Nice gneiss hone (Pike?), maybe you scythe shave?

[Tanuki]

I recently found this scythestone in an extremely rural vintage store in Wallowa county Oregon. I immediately jumped to believing it was a Pike hone from Pike (Haverhill) New Hampshire. My further research hasn't contradicted that. (Or provided any conclusive evidence.) So this might be Bethlehem gneiss from the Issac > Alonzo Pike quarry. The founding product for Pike Manufacturing.

Any additional information about or images of Pike scythestones would be appreciated. I have a book coming on interlibrary loan.

 

[Gamma]

What connects the stone to Pike? Is there a box or label not shown?

 

[Tanuki]

No box or label. The gneiss, the dimensions, and the "american" pattern (straight, no taper) all suggest, but certainly don't prove, Pike. Pike was the dominant (and final?) producer of scythestones from the Bethlehem gneiss. What I really would like to see would be a sample of Bethlehem gneiss. When I was in Franconia a few years back I had no thought (or time) to buzz over to Haverhill/Pike and look through the old quarry.

I have not found a modern photo of a natural Pike scythestone, or any other natural scythestone of that vintage. A current Norton scythestone is an India stone.

From a 1934 pamphlet:

There were also Norton Pike India and Crystolon synthetic scythestones in the 1934 pamphlet.

 

[kcb5150]

 

[Tanuki]

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Wow, thanks! Two of them! Pike certainly put a nice finish on them.

I notice the Pike 'Scythe Stone' vs. Norton Pike 'Scythestone' different orthography.

I also noticed that the 1934 pamphlet gives approximate dimensions for the naturals. Mine is about 10 1/2". Mine also looks like a reasonable color match to the Indian Pond. Either the wear on mine has exposed a coarser, layered nature of the gneiss or mine is a different Pike brand/quarry (say "White Mountain") or a Pike competitor. Or maybe the long decades of production resulted in different gneiss qualities.

My thought is that Pike was the giant producer and owned the national market, so that any Oregon-found gneiss scythestone is most likely a Pike.

The good thing about getting a used stone (besides the low price) is that I won't hesitate to test it on my scythe, grub hoes, and maybe an axe or two. Otherwise, I'm extremely jealous of those Indian Ponds.

More from 1934 "How to Sharpen"...