Thread: Why are honing stones so expensive? Has our planet ran out of its resources?

The world is full of rocks but apparently very few rocks have the desired fineness and uniformity to qualifiy as razor hones.

Wow I never thought about that. So you guys actually try out some honing if you come across a stone?
When you are out walking around camping or near waters, you often come across stone and I just kick them away - never gave a thought to actually try them out.

Edit: Forgot that you need to cut and level them flat. :Facepalms myself:

I'm from Western Nebraska, and there are a lot of interesting stones brought into the Ogallala National Grasslands from prehistoric rivers. I've seen Jasper, agates, and other fine stones there. I have seen some spectacular stones cut with a diamond saw. Depends on their microcrystaline structure on how they would do for cutting, but most probably would fit into the 10,000 to 50,000 grit category. I've panned gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota and often find a lot of garnets and another "cousin" of garnet in the bottom of my pan. you can see them embedded into the rock in places. Since a Garnet is similar to a Ruby, it's hardness would be good for working steel. Makes me wonder what likes in the Black Hills of SD that may be of use for honing.

I'm sure there are many possible hones buried in the earth waiting to be discovered, maybe not. The stones that are "mined" out of course are expensive, I.E. Nakayama, Escher and Charnley Forest to name a few. You can pick up a Chinese 12k stone for 20 bucks. Arkies are cheap, and there's a butt load of synthetics on the markets, Some are better than others. It's all relative, supply and demand. If no one wanted Escher's, You could probably buy one for 10.00

Originally Posted by zib

If no one wanted Escher's, You could probably buy one for 10.00

Well, if you know of anyone who meets that description, just let me know. If he doesn't want it, I'm willing to take it, but I'm sure not going to pay $10 for doing him such a favor!

Back in olden times men grabbed a knife, bronze age, iron age.... and rubbed it on stone to try and improve the edge. That is how all of these hones became known. Some worked, some didn't and some worked better than others. Those became the ones that are sought after to this day. You would think that all of the natural stones that are effective for honing have been discovered but some adventurous and inquiring souls keep on searching.

Originally Posted by zib

If no one wanted Escher's, You could probably buy one for 10.00

Escher wouldn't have bothered to glue a label on them.

I would like to get ahold of some of the volcanic silicate ash from Ash Falls Nebraska and see if we could whomp up a batch of barber hones. 10 to 12 million yrs ago the Bruneau Jarbidge caldera erupted in SW Idaho blanketing the Great Plains with a catastophic plume of ash.
I'll make a trip up there someday again to visit the Ash Falls site and get some samples. Until then I'll stick with my J-nats and Eschers.
MIke

Originally Posted by Utopian

Well, if you know of anyone who meets that description, just let me know. If he doesn't want it, I'm willing to take it, but I'm sure not going to pay $10 for for doing him such a favor!

Unfortunately, No, I don't. Supply is limited, and they're in demand. You need lot's of cash.

You know why diamonds are so expensive? it's because De Beers controls the entire world market and hoards them away in their vaults releasing so few the price is kept artificially high. If diamonds were released as they are mined they would lose most of their value. Maybe someone has a vault full of old Eschers, tens of thousands of them and they're waiting for just the right time to sell them off.

Actually the problem is who is going to go exploring for honing stones and develop a mine in the middle of nowhere and build roads and drag in equipment and electricity unless the deposit is big enough to be economically profitable which probably ain't gonna happen. Now if you had a mind to you could strike out on your own and probably find a source if you had the time and the money.