Ed, and other Galoots Curious About Ohio Grindstones:

The EAIA Chronicle did a full article on the grindstone industry of Ohio some
years back.  I believe it spanned two or three issues.

I myself have a massive heirloom whetstone, 14” x 4” x 2-1/2”, which I believe
is Berea sandstone, as it is the correct color and texture and certainly does
not resemble Arkansas Novaculite stone.

This was given to me by my late father.  IIRC, he said it had belonged to his
father.  The era would be about right for a Berea stone ; my paternal
grandfather passed away fairly young in 1928.

I’ve jokingly named it “The Stone of Ruth”

Well-swaybacked, my father could none the less put a very useful freehand edge
on almost anything using this stone.  When he taught me to hone, he said to set
the honing angle by feel.  That means keeping the angle _to the surface of the
stone_ constant as the blade traverses the swayback.

I’m no where near as good at it as he was.

John Ruth
Who always wanted to visit “The Grindstone Wreck,” a wooden sailing vessel which
had a cargo of grindstones. It sank in shallow water off the Jersey shore.  I
recently learned of another such wreck in Lake Erie.