Quote Originally Posted by ats200 View Post
Great info Jimmy, that post you linked is really informative also. So am I correct that they used these stones for the entire honing process? Just based on what you said I would assume this is true.
Your guess is as good as mine. I've often wondered what the precise answer to that question is. What I'm guessing is that they were no different than we are today, they used what was available at the time. Some of them probably settled for whatever worked while others searched for something better.

I wonder if there were hone freaks in those days with closets filled with coticules, charnleys and other obscure rocks ? Probably not, they were more sensible back in those days when it came to the value of a dollar. We also have to take into consideration that in those days there were vendors who traveled from town to town, village to village and sharpened tools, scissors, knives and razors. So some of it was farmed out just as it is today by some folks.