Thread: English Hone ID

William Marples & Sons worked out of the Hibernia Works Sheffield, the company being founded in 1828 (although his father, also William Marples, was working with William junior in the early 1820s.

The company moved a couple of times, ending up in Westfield Terrace, Sheffield, for over a hundred years. In 1860 William junior's sons became partners, the firm now being Wm Marples & Sons.

This gives us a date to investigate what was on offer by people serving the edged tool and grinding trades. I cn't find a catalogue by Marples, but I have found one by a prolific hone, etc, supplier of c, 1890 - A. B. Salmen. Their standard stones, according to their own literature of the time has this description:

"Importer & quarrier. Hones, oilstones, grindstones, scythestones &c, carpenters tool & hand basket importer. Office 1 Castle St. Houndsditch. E.C. Steam works, Salmen St. South Grove, Mile End, London. E. ... [On the reverse] Turkey oilstones, Arkansa ... Water of Ayr stone, Ragstones, Scythe stones, Devon batts, Indian pond stones. Yellow Lake hones, German ... Blue & grey stone slips, Gold testing stones, Clearing stones and curriers' blocks, Turkey, Arkansa & Putty powder, Holy stones, Circular stones, all kinds. Bilston, Blue grit, Newcastle, Yorkshire and other grindstones, also mounted in Iron and Wooden troughs. Importers of tool and painters' baskets".

None of those sound that promising, but most suppliers also imported from the continent and applied their own marks, such as this Salmen branded Belgian coticule:



Not very helpful I know, but at least it shows what we could expect to be on offer hone-wise at the time.

Regards,
Neil

The catalogue lists a Best Welsh Oil Stone in a Pine Wood Box thats what i found....the other stones are Washita Stones of different grades, Norton India or Combination Stones (Page 193)

The old catalog ( where in the name of God did you find that????) mention India oilstones and aloxite stones... Could that be related to my hone? I never seen any of them.

Originally Posted by doorsch

The catalogue lists a Best Welsh Oil Stone in a Pine Wood Box thats what i found....the other stones are Washita Stones of different grades, Norton India or Combination Stones (Page 193)

Yes I saw your post - marvellous catalogue, thanks! I am a bit of a slow typist, so your post wasn't there before I started, and when I uploaded mine, there it was along with several others.

Yes, I agree, Best Welsh seems to be the stone - we still do not know what is though, unfortunately.

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Kristian

The old catalog ( where in the name of God did you find that????) mention India oilstones and aloxite stones... Could that be related to my hone? I never seen any of them.

Oh i dont know if it really relates to your stone Kristian. But Best Welsh oil stone sounds interesting when you wrote about a Slate type stone....so Neil already wrote in detail about the possibilities what kind of stones have been sold there in the past.....

Originally Posted by Kristian

The old catalog ( where in the name of God did you find that????) mention India oilstones and aloxite stones... Could that be related to my hone? I never seen any of them.

Unfortunately, no.
Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Yes I saw your post - marvellous catalogue, thanks! I am a bit of a slow typist, so your post wasn't there before I started, and when I uploaded mine, there it was along with several others.

Yes, I agree, Best Welsh seems to be the stone - we still do not know what is though, unfortunately.

Regards,
Neil

I really like the People keeping these sites up with old catalogues.....thats something we all can work with sometimes so i like that information to be spread!! Did you never found an older one from Marples Neil ?

Can somebody confirm the Box beeing Pine wood? I dont know anything about wood ;-)

Well somehow Welsh oilstones sound most promising. I can see some of them are sold on eBay still. They look more grey, but are still slate.

Thanks Neil and Sebastian I'm really impressed by your knowledge on the hones.

When I tested the hone I thought it was a bit course. But when using light oil it produced a finer edge.

Do anyone know what the potential of Welsh oilstones are? They are finishers, sure, but what edge can it produce when properly masted? I meant grid range?

Originally Posted by doorsch

I really like the People keeping these sites up with old catalogues.....thats something we all can work with sometimes so i like that information to be spread!! Did you never found an older one from Marples Neil ?

Can somebody confirm the Box beeing Pine wood? I dont know anything about wood ;-)

I definitely think it is Pinewood!

Looks like aged pine to me but with pictures its kind of hard to tell most soft woods the grains can be similar especially with age