Historic English Whetstones

[Gchristyuscg]

Hello all,

I'm a traditional woodworker and have been researching 18th-century sharpening techniques, focusing on southeastern Pennsylvania. From what I've been able to determine, the majority of the whetstones used were actually imported to the region from England (numerous newspaper advertisements describing shipments of whetstones coming from London). This has led me to research English whetstones of the period, and while I've come up with some good information, I'm having difficulty finding sources of English stones still available today. Does anyone have any suggestions? The ones I know for certain were in use were Charnley Forests, Bristol Grindstones (coarse sandstone) and New Castle Grindstones (also a coarse sandstone) There are other descriptions which don't quite match perfectly with stones that are still known today. Is anyone in the UK still harvesting stones? Even just for fun?

Thanks for your help!
Gabe

 

[rideon66]

Charnley Forest stones haven't been harvested in over 100 years as far as I know. A few people have gotten permission to the property and collected and made usable stones for themselves, but none selling. Best source is ebay.

 

[kcb5150]

Google grinding and honing part 3 by henk bos and dl the pdf

 

[Bushdoctor]

Dragon Tongue are available from Inigo Jones.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Several people are selling welsh slate. I know they claim two of the three varieties they mine are Yellow lake and dragon tongue and the third I’ve seen hinted is Lynn idwal.

tam o Shanter I think stopped being mined a few decades ago, but it’s another traditional British hone.

 

[Seveneighth]

Just English stones or British? English: Moughton Whetstones, Charnley Forest. There is a wider selection if you include Wales and Scotland. Moughton Whetstones were apparently the stone of choice in the cutlery industry:

A visit to the Moughton Whetstone Hole in two parts

Moughton Field Trip Part 1 Yesterday was a bright but cold October day and being in the area I decided to drag child 2 and child 3 out for a brisk hike across the Yorkshire Dales. I had read in Grinding and Honing part 3 and in various walking blogs about the route to the Moughton Whetstone...

www.badgerandblade.com

Dragon's Tongue is still mined: Honing Stones Archives - Inigo Jones - https://www.inigojones.co.uk/product-category/speciality-products-heritage/honing-stones/

You can pick up vintage British stone from ebay UK or from Tooltique. Charnley Forests are pretty common but can be pricey.

As @kcb5150 says, part 3 of grinding an honing is a good source for all the different types of stone, but don't believe what he says about going and collecting stones from the ground - it's illegal in most places in the UK.

 

[Seveneighth]

Hello all,

I'm a traditional woodworker and have been researching 18th-century sharpening techniques, focusing on southeastern Pennsylvania. From what I've been able to determine, the majority of the whetstones used were actually imported to the region from England (numerous newspaper advertisements describing shipments of whetstones coming from London).

Can you share any of the research - perhaps some folks round here would be able to identify the likely stones from the references?