[Regia-NA] Gotland Sandstone Axe Whetstones

[rmhowe]

A while back we Manx had a discussion of blade finish and hand
stoning blades.

I was reading Lee Valley Tools current spring catalog
and happened to notice they are selling flat, round
natural stones for sharpening. The round shape fits
the hand very well. The round shape can be held obliquely
and fit the fullers in the blade should you decide to
do a sword blade. In this case the stones come from a
natural quarry in Gotland in the Baltic, home to many
vikings and a lot of Viking settlements. Whetstones
were a tradable commodity.

I have two more modern axe stones and they work very well
and I have used them on large knife and axe blades.
My preferred lubricant is water generally.
Mine are a little larger but similar. At least one was used
when I bought it but a little Gojo and a brush work wonders
rejuvenating old stones. I frequently buy used ones for
different things and in different shapes.

http://www.leevalley.com/
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=51160&cat=1,43072
Their other stones can be seen here.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&cat=1&p=43072

These people only sell top of the line stuff.

Anyone wanting a small Mastermyr axe or adze can obtain copies
from http://www.ragweedforge.com/ .
I will say I specified the high carbon models and they came
very sharp indeed. He sells a variety of scandinavian knives
and special knives for carving. Mora for example and a straight
handled drawknife.

Magnus