Middle Earth Ranger Forum

I've been fascinated by the idea of so called "Viking sharpening stones." Usually made of either jasper or jade they can be used to hone a knife in the field where lugging a full sized whetstone can be cumbersome and impractical.
I received a jasper one for Christmas last year and I quite liked it, but it unfortunately had some really bad chips and flaws so I could only really use one of the narrower surfaces without fear of damaging a blade. But the little use I got from it I liked, so I took the plunge and got a jade one from a small two-person operation that cut and polish them themselves.
I love it.

It's smooth, a great shade of green. And using it to strop blades gets them back to nice and slicey.

That’s absolutely beautiful! I’ve got a similar one that I bought years ago from some online seller or other, and the color is gorgeous, but it’s a much more regular, almost machine-made shape than this one. I LOVE how you can really tell that this one was fashioned by hand!

That's a good rock.

Yavion wrote: ↑Sat May 13, 2023 5:45 pm But the little use I got from it I liked, so I took the plunge and got a jade one from a small two-person operation that cut and polish them themselves.

Where did you get it from? I love it!

I'm with Barandir here! Drop those deets! It looks awesome.

https://www.naturalwhetstonesharpening.com/all-products

I mentioned it above, but this is a company owned by just 2 guys. It took about 3 weeks for me to get mine from them, but they were very responsive when I noted an issue with my order and they fixed it right away.

Oh wow! Look at all of those! How gorgeous!!

Thanks for the link! I wonder if they would be open to doing a proper slate or sandstone whetstone as a one-off...

Why do I want that so badly????

in all seriousness, that is a nice piece

Iodo wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 11:53 am Why do I want that so badly????

in all seriousness, that is a nice piece

You want it because it's a cool rock and the one thing that the peoples of Middle Earth can all agree on is cool rocks.
Rings come and go, but every major story involves a cool rock!

...and rocks are something that dwarves are able to appreciate more than most

Iodo wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 11:53 am Why do I want that so badly????

in all seriousness, that is a nice piece

Because you're a Dwarf....

ETA

Iodo wrote:...and rocks are something that dwarves are able to appreciate more than most

I must learn to read all of a thread before replying


I'm a Dwarf and I want one too........ "Hello, my name is Barron... And I'm a rock addict"

ForgeCorvus wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 7:43 pm

Iodo wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 11:53 am Why do I want that so badly????

in all seriousness, that is a nice piece

Because you're a Dwarf....

…HE’S GOT A POINT.

ForgeCorvus wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 7:43 pm I'm a Dwarf and I want one too........ "Hello, my name is Barron... And I'm a rock addict"

"Hello, my name is Iodo... And I'm also a rock addict"


-----
[EDIT] this thread has made my day

Hello, my name is Ulfr, and I am a rock addict...


Ok on a serious note, the jade whetstone sent me down a rabbit hole. After some research and digging on our farm.... I grabbed a chunk of sandstone, ran it through the stone saw, and tried it... I took my old barn hatchet to try and sharpen. It put a nice edge on it quickly. Not a finished edge, but a working edge.

Will be saving to get a nice jasper or jade whetstone, but for now I will play with what I have.