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I found this site selling Viking (from Sweden) and Finnish whetstones. May be too coarse for razors, but no loss if you also sharpen knives. I'm going to give them a try on a razor anyway.
If it doesn't work out, I'll tell SWMBO she has a new Viking necklace.
Great! Please do post your observations; I was wondering about those Jasper stones as well.
Would be nice to try one but the Viking stone is terribly small: 3x3/4".
Being reproductions of actual originals, I thought it was interesting that they actually used a ~ 3" hone. Probably even for long knives, axes, and swords.
3" length isn't too difficult. I do use 2 different "dogbone" knife sharpeners that are also right at 3" in working length, and 1/2" in width, on knives (and sometimes razors) of all lengths.
If you like to sharpen knives, these are the two "dogbones" that I use (also handy to carry in-the-field for knife touch-ups if you prefer ceramics over diamonds):
I agree: for knives it is fine, you just move the hone along the edge. But razors have to be flat on the hone, so if you have a 5/8 razor you only have a bit over 2 inch to complete your X-pattern stroke. It is doable I guess, it just means more strokes on the hone. if these stones are really as fine as a surgical black or translucent Arkansas hone it might be worthwhile asking if the could cut a larger hone and see how it works.
This is my Swedish hone:
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/940...1259ab2.th.jpg
Nice looking hone. Never saw one of those before. Any idea where it was quarried/manufactured?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kees
If you want to check out what the Vikings used to sharpen their swords and axes and even to throw at their opponents, google Eidsberg schist.
They didn't use novaculite until they conquered North America which, when things were a bit slow, was the time the Vikings carved the Kensington runestone from otherwise worthless rock.:rock:
Yup, the ancestors were a busy bunch. :medvl:
Howard at the Perfect Edge has a nice picture of several Eidsborg hones here.
Thanks Bruce, I was mixing things up. Eidsborg is the traditional Nordic hone place. No idea though whether these Norwegian hones were marketed as Schwedensteine. Sigtuna has nothing to do with hones other than it is claimed Swedens eldest grindstone was found there. That one came from Orsa.
Has anyone tried Wästikivi stones?
If you scroll a bit down you see the Carpenters stone (pictured with a straight :) ) and a bit further down the Kuntaliitos Stone.
The Kuntaliitos Stone is supposted be 1K/4K, and its cheap - €35 for a 200x50x20mm.
HAD is a b*tch...
Looks like the Finnish was translated by a computer, I find it hard to understand. May be an excellent stone.
[QUOTE] HAD is a b*tch...[\QUOTE]
Does this mean you bought one?
That link points to the manufacturer of the hones of Sticky's original question, the same website as in my link in post 7.
All of their stones are basically the same material, a phyllite chiefly consisting of quartz, mica and feldspar. Fineness varies between specimina and I believe at least the Höyläkivi you mention are selected finer ones.
I do not, however, believe that the grit is near the 4000 range. Using grit scales is always tricky (which one? which margins?) and even more so on natural hones, but based on my limited experience I think you'd find these hones to be more near what is generally meant with 1k on this forum.
Wästikivi Oy asked a Finnish technological university to test them. They state the results with these hones (it is safe to suppose WA provided the finer variety) are in between those obtained with 600 and 1000 sandpaper. Still: they are nice stones and good value for money.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9976/wstikivioy.jpg
As I understand it the Kuntaliitos Stone is composed of one Höyläkivi stone
glued to another stone (what type I don't know) with an grit size comparable to 4000 grit emery paper.
http://www.wastikivi.fi/images/kliitos.jpg
Got a response from Ilkka at Wästikivi today, and the finer grit stone is from another place nearby (Orivesi) that he calls kuntaliitoskivi and he recommends it for sharpening straight razor among other things.
So to clarify: the höyläkivi ≈ 1000 and the kuntaliitoskivi ≈ 4000.
Shaving off a 4K is possible but a higher grit finishing hone or pasted strop is desirable.
I agree with you Kees, I just liked the idea of an all natural honing progression starting with the höyläkivi/kuntaliitoskivi and then pehaps a BBW/Coticule.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kees