fossil/found stone sharpening

[mr dazzler]

I asked a while ago on one forum or other-cant remember which-could round pointy fossils (belemites) or other stones be used as sharpening stones and was told no, too soft. Well I ignord that and had a little go, and have been astonishd with the result. I used a finger shaped piece of flinty stone with a white slightly textured surface. It is very hard. I started finishhing the edge on the svord peasant. The stone doesnt cut the steel, seems to polish it. I am getting a finer and finer wire edge, and it seems to be getting sharper and sharper......I am thinking maybe effectively I am "steeling" the edge. I could see tiny nicks and dings being polished away. I'll do an update and some pics later

 

[Toddy]

Flint is hard enough to strike sparks (bits of hot metal) off steel or iron. No reason why it shouldn't hone a blade, I'd have thought.

Belemnites are the fossilised internal 'shell' of cephalopods (ancestors of squids and the like) and are frequently found embedded in flint. (they are sometimes called thunderstones, occasionally thunderbolts)

Come to think on it, the belemnite fossil would be a good shape for a hone
Neat idea

cheers,
Toddy



cheers,
Toddy

 

[Everything Mac]

depends on the stone you use really mate.

not sure of the exact hardness of flint but as Toddy said you can get sparks from it.

what you want is a relatively tough rock with a fine grained structure. doesn't really matter what that is but you wouldn't want to use sedimentary rocks as they will be too soft.

something like a fine grained basalt is good for sharpening stones. marble might be good but im not sure.
things like granite would be too coarse.

a belemnite would indeed be quite good - chances are it would mineralized. so quite tough.

who ever told you "no" was likely a muppet.


thinking about it - slate would actually be really rather good for honing. it is suitably soft to not mess up the blade and would polish the edge very well with some water or oil maybe.
andy

 

[Bardster]

Some of the best hones in the world came out of the welsh slate mines...

 

[mr dazzler]

Come to think on it, the belemnite fossil would be a good shape for a hone

My grandad had dozens of them in his gravel and I would gather them up when I was little. Recently I was wondering what the viking and anglo saxon people used to sharpen their tools, specifically curved hooks for pole lathe bowl turning, and wondered if they might of used something "ready made" like that, seeing as they are round and tapered with a bullet shape. aparently there are old archeaological relics of little honing stones, but no round ones....

 

[Toddy]

I think you may be mistaken there.

A moment on google brought these up.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wessexarchaeology/3637525407/

http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/image68230-.html

http://sccwww1.southampton.gov.uk/a...iod_name=&settlement=&site_postcode=&start=20

Quite a lot of them are round edged pieces.
I think it matters 'what' they were sharpening tbh. Many of the flat edged pieces, the little pendants, are typically Viking and found with gravegoods of sword and knife. Doesn't mean these are the only whetstones used.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[launditch1]

Its an interesting thought..
Ive found a fair few in my 10+ years of fieldwalking.Never in context though but they are on sites where theres evidence from the early stone age right up to modern day.
What i have found alot of is a greystone from Norway called ragstone,most of them will have very worn smooth surface from years of honing.Impossible to date as they were used from the bronzeage up until recently.
And loads of sea urchins or fairy loaves,these turn up alot on Roman sites imo.

 

[Toddy]

Launditch, those Fairy Loaves ? I've never seen them here, but a friend was talking of them just last week. Her claim was that they were always found in ritual context, alters, deposits, etc., I didn't know one way or t'other.

cheers,
M

 

[launditch1]

They could well be..I like to think that i wasnt the only one that picked these up and wondered about them.
I remember a picture of a bronzeage burial and the skeleton was surrounded by sea urchin fossils,200+!
I just mentioned the roman idea because ive found about eight all in a small area,two of these were almost together.

 

[mr dazzler]

Thanks for the links to the photos, but dont forget the turning hooks are (and presumably were) sometimes only a 1/4 of an inch internal diameter, so you need a tiny wee hone to fit inside and still allow a bit of movement....interesting they wore them as pendants; spoon on your belt, sharpening stone round your neck....
I have made a few strickles like they used to use for scythes and billhooks. They do work. Basically a shaped wooden stick with abrasive stuck on and embedded into it. Perhaps they used tiny strickles for tiny hooks, a stone cylinder would be very fragile wouldnt it, even if you could make one sucessfuly?