Posted on 09/25/2022 6:47:17 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Whetstones are one of the most common finds from the Viking Age. What looks like a simple stone however, tells the tale of extensive trading systems - and perhaps even the reason for why the Vikings started raiding overseas.
At the end of the 19th century, people emptied the water out of an old quarry in Trøndelag in mid-Norway. Some thought that it might contain a large silver deposit.
But the only thing they found were lots of stones. A totally commonplace object...
The ordinary stones were whetstones, also known as sharpening stones. They were used to, as the latter name suggests, sharpen things made of iron...
Farmers needed them for their tools, and they were used in the household. They were also used in craft activities in the cities.
Whetstones were also an important part of the equipment needed by a warrior: Viking warriors needed to sharpen their swords, axes, arrows and knives.
Unlike many of the items we have from the Viking Age – whetstones were used by everybody, warriors, craftsmen and housewives, rich and poor alike.
As early as the Viking Age, they were mass-produced and distributed over great distances. Whetstones from Norway have been found in a number of countries...
Vikings did raid their own, the archaeologist says, but measures put in place to protect trade and the benefits of trade meant that raiding villages along that route was less attractive. So those who wished to continue with this activity had to find new hunting grounds, outside of Scandinavia. And thus began the raids overseas in Ireland, Scotland and England.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenorway.no ...
They rock! Seriously
There was a song not long ago written about Arkansas Stone. Cannnot remember the artist at the moment.
They sharpened tools and weapons. Whet means to sharpen.
My grandpa always used to say he needed something to “Whet his whistle”.
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.
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He had a pretty sharp tongue.
I use a whetstone to sharpen my large sythe. Other metal sharpening gets done on my workbench 6” grinder.
Can I assume these stones were intended for steel?
And Kittens.
Every Viking owned a kitten.
Looks like the advantage of this source is how the stone is naturally fractured into a desirable shape without needing any further shaping. Just dig them up and they are ready to go. It would actually be kind of rare to find a source like this.
The Vikings went to England and brought back all the Stones that looked like that.
Whetstones are a gateway. Next comes ceramic rods, then Spyderco ceramic stones.
Then diamond plates. Cheap ones from Harbor Freight at first, then DMTs, then Atomas, from Japan.
Japan! Japan! Japanese water stones, in endless variety, with all the water storage tanks, and other paraphernalia. By that point, sharpening is an end in its self, because the whetstoner has lost all interest in everything else, and never finds time to actually use the knives, chisels, hand plane blades, and straight razors, that have been so lovingly honed to hair splitting perfection.
same here. I’ve got all kinds of stones and steels and diamond sharpeners, but there’s nothing like a hard Arkansas stone for the final touch.
I might need to get some of the fish-hook sharpeners from the Ouachita area. I was born fairly close to there.
We thought about retiring to western Arkansas. Looks like pretty country. We ended up staying in Arizona, though.
My father had a whetstone like one of those in the picture. He used it so much that it developed a “dip” in the middle. His pocket knives ended up looking like mini scythes or even toothpicks he sharpened them so much. Strange obsession.
I HATE VIKINGS!!!!!
“My father had a whetstone like one of those in the picture. He used it so much that it developed a “dip” in the middle. His pocket knives ended up looking like mini scythes or even toothpicks he sharpened them so much. Strange obsession.”
Soft stone soft steel. This doesn’t happen if you have good steel and a very hard stone. The trick is to stay on top of it religiously, and change stones as often as needed. It is the difference between “Grind” and “polish”. Keep it polished and you do not need to grind it with more aggressive coarse “grinding” whetstones.
Wood carvers sharpening their chisels know this difference, Barbers using straight razors knew this difference. Keep the edge polished to a razor edge. Leather was used as the final edge “polish”. Make a cut or two and “polish”. Using the less as aggressive leather takes much much less off the edge each polishing.
I personally use a quartz stone that I cut myself for polishing the edge, it is almost as equal to diamond in hardness. I could wear through twenty knife blades before you will ever see a dip in it. Then finish polish with leather to remove the microscopic burrs. Stay on top of it with a few strokes on each and you are good to go.
In the age where edged weapons made of steel were common wear and use, seems to me that whetstones would be as common as rocks.
Indeed handy.
After he quit using a straight razor for an electric, my father used his leather strop for my attitude adjustments. Very effective. Didn’t sharpen very well, but did put a red shine on my butt and thighs. :o(
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