as a chemical smell at all, definitely not epoxy or brake cleaner. The smell has actually changed a bit. It started out very strong and quite earthy and musty. But it has since faded to what I can only describe as what I imagine an old, constantly damp brick from an old and unopened garage to smell like. It is a very stale smell so I assume it was permasoaked for years in old water and then sat out for the last 20+ years.
Sounds like the smell I get from my king 4000, and 6000.
 
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