I am reading Jim Kingshott's book - Sharpening: The Complete Guide - and 
have encountered a history of sharpening lesson.

In the chapter on Grinding, Jim describes the grindstone - 27" diameter, 
4 to 5" thick fine sandstone wheel ... turned with a cranked handle ... 
the turning undertaken by some menial, such as the apprentice ... It was 
the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century which led to the 
development of a man-made abrasive material for the engineering 
industry. Until the end of the second world war woodworkers mainly used 
the old fashioned sandstone wheel, more often than not turned by hand. 
Some cabinetmaking firms in the east of London had grinding arrangements 
with tool shops who offered this service. The craftsmen had 6d (2 1/2p) 
per week grinding money deducted from their wages to pay for this service.

If a lot of these older tools were used by craftsmen who did not even 
have an electric grinder, let alone the other things we take for 
granted, it is little wonder they ended up with strange looking edges.

In contrast to the grinderless shop described by Kingshott, Thomas 
Lie-Nielsen's book on Sharpening shows a complete sharpening system with 
sheet abrasives on glass, 3 water stones, a diamond plate, 3 syringes of 
diamond paste, 3 diamond files, 3 diamond hones, a green bar of 
stropping compound, a 1" belt sander, and a slow speed grinder with two 
white wheels and a very elaborate grinding tool rest system. Later 
sections add more bits to the complete system.

I assumed that the olden woodworker, while not having the complete 
Lie-Nielsen system, did have at least some grinding machine. It is 
possible to grind on a benchstone, but it takes more work than a full 
time woodworker is likely to spend on sharpening (which is non-billable 
time). Benchstones suitable for hand grinding seem not to be generally 
available - I had a lot of trouble finding a 3" x 8" coarse Norton 
crystolon stone, which works fairly well.

Perhaps the state of the tools tells us more about the sharpening 
equipment in the shop than about the sharpening skills of the former owners.

Brent
-- 
Victoria, B.C., Canada
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