Thread: Moughton whetstones.

May I be the first to request a sample stone .... free or otherwise. If A_S doesn't reply to this thread PM him. He knows a lot about obscure hones and their characteristics.

Will see how many i get ect but yea jimmy you can have one.

It was one of A_S`s threas that got me thinkinfg about it. I`ve looked into it and there are still a good few quarrys going in the area, and loads of surface stone, so i was planning on taking a walk up there some time soon with a brick hammer and cracking some stones and seeing what i find.

Hi Ian and Jimmy,

There are some reference materials that give a list of important considerations when it comes to selecting material for hones and whetstones, but seeing as these materials are primarily concerned with selecting initial material there isn't much I can tell you that is applicable to the Moughton Whetstone. We know that the Moughton Whetstone is a fine finisher so examination of factors such as grain shape and size are superfluous. Being a mudstone, the Moughton Whetstone is composed of sub silt-sized particles of < 0.005mm in diameter. If you're going to be looking for hones in the field, the major consideration is to avoid hones with visible inclusions or areas that feel noticably harder or more rough than the rest of the stone should be avoided. The stone is concentrically banded with colours of green and red/purple so look for the stones with the most consistent pattern, and certainly avoid stones with large areas of a different colour. If you take a magnifying device with you you can further examine the structure of the abrasive particles, consistency and fineness being the major consideration. One key thing to take notice of is the amount of foreign matter contained within the binder/ cement of the stone; when you find two stones with similarly fine abrasive particles, the one with the least foreign matter will be the finest as foreign material in between the abrasive grains will widen the scratch marks, thus rendering the stone less fine. Also, look for stones with a more jagged, splintery appearance as those that look more rounded may have been subject to erosion by water and consequently the abrasive grains may have become more rounded; this is one of the main factors that can cause a stone to glaze over during use.

Adrspach and myself were considering taking a trip to the area to look for hones, however due to my sucky health I was waiting for the better weather. I know that Adrspach was very keen to go though, so you might try contacting him as he certainly knows his hones.

I've posted this link before, but I don't know if you've seen it. It details a visit to the area. http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46727

Kindest regards,
Alex