Natural whetstones & hones

Anyone who takes their knives and / or straight razors seriously inevitably finds themselves involved to some extent with the use of whetstones and hones.There comes a point where one becomes very aware of the subtle differences between natural and man-made products, and it is usually at this point where the dilemma regarding the use of synthetic VS natural comes to light as well. 

Part of our collection
 

Owning fine blades, goes hand in hand with  honing & sharpening them. The finest whetstones and hones usually come from nature. They are a rare instance where geology, chemistry, crystallography, and physics come together as one, to form a  substance so suited for sharpening and polishing a blade that it is rarely out done by something man made.

However, as these are natural and most often rare objects , the cost of high quality natural hones and whetstones is considerably higher than that of  most synthetic ones, and with the depletion of natural resources the price of such objects is almost sure to rise in the future.

Already there are hones that are all but extinct save for a precious few items in private collections. Stones such as the venerable "cutler's green", for example, are not to be found.

The Arid  Israeli Desert.

We collect natural whetstones and hones. We use these stones to polish and sharpen the finest of the blades we produce. These stones come from as far away as Japan and New Zealand, but some come from right here in the Israeli desert.

The process of finding these stones, retrieving, classifying , cutting, lapping, boxing, and documenting them is VERY labor intensive, and often requires a financial investment as well. The final product however is  high grade, rare,  and in most cases well worth the investment.

Retrieving the material from the field does not come without risk of personal injury.

 We often go hiking in the desert,  The wealth of geological material in plain site allows us to  find suitable material to cut into a hone from time to time (sometimes a few hones - but not much more). Some of these hones we use in our shop - others are sold (IF and WHEN  there is any extra material).

We are willing to go the extra mile - sometimes even vertically.

It's always a gamble. Looks can be deceiving. Not every stone we bring back from the field is of high enough quality to use. More often than not we will see something that looks  like it can be a good hone, only to discover that it is a low grade lump of junk. We never let this discourage us - it's all part of the adventure. 

Raw material brought in from the field.

Retrieving the material from the field is a difficult task and is not without risk of personal injury. There are vast empty areas to navigate. Sometime we have to hike for quite a few miles into - and out of some pretty  arid desert with no roads in site. We navigate by compass and map (GPS cannot always be trusted here).

Some of the terrain has tall crumbly cliffs that have to be negotiated. The area is abundant with reptiles and insects - some of them  very poisonous. We often meet with them when looking through a pile of stones, and it is NEVER a pleasant surprise.

This however, is just the first part of the job. 

Washed sample, ready for further testing.

Once we get back with the material, we usually consult with friends and colleagues in an attempt to identify and classify the material. Special thanks to Avi, Rei, Charles, Dani, Vlado, and everyone else, for their time and effort - and for putting up with our nonsense).

 Microscopic structure of the sample.

The material is acid tested, photographed, macro photographed, and sometimes photographed under a microscope.

Then, we test some sample to see how they perform as a whetstone. We do this by honing our knives on these samples.  If the sample proves to be "hone worthy" the material is cut into slabs,  then lapped and boxed in acacia wood. Some will become part of our collection. If we have extra material we offer it to other collectors world wide.

Currently in use:

Amakusa, Japan

Rozsutec, Slovakia

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Black slate, Brazil

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 Guangxi, China

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Coticule Ardene, Belgium

  BBW (Belgian Blue), Belgium

Covenant stone Type I, Israel

Hard Arkansas, USA

Covenant stone Type II, Israel

Honyama Grade A, Japan

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Surgical Black Arkansas, USA

Jade, New Zealand

Welsh Dragon's tongue, UK

Thuringian hone, Germany

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Covenant Stone Type IV, Israel

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Honyama Grade B, Japan