"Turkey stone" quarry?

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08-09-2009, 12:34 PM
Stoned

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"Turkey stone" quarry?

Recently I was looking on the internet for info on “Candia” stones which are quarried on Crete Island (Greece). I knew there are some business’s selling these stones at present.

I looked further and I came across a very interesting website which showed an actual whetstone quarry which I presume the “Candia” stones came from. But what surprised me is this:

Historical reports to the whetstones of Elounda begun from Homer (Iliad, raps. B, verse 649: cited as “Halkodaman akonan”) and they continued to exist up to the later Ottoman domination in the sightseers’ transcripts. In these documents the whetstones are presented, depending on the time period, as "Naxia stone" (Naxos was a city on the top of Oxa mountain), or as "Turkish Stone" or even as "stone of the East".

Was this one source of the famous “Turkey stone” in the past? It seems very likely!

The website is: www.elounda-village.gr/akoniaen.htm

Don’t forget to look at the photo gallery.
08-09-2009, 01:37 PM
0livia

Looks just like the one I have from Sham, Stoned.
The one ClaviChord posted made me thinking, too.
Is there a hype breaking loose now? :)
08-09-2009, 01:44 PM
hi_bud_gl

Quote:

Originally Posted by 0livia

Looks just like the one I have, Sham.
The one ClaviChord posted made me thinking, too.
Is there a hype breaking loose now? :)

what clavichord posted?do you have a link?
08-09-2009, 01:47 PM
hi_bud_gl

i think you are right it does look like stone which we have. i didn't check the side right. i thought he is talking about floor stones. at least i delete that message
08-09-2009, 02:06 PM
0livia

LOL then I have to edit my message as well,
or it will look like I don't want to talk with Stoned!

The link to Fede's new hone is http://straightrazorpalace.com/basic...dia-stone.html
08-09-2009, 02:13 PM
hi_bud_gl

Your hone is different mine is most likely same as his. i check the pictures. yours is black with white dots looks like stars
08-09-2009, 02:19 PM
0livia

well not quite. maybe a bit more since its very oily now, but when I lap it and remove the oil its much more grey.
The white inclusions are there and at the bottom some of the red/orange as well.

Did I say that I like it quite well? :)
09-17-2009, 09:05 AM
kemerd

Turkish oil stone = Crete stone

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoned

[SIZE=3]In these documents the whetstones are presented, depending on the time period, as "Naxia stone" (Naxos was a city on the top of Oxa mountain), or as "Turkish Stone" or even as "stone of the East".

Was this one source of the famous “Turkey stone” in the past? It seems very likely!

I am Turkish and know that the oil stone that is still used in Turkey comes from the Crete island. So, Crete stone is indeed the famous Turkish oil stone. (Crete used to be a part of Ottoman empire for more than 300 years, so is the name)

The stone is brittle and quite soft, it has a light gray or beige color. Unfortunately, I was not able to find a decent stone. The ones that I saw were either very small or had imperfections (cracks, etc). I am told that the stone has to be put in a wood frame to prevent cracking during use (well, at least for wood working tools, which is the current use of the stones in Turkey) A second interesting point is that they are sold by kilos, not surface area
08-13-2010, 05:27 AM
ferroburak

Quote:

Originally Posted by kemerd

I am Turkish and know that the oil stone that is still used in Turkey comes from the Crete island. So, Crete stone is indeed the famous Turkish oil stone. (Crete used to be a part of Ottoman empire for more than 300 years, so is the name)

The stone is brittle and quite soft, it has a light gray or beige color. Unfortunately, I was not able to find a decent stone. The ones that I saw were either very small or had imperfections (cracks, etc). I am told that the stone has to be put in a wood frame to prevent cracking during use (well, at least for wood working tools, which is the current use of the stones in Turkey) A second interesting point is that they are sold by kilos, not surface area

Did you check Istanbul?
08-13-2010, 06:52 AM
kemerd

turkish stone online seller

Here is the link to a Turkish online store that sells Girit (Crete) stone.

sanALýþveriþ Online Alýþveriþ Sitesi-19.5*8.5*4.5 CM GIRIT (YAG) TASI 2 KG

And, I know that big hardware stores in Istanbul also sell it. Price: 50TL (25€) per kg.

Unfortunately, they only ship to Turkey. As I am an expat, I asked a friend to buy one for me. I now have the stone. It is extremely hard and more grayish than black. So, I am not very sure whether this is the same "Turkish stone" that I mentioned before. The stone that I have is big and thick. But very roughly cut. I tried to lap it with 40grit, 80grit sand paper. But no luck, it is so hard that it seems that it would take days before I make a dent on its surface.

Any suggestions on how to lap this :(

Kemal
08-13-2010, 02:23 PM
JimmyHAD

Quote:

Originally Posted by kemerd

Any suggestions on how to lap this :(

Kemal

I am not speaking from experience, just imagination. Get a respirator and access to a good belt sander. An industrial one such as a machine shop would have. The hone manufacturers such as the American Hone Co. in Iowa used very large lapping plates that looked like a large LP record..... make that giant, not just large. I don't know if a belt sander would work but it probably would.
08-13-2010, 04:44 PM
MODINE

I used a belt sander on my Turk that I got from Sham. I just trimmed up the sides and chamfered edges the stone was already lapped. Be careful as these are brittle and will tend to shatter or chip. Mine was very large and heavy. I snatched it our from under Randy's watchful eye.:)
08-14-2010, 03:44 AM
ferroburak

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoned

"Naxia stone" (Naxos was a city on the top of Oxa mountain)

Does this mean antything to you?
08-16-2010, 06:32 PM
Neil Miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferroburak

Does this mean antything to you?

From Elounda Web:

The name “OXA” comes according to our traditions from corruption of the word “NAXOS” which was the name of the ancient Minoan town “NAXOS” synchronous of the ancient olous whose probably was the acropolis and was inhabited, after the earthquake of 1450 b.c., by the Oloundians because of the catastrophe of ancient olous.
Mythology says that “Naxos ” had been build by “Naxos” the son of Akakalidos, King Minos daughter.

“Naxia lithos” is the name given by the ancient Greek poeter Omiros for the stone (hard white “akoni”) which is excavated by the local people in mountainsides of Oxa and in the surrounding hills of Elounda.

Regards,
Neil
08-16-2010, 06:56 PM
Kees

They occasionally appear on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=110539206177

This guy has listed several of them. He claims they are 7-12K.
08-16-2010, 08:35 PM
basil

Being Greek I always wanted a stone or a razor that was made in my home country.

I never knew they excisted until now.

Lol now my AD is kicking in bad!
08-20-2010, 05:52 AM
ferroburak

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

From Elounda Web:

The name “OXA” comes according to our traditions from corruption of the word “NAXOS” which was the name of the ancient Minoan town “NAXOS” synchronous of the ancient olous whose probably was the acropolis and was inhabited, after the earthquake of 1450 b.c., by the Oloundians because of the catastrophe of ancient olous.
Mythology says that “Naxos ” had been build by “Naxos” the son of Akakalidos, King Minos daughter.

“Naxia lithos” is the name given by the ancient Greek poeter Omiros for the stone (hard white “akoni”) which is excavated by the local people in mountainsides of Oxa and in the surrounding hills of Elounda.

Regards,
Neil

Hi Neil,
I guess Naxos is an island in Aegian region. Google earth gives a detaled map of it. In fact I have located stone rocks very similar to hones via google earth pictures!

And there is more to say about it.. I will update after I collect some more data.
08-20-2010, 12:08 PM
Kees

From the Elunda website: (Naxos was a city on the top of Oxa mountain).
08-20-2010, 02:05 PM
basil

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferroburak

Hi Neil,
I guess Naxos is an island in Aegian region. Google earth gives a detaled map of it. In fact I have located stone rocks very similar to hones via google earth pictures!

And there is more to say about it.. I will update after I collect some more data.

Naxos is a ancient Greek city on the Greek island of Crete.

There is also a island called Naxos so I can see the confusion it would cause.
08-22-2010, 11:42 AM
Stoned

Correct Basil, got this from the Wikipedia site.

Emery is a very hard rock type used to make abrasive powder. It largely consists of the mineral corundum (aluminum oxide).

Crushed or naturally eroded emery (known as black sand) is used as an abrasive — for example, on an emery board, as a traction enhancer in asphalt and tarmac mixtures, or as used in mechanical engineering as emery cloth.

The Greek island of Naxos used to be the main source of this industrially important rock type. It has been mined on the eastern side of Naxos for well over two thousand years until recent times. However, demand for emery has decreased with the development of sintered carbide and oxide materials as abrasives