Thread: It's Bordering on Mental Illness

Since this type of whetstone was "burial worthy" and with found with the remains of an axe, perhaps it would give a certain vaunted barber's hone a run for its money!

Originally Posted by JimR

Indeed, as soon as I saw it, I startled googling Norwegian whetstones.

Apparently Eidsborg was a huge source of whetstones into the 1970s. There is now a whetstone museum there.

I've got a problem...

Yes, there was quite a big production of whetstones in Eidsborg.

Here's a link to the Norwegian Wikipedia article about them.
I'm including it because of the picture in it.
It doesn't say much more than what JimR already said.

These stones are easily found in sheds and shops all over the country.
This far, I've only tested a couple, and those where very coarse.
Unusable for razors, as I see it.
However, there are supposed to be finer versions of the Eidsborg, and other stones, out there as well, and I am on the lookout for 'em.

Thanks for the link. That was most interesting.
Whetstones were highly valuable and important everyday tools in the past. Not like today when it is possible to buy stones from another side of the world with relatively low costs.
Phyllite was (and still is) very common local material for whetstones in the past.
Most common were those that were used on honing axes, swords and work knives, but they were very coarse and not suitable for razors.

Dude ! Wait! What ! For a moment there I thought the artist's impression showed dozens of whetstones at each end of the boat.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

IIRC, Howard (The Perfect Edge) had a Viking whetstone pictured in his hone museum on his website.

Edit, photos are down, Howard says temporarily. Text is still there and maybe he will shoot the photos to you if you ask him.