Quote Originally Posted by kevint View Post
That sounds hard for vintage English and American tools. I may be way off there, 60 would surprise me.

Something that I do not see enough of are Scandinavian. My general impression is these were made harder than english_ish stuff. (unsure)True?

One basic matching steel/stone maxim I have always read is hard steel; soft stone. Soft steel; hard stone. I wouldn't take that to the extreme. I guess it is related to Nify's point about binder and abrasive loosing.
That makes total sense to me Kevin. Maybe that is why the Holy Grail of hones is a superman stone that is hard a hell, cuts wicked fast and finishes super fine. I do think there are hones like that out there but most of us will never see them. Most of us will at least find functional compromises that are really pretty good in there own right and will make us satisfied.