Thread: Are natural finishers available from the whole planet?

There have been a few people that have found some very nice hones. Unfortunately the quarry and stone business is quite expensive to be involved in and unless you have a lot of cash to play with or have access to other people in the rock business it is a difficult one to develop. I have some small scale tools left over from other enterprises that allow me to go out in nature, when there is time available, and cut a few hones and hone shaped objects, and explore the rock around me. I am fortunate in that I live in an area of very diverse rock. I have found and shared a few here. I am not the only one either. There are people in other areas that have also found suitable hone material. So to answer the question, there are great hones all over the world, the challenge is to find them. I enjoy my time in the outdoors and often do multiple activities together. The perfect day is four deer, two steel head, 1/2 a pick of firewood and 1/2 rock.

Weird thing is that I have access to most if not all rock quarries in norway but I have never heard of any of them making hones. Maybe I'll should ask next time I go somewhere. I'm quite sure I can get as much rock as want for free from all of them.

Only those who look can find treasures!

Here is a thread for you;

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...ver-there.html

Great thread!

I'd wondered this myself especially for Australia! We're a huge expanse of land spanning quite a few latitudes with such varied terrain. Yet I've not heard of a single Australian honing stone. Surely, surely there is something here.....

In a pinch, I think just about any rock will do as a hone. Especially as a course hone. Finishers you might have to work the rock down a bit to get it fine. Obviously some rocks make better hones than others, but a thousand years or more ago, you used what you could get your hands on. Over the years I've picked up all sorts of schists and slates that I converted to hones using a wet saw.Of course anyone that hones, now or thousands of years ago, is always in search of a better hone and that hone always tends to be from the other side of the world. That is why even really, really old trade manifests will list rocks that were traded.

If you want to find local rocks for hones, I'd start with a geological map of the area. That will at least narrow down your search area. Or find a local born before 1950 and ask them if they remember of any local hones.

Originally Posted by criswilson10

In a pinch, I think just about any rock will do as a hone. Especially as a course hone. Finishers you might have to work the rock down a bit to get it fine. Obviously some rocks make better hones than others, but a thousand years or more ago, you used what you could get your hands on. Over the years I've picked up all sorts of schists and slates that I converted to hones using a wet saw.Of course anyone that hones, now or thousands of years ago, is always in search of a better hone and that hone always tends to be from the other side of the world. That is why even really, really old trade manifests will list rocks that were traded.

If you want to find local rocks for hones, I'd start with a geological map of the area. That will at least narrow down your search area. Or find a local born before 1950 and ask them if they remember of any local hones.

Fair call. Need to better learn the geology here in Australia to narrow down where finishers might be sourced. Our original inhabitants didn't use metal tools, so didn't have a need to sharpen them, so they aren't a resource. But Australia is resource rich and full of iron ore....as well as shale, manganese and even garnet So I'm sure there's a coticule or two somewhere in its 7.692 million km² surface area.

I was thinking this exact question last week! Seems like almost every area should have rock strata that would be usable for honing however, like many have mentioned - the costs versus quality of existing mined stones may out weigh utilization / marketing considerations would also weigh on their use.

It has to be something you start for fun. If you had a great education in the subject you might be able to find the perfect formation of really great hones quite easily. Also if you lived near people in the rock industry getting material cut would be cheap and require very little outlay. There are places in certain areas that make natural rock counters from slabs and others that cut and make tombstones, and they all have some really major equipment and many of them will do small jobs relatively inexpensive. Sometimes you have to be a good boy scout and figure out how to be wise in the use of your resources. I'm not just hanging around the coffee shop talking to people, I'm networking. I try to trade as much as I can locally, it's way more fun.

There used to be a whetstone quarried in Norway. Some kind of slate I think. I'll look for the name of the Rock.