Slate backed German yellow razor stones?

In a Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines from 1867 the following entry is made in describing a German razor hone:


"The German razor hone has long been celebrated. It is obtained in the slate mountains in the neighborhood of Ratisbon, where it occurs in the form of a yellow vein running through the blue slate, varying in thickness from 1 to 18 inches. When quarried it is sawn into thin slabs, and these are generally cemented to slices of slate which serve as a support. Sometimes, however, the yellow and the blue slate are cut out naturally combined."

Does anyone have what they think is a coticule bonded to a BBW base, but the base doesn't look like BBW?

The description above doesn't IMO describe a Yellow Escher type stone.

I'm very intrigued by this.

Chris L

Here's an excerpt from "The Non-Metallic Minerals: Their Occurrence and Uses"
By George Merrill

According to Renard,1 the celebrated Belgian razor hone quarried at
Lierreux, Sart, Salm-Chateau, Bihau, and Recht is a damourite slate
containing innumerable garnets, more than 100,000 in a cubic millimeter.
Like the Ratisbon hone, this occurs in the form of thin, yellowish bands,
some 6 centimeters wide (2§ inches) in a blue-gray slate (phyllade).
The bands are essentially parallel with one another and with the grain of
the slate, into which they at times gradually merge. The chemical composition
of a sample from Recht is given on the next page.

Definitely not an escher type. It sounds like it's almost identical to coti. Perhaps the ones that are swimming around that aren't labeled German are just assumed to be cotis?

( I should note that the book also has a microscopic image of the Ratisbon showing garnets on the surface, so it appears they are refering to both ratisbon and belgian when they describe the properties in the exerpt above It in fact mentions that the "microscopic structure of the stone as described and figured is essentially the same as the Ratisbon")

See also this interesting thread, and this one.

It seems entirely possible there could be another grade of Escher/thuringian hone out there. The colors I have seen run from blue-black all the way to light green-yellow... Why couldn't there be a super rare vein of "pure yellow" as well?

It seems hard to believe that anybody could confuse a coticule with an Escher type stone. They feel completely different in use, and the folks in the "old days" (even without benefit of forums like this), had to have been able to tell the difference. I dunno.

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Originally Posted by ChrisL

In a Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines from 1867 the following entry is made in describing a German razor hone:


"The German razor hone has long been celebrated. It is obtained in the slate mountains in the neighborhood of Ratisbon, where it occurs in the form of a yellow vein running through the blue slate, varying in thickness from 1 to 18 inches. When quarried it is sawn into thin slabs, and these are generally cemented to slices of slate which serve as a support. Sometimes, however, the yellow and the blue slate are cut out naturally combined."

Does anyone have what they think is a coticule bonded to a BBW base, but the base doesn't look like BBW?

The description above doesn't IMO describe a Yellow Escher type stone.

I'm very intrigued by this.

Chris L

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What I find interesting is that, if I understand the history correctly, the bbw, or in the case the Ratisbon 'blue slate', was not known to be a sharpening medium until recently. Wasn't it used for reinforcing the yellow and for paving stones and such ?

My two 'Old Rock' natural yellow/bbw Belgian coticules have a glued label completely covering the blue side. Obviously when they marketed those they didn't plan on the bbw being used for sharpening.

I'm wondering if the 'blue slate' in the description of the Ratisbon 'coticule' is equivalent to the bbw we know and love ?

Could these stones also be the culprit for the difference in vintage and newer coticules? maybe the yellow German coticule looking thing is finer and thus some stones thought to be coticules are the ones with the finer edge making characteristics which are German.. Damn... I can feel my HAD running through my veins now... Again.

I think there's a simple explanation for this.
Before WW1 that part of Belgium belonged to Germany.
'Recht' still is a German speaking village but is part of Belgium since approx. 1920.

Isn't Ratisbon in SE Germany though? There may be old Coticules from Recht labeled as German hones, but I'd think it must be a seperate issue from these stones as they are stated as being mined in and around Ratisbon?

I recall Howard Schechter had said that there are coticule veins in the U.S. in the New England area. IIRC he said the veins do not run in such a way to have been feasible for mining.

Could the German yellow hone which apparently was garnet based in its abrasive qualities simply be a coticule but from a different area than the Belgian coticule?

Chris L

Is anyone able to explain the inner workings of geological marvels and mysteries to us the obtuse? Such as: what got melted to get squirted into finer cooler rock strata to form the coticule that we now all love, cherish, and covet?

I suspect that if this material, which I'll betcha is older volcanic ash, got remelted and squeezed into older colder rock fissures, would probably have very similar characteristics whether the heated squeeze occured in Germany, Belgium, or Vermont.

Then again, about all I know of rocks is that they are heavy and hurt when you drop one on your foot.

:beer2:

Coticules and the spessartine garnets can be found on many places all over the world. One can spend days reading on the Internet about them. About how spessartine Garnets were first found in Germany (in sizes big enough for use as gems), (Spessartine: Spessartine mineral information and data.)
They can be found in magmatic, metamorphic and pegmatitic rocks. They're only called "Coticule" when found in a metamorfic schiste. There are many known finding spots.
But I've never found a direct source about Coticule being actually mined and used as a honing stone, outside the Vielsalm area, Belgium. That doesn't mean it's not possible. Just that I haven't found any sources testifying about it. To complicate matters, Belgian Coticule has been exported by various companies all over the world, often re-branded, by companies outside Belgium. "Pike" is a know example of a company doing it.
To complicate further, Belgium only exists since 1830, with borderlines discussion going on for another decade.
After WWI, as pointed out earlier in this thread, a part of Germany was add to Belgium. But Coticule extraction in this region started with certainty before 1548, the date of a known document that mentions commercial Coticule activity.
During the following centuries, the reputation of the hones was outstanding enough for many competitors of other rock to make all kinds of referrals and claims.

A source exist from 1776, testifying about the export of over 100.000 hones annually, to all European countries, parts of Asia and the American colonies. A long list of mine owners and companies exists from these times till the present date.
But not one source I've read mentions any foreign competition. One geologist I spoke to about a year ago, told me about a Scottish finding spot of Coticule, of some geological meaning, but that rock is neither pure nor cohesive enough to be suitable for hones.
I have also read one source mentioning that the ancient Romans used Coticule rocks they harvested at the river "Tmolus", completely unknown in our days, but likely situated in the West of Turkey.

To close this post:
If you search Google Maps for "Coticule", you'll find a lot of Belgian places, but also one spot in Germany, very near Ratisbon (Regensburg), our most cited source for "German" Coticule. The actual spot happens to be the home of Steffen J. Lindner, who owns the Internet domain names of Belgischer Brocken, a well-know reseller of Coticule (with excellent reputation). His little marker on the map says "Piedra de Afilar Belga natural - Coticule en venta en eBay". Is it possible that someone mistakingly read this as if Coticules are also mined at that part of the world?

Kind regards,
Bart.

It appears that stones very much similar to coticules were actually mined at Ratisbon. Here's the pages of the book pertaining to these stones (and Belgian coticules, they are lumped together).

http://www.personal.psu.edu/its5014/...s/Ratisbon.jpg

The name on the label I believe is C. Meinig, not E. He was the Bill Gates of the 19th Century British hone trade, owning as he did the largest manufactory and retail premises of this type. He won numerous awards at the various International/ National Exhibitions held in the last half of the 19th Century. He offered hones, polishing stones and grindstones from all over the world. However, I have not seen any mention of him offering the Ratisbon Hones in any of the Exhibition catalogues that I have seen.

Ratisbon, as a source of honestones has always puzzled me. The stones are mentioned in numerous articles, but none of the authors seem to have any direct experience with them. They were first mentioned by Knight in the catalogue of hones he made to go with a collection of hones and grindstones presented to The Society of Arts in 1835. Many subsequent authors copied Knight's work, without doing any further research themselves. In many ways, the Ratisbon hones are similiar to the Devonshire Oilstone. Both are included in Knights work, and later authors write about them because they simply copy Knight's work word for word, no-one has any real practical experience with either of these hones even though they are often mentioned. Unfortunately, the Society of Arts didn't keep the collection, so we have no way of knowing what Knight's yellow German Razor Hone actually was.

Knight's catalogue, whilst undoubtedly important, contained a number of errors, so I wouldn't put complete faith in what he wrote, or in what the authors who copied him wrote.

As far as other coticule sources are concerned. one was recently discovered in the English Lake District and others are to be found in southernmost Ireland and the Willyama Complex in New South Wales, Australia (including a sandstone with a 60 - 80% garnet content). Although I haven't been able to ascertain whether any of these were exploited as honestones. There is also a rock which is hypothesized, though not proven, to be a coticule precursor on the Isle of Man.

There are also Garnet containing rocks, which are not coticules, that have a history of commercial use. These include a locally exploited honestone quarry near Bedgellert in Wales, a touchstone on the island of Anglesey and a whetstone, which was regarded very highly on a local level in the Nahant Peninsula in Massachusetts. Garnet- rich Mica Schists are also to be found in Chester County, PA, but I'm unsure if these were evr used as hones.

As far as the Roman coticule is concerned, this in actual fact a basanite or touchstone and not a hone stone. Although certain varieties of basanite have been used as hones, I haven't found anything to say that this particular one was. Many early authors give that location as the River Tmolus, but there is not now, nor has there ever, been a River Tmolus. There is a River Pactolus that flows from Mount Tmolus in Turkey, and this is regarded as being the original source of the touchstone, and was the source of their other common name the Lydian Stone. Historians typically blame Pliny for confusing the name of the river with that of the mountain, but it was Theophrastes who originally wrote of the River Tmolus, prior to Pliny.

These stones are a black, very hard and close-textured, variety of chert; and whilst the Romans called them coticule, they bear no resemblance to what we know as a coticule today. Pliny stated that the stones were not found any larger than 4" x 2", but later authors mention that larger stones were known to them. These stones are used to test the quality of gold and silver by making a streak on the stone, and comparing ot to a matching chart to quantify the purity of the ore.

I recently purchased one of these stones that came from the original source, and whilst it is rather too small for my personal taste, it has proved to be an excellent finisher that I use after a Charnley or Nakayama hone.

Kindest regards,
Alex

This thread reads like an exciting mystery novel to me. :tu
I love it.
Bart.

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Originally Posted by Bart

This thread reads like an exciting mystery novel to me. :tu
I love it.
Bart.

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Quite. An absolute pleasure to lurk on, thanks all.

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Garnet- rich Mica Schists are also to be found in Chester County, PA, but I'm unsure if these were evr used as hones.

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Tell me where and they will be before I head home.

Largest coticule deposits to my knowledge are in Chile. Coticule is nowadays used by geologists to describe a type of rock with a certain mineral make up and formation history. This has nothing to do with their possible use as hones. I agree with Bart and A_S on this.

As for the confusion between Coticules, Thuringians, Ratisbon and German hones: the fact ArdennesCoticule and Bart mentioned about the Salm-area having been under various rule in history probably aided, but my bet is still on dealership or processing location having been mistaken for mining location.

What A_S writes is important in this respect: many of the passages discussing properties of hones were written by people who didn't know the mining location first hand and just went by what labels and dealers said, or by what colleagues had written before. Quite a lot (eg the nearby Belgian locations) have been proven erroneous. If they could get to be known as mining locations, it is plausible actual mining locations for different hones got mixed up.

The Google Map marker for Belgischer Brocken near Regensburg is interesting, but must be discarded as too recent to be of relevance.

Artan, the marker for Belgischer Brocken in Regensburg just concerns Stefan Lindner's shop location.
He is the german main distributor of these hones.

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Originally Posted by IanS

Tell me where and they will be before I head home.

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They are mentioned here Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Arkansas pages 30-31 of the actual book, pages 59-60 of the online file.

I have asked on some of the antique tool foums and some knife forums if anyone was familiar with garnet hones from this area, but unfortunately no-one was.

If you do go hone-hunting, good luck with it. I imagine finding a source of garnet ones, would elevate you to the status of a God on the forums.

Kindest regards,
Alex

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Originally Posted by Oldengaerde

The Google Map marker for Belgischer Brocken near Regensburg is interesting, but must be discarded as too recent to be of relevance.

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Fully agreed.

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Originally Posted by 0livia

Artan, the marker for Belgischer Brocken in Regensburg just concerns Stefan Lindner's shop location.
He is the german main distributor of these hones.

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Maybe Mr Lindner, who lives near Regensburg and holds a huge interest in Coticules, (as illustrated on his website) knows more about this than we do. It might be interesting to contact him with our question about the Ratisbon hones.


Alex posted something in the other thread about vintage Coticules, that caught my attention. I'm sharing it here, because I think both threads are evolving in the same direction anyway.

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Originally Posted by A_S

Here's a link to the mineralogy I mentioned that talks about hones from Namur. It's Kidd's Outlines of Mineralogy and was published in 1809. Outlines of mineralogy - Google Books

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"Outlines of minearology":
«Most of the finer kind of hone-stone are a remarkably compact siliceous shistus. Those hone-stones so commonly met with in commerce, which consist of two strata, one of which is yellow, the other blackish, come form the neighbourhood of Namur. The Character arising from the double colour is imitated artificially; hone-stones of this kind being in much esteem.
The Turkish hone-stone is so called from having been first bought from the Levant.»

As already mentioned in the other thread, Namur is indeed in the neighbourhood of the area where Coticule is extracted in Belgium. It's an area that exists mainly of small vilages and one small town (Vielsalm). It's obvious the foreign sources are likely to revert to a larger city in the vicinity. Often Liège, but in this source it's Namur.

The last sentence about the Turkish hone stone caught my attention. That peculiar word "Levant" made me think of something I read in another source about Coticule history:

"Charles Gaspar - "L' Industie de la pierre à rasoir dans la Region d Sart-Lierneux".


«La Pierre dit Lorraine et la pierre dite Levant.

La pierre dite lorêne est de couleur lie de vin, de forme rectangulaire; elle est débitée dans toutes les dimensions standard. Elle comporte deux variétés de petite dimensions, façonnées en biseau, avec arêtes arrondies, pur l'affutage de gouges er de couteaux a hévéa: ce sont le "goudjes" dites lorênes.
De même, la pierre dite levant, de coulear grise et vendue dans toutes les dimansions standard, a fourni deux variétés de "goudjes" dit levants, et une troisième varieté, faconnnée sur mesure, fournie sous l'appelation "pierre dite levant pour sécateur"; cette piere exportée en grande quantité vers l'Algérie était utilisée notamment par les viticulteurs.»

(my humble attempt to translate)
«The stones called Lorraine and the stones called Levant.

The stone called Loraine is of a pale wine-red color, delivering rectangular hones in all the standard dimensions. There are two varieties of small dimension, made wih a bevelled side and a rounded back, for the honing of gouges and knifes for harvesting naural latex: these are the whetstones calles Lorraine.
Likewise, the stone calle Levant, of gray color and sold in all standard dimensions, delivers two varieties of whetstones and a third variety, custom made under the name "Levant hone for pruning shears"; these hones were exported in large quantities to Algeria, where they are mainly used by the winemakers.»

Levant has in French the same meaning as in English: Oriental, Eastern part of the mediterranean, it's countries and islands.

What this shows, it that (Belgian) Coticules have been sold with the predicate Levant, which could have easily contributed to the confusion about whereabouts of these hones. Or how a Belgian hone could have end up being called a Turkish stone. (We also know some are sold as Kosher, which may equally lead to future confusion about place of origin). Of course all this does not mean there are no genuine Turkish hones.
It just illustrates how a hone that was exported for several centuries all over the world, sold by many, for a wide variety of purposes, ended up with many names.

Best regards,
Bart.

You're breaking my heart, internet!

"Almandite garnet crystals are found in a quartzose mica schist about 1.6 km west of Chelsea in Delaware County. Near the surface the schist is badly weathered and the garnets, which comprise as much as 75% of the rock locally but average much less, are easily recovered. Abrasive-grade garnet was produced from this deposit prior to 1900, but no production has been recorded since the turn of the century."

Nah, don't let your heart be broken that easily. ;) 'Abrasive grade garnet' sounds like garnet particles for use in abrasive compounds. Doesn't mean anything as far as the suitability of the matrix, their size, or their size range is concerned. Be glad they didn't mine it, or those rocks would all have been ground to dust.

Now, abrasive grade slate would be a different matter altogether... Since there was only brief exploitation, we can still hope someone finds that out there.

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Originally Posted by IanS

You're breaking my heart, internet!

"Almandite garnet crystals are found in a quartzose mica schist about 1.6 km west of Chelsea in Delaware County. Near the surface the schist is badly weathered and the garnets, which comprise as much as 75% of the rock locally but average much less, are easily recovered. Abrasive-grade garnet was produced from this deposit prior to 1900, but no production has been recorded since the turn of the century."

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Agreed. Don't be discouraged. Who knows, maybe you'll go there, stumble upon an outcrop showing the vein/s and maybe it will be sticking out of some farmer's field. You'll finagle the farmer to sell you the acre of land surrounding and including that outcrop and you'll be in business. If anything else a seasonal side business. Hey, I'd do it. :)

Chris L

Apologies for steering this thread away from it's original course but I just wanted to ask Bart, if you are familiar with any other references regarding the hone from Lorraine that you mentioned? Bomare mentioned what he described as a fair razor hone from Lorraine, but I have been nable to find out anything more about it. One thing I did turn up was a reference to a Lorraine Oilstone, I believe this to be the red hone that you mention, but I don't know if it is the same as Bomare's razor hone. The Lorraine Oilstone seems to be quite highly regarded, certainly better than fair, but I have been unable to establish a history of razor use with it. Therefore I really don't know if there are two hones from Lorraine, or whether the excellent oilstone makes only a fair razor hone.

As far as the Levant/ Turkey Hone is concerned, I have been doing a lot of research on this stone as of late, but the more I find out the more confused I'm becoming. The Levant hone is first identified by Pliny in the very early Christian era, and most later researchers agree that he was most likely referring to the hone that would later become known as the Turkey Hone. In Pliny's time the stone seems to have only recently been bought to notice as he mentions that the reputation of the Naxian hone had only recently been surpassed by the Levant Hone (on a side note, the village of Elounda on Crete is a source of whetstones that have been called both Naxian and Turkey stone at different times). The major problem with accurately identifying a genuine Turkey Hone, is that the Arts adopted the name Turkey Hone as a general term for any fine hone, and later on it became synonymous with Novaculite. Therefore we have hones from all over the world that are identified as Turkey Stone, including hones from: High Halden, Kent, in England: the Caernarvonshire Hills of Wales; Claire Island in Eire; Belchertown, Massachusetts and Cape Grim in Tasmania as well as a number of different hones from France and Italy all known as Turkey Hones. In the Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Arkansas, Griswold notes many early authors who identify Turkey Hones as coming from areas outside Turkey. Even within Turkey, or the confines of the Ottoman Empire at least, there is some question as to where exactly the hones come from. At various times the sources have been given as Constantinople by Linnaeus, the interior of Asia Minor and bought down to Smyrna for sale by Knight, the island of Crete and one author simply says they were bought from Turkey and processed in Marseilles. Following Knights Catalogue, most authors simply repeat his description of the stone being quarried in the interior of Asia Minor and sold from Smyrna.

Given this confusion as to the exact origin of the Turkey Stones, it is also quite difficult to identify what a genuine Turkey Hone is, both petrologically and in more general terms of it's characteristics and usage. It is certainly not the same as Novaculite, nor does it bear any resemblance to the more general grouping of clay slate. It has been suggested that the hone is a chert, but this has been refuted by many researchers. It is generally agreed that the Turkey Hones are either black or white, and of a brittle nature being generally compromised by fissures in the rock. It cuts even the hardest steel, but there are question marks over the degree of fineness. English metallurgist, master cutler and chemist (or Natural Philosopher as they were called back then), Stoddart noted that the Turkey Hone was never found very fine, but other authors treat it as being among the finest of hones. There are references to a green Turkey Hone that was said to be especially fine, and there was a white hone presumed to be either from Cyprus or Crete, that was treated a Turkey Hone and was used for finishing razors. If indeed it did come from Crete it could be considered as being from Turkey as the island was part of the Ottoman Empire. I have also seen references to a Red Turkey Oilstone, so there is some doubt as to the identity of the Turkey Hone based on it's colour, as stones that are called Turkey are not always black or grey/white.

My apologies for going on for so long, but I just wanted to clarify some of the confusion surrounding the identity and origins of the Turkey Hone.

Kindest regards,
Alex

I have a Turkey stone that is definitely "genuine" in the sense that it's a grey-white, visibly brittle natural stone mined in Turkey (the mine's stamp has Turkish writing which I can post if people are interested – it might help to place where these stones are quarried).

I acquired it recently and haven't experimented extensively with it. What I can say is that it cuts very quickly, producing metal swarf in a few strokes, and that the edge it leaves is very sharp but not particularly smooth in terms of face-feel. I follow it with a Thuringian.

I have nowhere near the research under my belt that A.S., Bart, and a few others here have. But I've read the various references to the Turkey stone in the 19th- and early 20th-century encyclopedic literature on honing stones. I've assumed that the great reverence for this stone in the 19th century is due to the fact that it cuts very quickly and fairly finely; it would make very short work of putting a keen edge on tools, especially if your other options were Arkansas stones or Scotch hones. My corollary assumption is that interest in this stone waned in the 20th century when cheap synthetics doing much the same thing became widely available.

I like mine very much, and it would definitely interest SRPers who want to set bevels with a natural (often an elusive quest). But as a finisher it doesn't rival eschers, coticules, and so on.

Is there any chance of a picture, dylandog? Thanks for another great thread all.

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Originally Posted by AlanII

Is there any chance of a picture, dylandog? Thanks for another great thread all.

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Yes, I'll take some when I'm home and post them.

I should say that judging from the stamp, my stone was fairly recently quarried. And yet it fits the descriptions of Turkey hones in the old literature to a T. My take on Turkey stones (I'm always ready to be set straight by the true hone scholars here) is that they are not a mythical stone from some long-lost or now-depleted quarry; rather, they're just a very useful natural stone that – in an age of cheap, widely available, and versatile artificial whetstones – is no longer in much demand internationally. (They are notoriously brittle – something noted both in the old literature and by those of us here who use them – and therefore probably not easy and inexpensive to ship and sell worldwide.)

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Originally Posted by A_S

Apologies for steering this thread away from it's original course but I just wanted to ask Bart, if you are familiar with any other references regarding the hone from Lorraine that you mentioned?

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Prof. dr. E. Goemaere, C. Mullard, Ir. X Devleeschouwer et Ir. J Grogna.
in "Geology de L'ardoise et du Coticule en Terre de Salm" (published by the Service Geologique the Belgique in 2008)

"La Veine Lorraine (Schiste Bleu à Grenats, mais qui ne peut être appelé Coticule) mesure plus de 20cm dans le gisement Regné - Hébronval - Ottré et 60 à 80cm au Gisement Thier del Preu - Thier du Mont."

Translated:
"The Lorraine vein (a Blue Schist with garnet content, that can't be called Coticule) measures over 8" at the Regné - Hébronval - Ottré deposit and 23 to 31" at the Thier del Preu - Thier du Mont deposit."

So now we know it's one of the BBW layers, but which one? I can answer that question too, because the book holds drawings that show a cross section of the deposits.
"La Lorraine" is sandwiched between the Coticule layer named "Les Petas" and the Coticule Layer called "L'allemande" (which means "the German":) probably just for the sake of confusing us even more than we already are.:roflmao)
But it's more complicated than that, because all these layers are subdivided in sub layers, and La lorraine itself is sandwiched between unnamed BBW layers. (So you'll never find a combo Coticule-Lorraine)

Further reading in various sources learns that La Lorraine was mainly sold to woodworkers, carpenters, cabinetmakers, etc. It was also sold as "Pierre à faulx", which means "stone to hone out defects". It 's a kind of very fast BBW (with reddish hue). I'm almost certain that the so called "Salmon Rouge" is the same thing. If I recall correctly, I believe Howard of ThePerfectEdge said he owns one.

I can also tell you something about the current situation, as I have some idea about the status of Ardennes' quarry and their mine. At the quarry, they are extracting rocks from the front to the back, till a certain depth. As "La Lorraine" is part of a section near the front of the quarry, I'm pretty sure the rock was harvested long time ago, possibly during the Burton era. (Ardennes Coticule's predecessor). At the moment, they're extracting the back of the deposit. But Maurice (the owner) told me they might go deeper, when the back is fully processed. At that point, they'll be digging at the front of the deposit again. Maybe we'll see new "La Lorraines" at that moment.
In the mine at Regne, it's a different situation, because you get only access to something if you excavate a gallery to it. Maurice told me they have galleries nearby "La Verte" and "La Grise", which both are layers of the far end of the deposit. That information makes me doubt they're going to have access to "La Lorraine" at Regné anytime soon.

Kind regards,
Bart.

I found a reference to the German Razor Hone from Ratisbon in volume 21 of The Mechanical News, published in 1892. Whilst most sources state that the Razor Hone, and the Blue and Grey polishing stones also supposed to be found in the area, occur in the slate mines in the mountains, Mechanical News says that the deposit is found in an old river bed in the proximity of the city. Whilst a couple of threads lately have highlighted the confusion between where a hone is found and where it is processed/ shipped from, the more precise location given in this account gives me pause to think that there may have been a source of razor hones near Ratisbon. Are there any forum members near enough to check this out?

Kindest regards,
Alex

Ok, now that I have found that Ratisbon IS Regensburg I'll try of course!