Thread: Canadian Hones

In my Devonshire Oilstone thread I mentioned that there was a book about natural hones that was going to be published this year, and I've recently received a manuscript of the book in question. I don't want to reveal too much about the content as it is a pre release copy that I have, however one area that interested me was a section on stones that were quarried in Canada. All of the stones mentioned are described as minor/ localised production but I wondered if any of our Canadian members were familiar with any of these stones or the areas in which they were obtained. There is a long list of Canadian Hones in the book, but the following types seem to be the most suitable for razor hones:

Whetstone Lake, New Germany, Lunenburg County, Novia Scotia. Trial pits sunk in 1901 gave excellent quality stones. A six foot band of very fine grained, hard green and grey siliceous slates. The valuable portion is the green one, about 3- 6 inches wide.

Pleasant River, Queen's County, Nova Scotia. Good quality whetstones exhibited at Provincial Exhibition 1854.

Ottertail Lake, Algoma County, Ontario. Hones & Whetstones suitable for razor and delicate instrument sharpening made from the siliceous slates about 1860. Massive white quartzites and conglomerates of the Huron series, with layers of fine grained, greenish grey siliceous slates.

Mastine's Farm, 2 miles North of Trenholm, Drummond County, Quebec. Argillacceous mica schists quarried from the East bank of St. Francis River produced good grade hones and razor stones. Small plant erected in 1860 by a Mr. Jackson.

So, is anyone familiar with these types of hone?

Regards,
Alex

Very interesting Alex. Forum member kaptain_zero is from that neck of the woods IIRC. He was an avid honer of razors and probably still is. You might shoot a PM to him and inquire if he is aware of any of those hones. I see from the member list that he last checked in a couple of weeks ago so he is still lurking although he hasn't posted in awhile AFAIK.

Originally Posted by A_S

In my Devonshire Oilstone thread I mentioned that there was a book about natural hones that was going to be published this year, Regards,
Alex

Book on Natural hones?? has it made it to Pre Order status or still in the works? I'd be interested in a book like that for sure

Alex im amazed your willing to spend so mich time constant search about the hones. It is great and i do appreciate.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Very interesting Alex. Forum member kaptain_zero is from that neck of the woods IIRC. He was an avid honer of razors and probably still is. You might shoot a PM to him and inquire if he is aware of any of those hones. I see from the member list that he last checked in a couple of weeks ago so he is still lurking although he hasn't posted in awhile AFAIK.

I sure wish the Kaptain would come back to play with us more often. I miss the guy.

Isn't Dr. Chris Moss located in Nova Scotia?

I'm glad I'm not the only one that's chasing the whetstone tiger's tail. In regard to natural stones, we all think of the big three in no particular order: 1) Japanese naturals 2) Coticules 3) Thuringians. As the old texts show, there were scores of different natural whetstones used during the prior centuries around the globe. Some were actually mined and sold as such. Others were so obscure that they were stumbled upon during geological surveys, tested on site, reported about how great a whetstone they could be and that was the end of it. Never utilized or really experimented with.

Let's keep looking!

I'm exploring a certain area in the U.S via the net and email in search of a particular stone. I have been in contact with a Geographer (not a Geologist) that has seen the very stone I'm looking for. The Geographer suggested I contact one of his colleagues, a Geologist who is also familiar with the stone. My emails to the Geologist have gone unanswered. I have recently contacted the Geographer asking for some additional help. So far, no response. These are both university level professors that are largely unresponsive in the case of the one and wholly unresponsive in the case of the other.

Chris L

Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

Book on Natural hones?? has it made it to Pre Order status or still in the works? I'd be interested in a book like that for sure

The book will be published in Australia, and last I heard was due for release this year. It is a joint project between an antique tool interest group here in the UK and one in Australia. As I mentioned before I don't want to reveal too much of the actual content as the author was kind enough to send me the manuscript free of charge. It contains a good deal of information on the geology of the stones and also how the stone were processed for use, there are also a number of appendices including extracts from hone- suppliers catalogues from the 19th Century as well as lists of hones based on the region of origin.

However, the bulk of the book, is a detailed examination of one man's collection of over 60 such stones. This includes chemical and mineralogical tests performed on each stones, x-ray examination of the stones, microphtography of the stone surfaces and abrasive comparisons of each individual stone including examination of the abrasive particles and a grit comparison study using a Wa****a stone as the control and comparing all other's against it in terms of cutting speed and material removal.

One thing that I found to be quite interesting was that stones sold under the same label, and presumably quarried from the same area, are in fact made from entirely different types of rock. For example, there are 3 Yellow Lake Oilstones examined, and each one has very different makeup: one being a low grade slate, one being Hornfels and the final one being Calcareous Siltstone.

Regards,
Alex

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Alex im amazed your willing to spend so mich time constant search about the hones. It is great and i do appreciate.

Thanks Sham,

I just wish I had more luck tracking these stones down, reading about them is certainly interesting, but it sure would be nice to actually have these stones in hand to test with some straights.

Regards,
Alex

I was asking around about Canadian hones while on a trip to Nova Scotia and was told by a woman that her father would go down to a certain beach by a lighthouse (not too far from Portsmouth I think) and select a gray stone of suitable shape to use as a hone. We went to that beach and I picked up a suitable stone and it's still on my bench. It's good for knives and such but I wouldn't use it for razors. I've also read about quarries in Nova Scotia that have been abandoned and have dreamed about going back and looking around. It's kind of tough to get away as my wife won't go with me anymore since the Hot Springs, Arkansas trip when I took the family there to see "America's Spa" and ended up in lots of rock shops and quarry operations. Great wife but definitely not a rockhound.

Alex, please keep us updated as to when this book goes public

Well, I've looked in antique shops everywhere I go in the country (including a lot in Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick, Ontario and the odd one in Quebec) and while I've found some really cool looking Canadian engravings on some razors (beavers, maple leafs, etc.) I've yet to come across a stone that was quarried in Canada (not to say that there aren't any, just that we're not tripping over them here).

From what I know, and in my limited experience, most of use just head to Lee Valley for the Norton, or get one of the other commercially available stones or Belgian stones (cotticles, etc). The antique ones are the usual barber hone suspects: Swaty, etc.

I'll be extra vigilant to look for the Canadian stones, though. Thanks for posting this - really neat information!

Mark