Thread: Whetstones of the World

In doing a Google search on Thuringians I came across this. It appears to be an old report from at least the 30's regarding Arkansas whetstones. It also goes into some info on other whetstones from around the world. I'm sure some of the HADdicts will find this interesting.

Thank you very much for finding this. I'll probably be printing the whole thing off after seeing the little I've read. Very cool.

Chris L

No problem, it is quite an interesting read.

One question to anyone who stumbles onto this thread though, on page twelve it talks about a "Turkey oil-stone" which is supposed to be a very fine stone. Towards the bottom of the page it talks of how to care for the stone, "Sperm or neat's-foot oil, or an oil not disposed to thicken should be used." Anyone know to what "Sperm..." is referring? I am keeping my fingers crossed that it's a term no longer used for a type of oil.

Originally Posted by JCitron

No problem, it is quite an interesting read.

One question to anyone who stumbles onto this thread though, on page twelve it talks about a "Turkey oil-stone" which is supposed to be a very fine stone. Towards the bottom of the page it talks of how to care for the stone, "Sperm or neat's-foot oil, or an oil not disposed to thicken should be used." Anyone know to what "Sperm..." is referring? I am keeping my fingers crossed that it's a term no longer used for a type of oil.

Sperm Whale oil used to be an ingredient in salves, and other oil based products back when whale hunting was still practiced at large.

As an aside, I've always wanted to know what real Ambergris smells like but doubt I'll ever get the opportunity. AMBERGRIS. I can't link to Wikipedia since I'm editing this, but if you want to know what it is, you can look it up there.

Chris L

Thanks Chris. I knew there had to be more to that. I was wondering why there wasn't a comma after sperm, now I know. "Sperm or neat's-foot oil..."

Originally Posted by Chris L

Sperm Whale oil used to be a common ingredient in salves, and other oil based products.

Chris L

Oh! ............

Originally Posted by Chris L

Sperm Whale oil used to be an ingredient in salves, and other oil based products back when whale hunting was still practiced at large.

As an aside, I've always wanted to know what real Ambergris smells like but doubt I'll ever get the opportunity. AMBERGRIS. I can't link to Wikipedia since I'm editing this, but if you want to know what it is, you can look it up there.

Chris L

I've never smelled it either Chris, but there are colourful descriptions of it and of obtaining sperm oil in that wonderful book (I know I keep going on about it!) Moby Dick.

I can still picture the sailors with their sharpened spades cutting a hole in the whales head and lowering buckets into it to draw-off the sperm oil that gushed out, like drawing water from a well. Apparantly the best sperm oil came from the head. The men on the boats filled their lamps with it, oiled things with it, cooked their meals of whalemeat with it - I bet the whale would have been choked to find that out!

Ambergris in it's natural state was said to smell horrible, one of the characters calls it something sicked-up by a dead whale! Maybe it was the smell of the dying, decaying whale that was confused with it though, for it was said to be found in the intestines of very ill whales.

Regards,
Neil.

From said Wikipedia...."When initially expelled by or removed from the whale, the fatty precursor of ambergris is pale white in color (sometimes streaked with black), soft, with a strong fecal smell. Following months to years of photo-degradation and oxidation in the ocean, this precursor gradually hardens, developing a dark gray or black color, a crusty and waxy texture, and a peculiar odor that is at once sweet, earthy, marine, and animalic. Its smell has been described by many as a vastly richer and smoother version of isopropanol without its stinging harshness."

Neil, looks like that character wasn't too far off in his description of the smell.