Looking for Information on Naturally Occurring Honestones

A

A_S

Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Messages
7
Hi,

Lately I've been doing a lot of research on various natural stones. I'm a straight razor user, and the collecting of hones has become my main area of interest. That being said, the research has been pretty hard-going, there doesn't seem to be a lot of readily available information out there, particularly about some of the more obscure stones that I'm interested in. I would appreciate it if member's here could point me in the right direction to further my research, particularly websites and any suitable literature on the subject.

I'm in the UK and have tried contacting the following organisations for information: The Geology Society, The Institute of Quarrying, The British Geological Survey and The Natural History Museum. Further afield the quarries and beyond web page is the best I've found so far. If anyone could suggest where I could go from here that would be great.

At the moment I'm mainly interested in UK and US stones, so if anyone has any pictures of the differen types they'd like to share , particularly the rarer ones, that would be good too.

Specific types I'm interested in include those from Macauley's Quarry and McPherson's Quarry in North carolina. I've also read that New Hampshire produced a quality stone, but don't have any more info than that.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Kindest regards,
Alex
 
The Early American Industries Association published a few articles on quarrying whetstones (somewhere in New England I think) and grindstones some years back in their publication "The Chronicle". There's an online index on their website and back issues of the Chronicle are available for purchase. There are probably a few hone collectors in that organization as well, so it might be worth contacting them with your request for information. There's also probably a similar organization of tool collectors and early industry enthusiasts in the UK that would be worth contacting.
 
I don't have any answers, sorry, but you might want to post this question both on the razor section here on bladeforums, and on http://www.straightrazorplace.com/forums/. They are razor and hone crazy (in a good way), and I'm sure between the 2 places, you will find more answers. Good luck!
 
Thankyou for the replies. I'd never heard of the Early American Industries Association before but have sent them an email so hopefully something should come of that. I also see they've had a number of articles on hones and whetstones in The Chronicle so I've ordered those. Haven't found a UK equivalent yet though.

I'm already a member of SRP, that's where the stone obsession started, I've started a number of threads asking about some of the more obscure stones, but the members there haven't any experience with the stones I'm asking about, despite their interest in the subject.

Re: Arkansas Stones. Just out of interest is anyone familiar with a Blue Arkansas? I remember talking to someone on a forum about them (unfortunately I can't remember which one,) he told me that they were very rare and much finer than any other type, describing honing on it as being more like stropping due to the lack of material removal. I haven't been able to find any other references to this particular type.

Once again, thankyou for the information.

Kindest regards,
Alex
 
A_S said:
I've worked w/Arkansas stones for around 15yrs. and have not heard of what your speaking.The finest Arkansas stones are normally called a "black hard Arkansas".These sometime may have a deep navy blue to black color.They are X-fine,3-4 micron grain and 1200 grit.It will put a polished edge on any steel and are slow cutting.DM
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