(My apologies if you already read this but I posted it on an old thread andf then decided to give it a wider buckshot So, as my hone addiction is spiking *rapidly*, I'm thinking, how do you guys find all these cool (mostly vintage) hones?! I am in awe. Is it mostly spending months/years scrouning around antique shops that dont know what they have? Is it being willing to spend $100-$500 when something finally becomes available? Did a lot of you build out your collections before the SR community really fluorished in the last 1-3 years?

I find when looking at the antique stones mostly available, it's quite tough as you I?) really can't tell what the stone is, and very few sellers know what they have and so dont provide much helpful information at all. Do you find out the typical appearance and dimensions that particular stones (e.g. Charnley Forest and Escher) were sold at, and use that as an indicator? Do you have to buy lots of stuff and filter through lots of junk to occasionally get a diamond in the rough?

All this makes me marvel at how much greater the demand is than the supply on this stuff - I figure it can't last long. *Sombody* will have to start getting systematic at gathering up all the old stones around and selling them at a price which equalizes demand and supply properly AND/OR various people (besides Ardennes Coticule and so/so Herr Muller) will just *have* to start mining natural hones again. I mean, as I understand it the old mines were generally not exhausted, PLUS we now have modern mining and surveying methods which you would think would allow us to squeeze more out of a quarry and do it more efficiently. I know that the SR resurgence is pretty recent, but it really seems we should be coming up on some pioneers in this respect. Or am I missing something?