Gentle Galoots,

In this New Year, I am returning to my quest to obtain a Turkey  Oilstone.  
It's not a stone that can be purchased from suppliers in this  country (or 
in England, so far as I've been able to determine).  My new  strategy is to 
go to the source.  To that end, do any of you have contacts  with 
woodworkers in Turkey?
 
Cheers,
John

John M. Johnston
There is a fine line between hobby and  mental illness. Dave Barry
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

John;
I'd probably start with the guys selling Turkish Box Wood over there.
Perhaps the also carry those stones or can give you a lead.
Jim

> -----Original Message-----
> From: oldtools-bounces@r... [mailto:oldtools-
> bounces@r...] On Behalf Of sgt42rhr@a...
> Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 8:53 AM
> To: oldtools@r...
> Subject: [OldTools] Woodworking in Turkey
> 
> 
> 
> Gentle Galoots,
> 
> In this New Year, I am returning to my quest to obtain a Turkey  Oilstone.
> It's not a stone that can be purchased from suppliers in this  country (or
> in England, so far as I've been able to determine).  My new  strategy is
> to
> go to the source.  To that end, do any of you have contacts  with
> woodworkers in Turkey?
> 
> Cheers,
> John
> 
> 
> John M. Johnston
> There is a fine line between hobby and  mental illness. Dave Barry
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
> 
> To change your subscription options:
> http://ruckus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
> 
> To read the FAQ:
> http://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html
> 
> OldTools archive: http://swingleydev.com/archive/
> 
> OldTools@r...
> http://ruckus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ralph, thank you so much for your reply.  

Here is what I can  tell you.  I have multiple references (for example, 
inventories of 18th  century tool merchants) with specific reference to Turkey 
Stones.  The  Rees' in their editing of Christopher Gabriel's papers point 
out that these  stones were the pinnacle of sharpening stones.  Eighteenth 
and early 19th  century references also point to Turkey Stones or Turkey 
Oilstones as being the  best.  When Arkansas stones were discovered in the 19th 
century, Turkey  Oilstones were still considered better.

Internet searches indicate these  stones (either white or black) were 
quarried (or shipped from) the Smyrna  area.  A quote from Holtzappel's book 
illustrates:

The Turkey  Oilstone can hardly be considered as a hone slate, having 
nothing of a lamellar  or schistose appearance. As a whetstone, it surpasses 
every other known  substance, and possesses, in an eminent degree, the property 
of abrading the  hardest steel, and is at the same time of so compact and 
close a nature, as to  resist the pressure necessary for sharpening a graver, 
or other small instrument  of that description. Little more is known of its 
natural history than that it is  found in the interior of Asia Minor, and 
brought down to Smyrna for sale. The  white and black varieties of Turkey 
oilstone, differ but little in their general  characters, the black is, however,
 
somewhat harder, and is imported in larger  pieces than the white.

Apart from some information on chemical/physical  composition, that's what 
I can tell you about what I am trying to find.  I  don't really know when 
they stopped being a commercial item in the west. I don't  know if these kinds 
of sharpening stones are available in Turkey, but that's my  last best 
hope.  

I figured that if I could tap into the Turkish  Galoot Society, I'd come 
closer to finding out if obtaining these stones is  possible.  I have written 
to the Turkish Ambassador in Washington, and to a  Turkish cultural office 
to see if I can get in contact with woodworkers or if I  can obtain a source. 
 I've also written to a Turkish firm that sells hand  tools to see what I 
can learn from them.

Cheers,
John

John M. Johnston
There is a fine line between hobby and mental  illness. Dave Barry
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

sgt42rhr@a... wrote:
> 
> Gentle Galoots,
> 
> In this New Year, I am returning to my quest to obtain a Turkey  Oilstone.  
> It's not a stone that can be purchased from suppliers in this  country (or 
> in England, so far as I've been able to determine).

Rummaging through my pile of stones (I keep buying these things)
I found this:

http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10152/turkey_stone.jpg

The label in the lid says:

BEST SELECTED TURKEY STONE
THE "EMU" BRAND (with picture to suit)
T. H. & Co.

The stone itself is a blue/gray colour, like
many slate stones. However the texture is a little
coarser than fine slates, and certainly coarser
than a Charnley Forrest. The cutting rate
is higher too.

I worked a blade (and old chisel) using white spirit before the photo
to attempt to have the colour as natural as possible
I also used SiC paper to reveal "unused" stone (the lighter, bluer
area near the top in the photo).

The stone is lightly used, and unusually worn; the surface
is convex in width, and also has two humps in length.

Not the "overall concavity" normally seen on stones
used for woodworking.

     BugBear
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paul:

The stone might have been used for scissors or razors.

I have a very good friend that sharpens hair scissors.  And his used 
waterstones have those two humps you talk about.

Nice and unusual find just the same.

Best wishes.

Matt Prusik

"Happiness is inward, and not outward; and so, it does not depend on what we 
have, but on what we are." --- Henry Van Dyke
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "paul womack" 
To: 
Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 6:17 AM
Subject: Re: [OldTools] Woodworking in Turkey

> sgt42rhr@a... wrote:
>>
>> Gentle Galoots,
>>
>> In this New Year, I am returning to my quest to obtain a Turkey 
>> Oilstone.  It's not a stone that can be purchased from suppliers in this 
>> country (or in England, so far as I've been able to determine).
>
> Rummaging through my pile of stones (I keep buying these things)
> I found this:
>
> http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10152/turkey_stone.jpg
>
> The label in the lid says:
>
> BEST SELECTED TURKEY STONE
> THE "EMU" BRAND (with picture to suit)
> T. H. & Co.
>
> The stone itself is a blue/gray colour, like
> many slate stones. However the texture is a little
> coarser than fine slates, and certainly coarser
> than a Charnley Forrest. The cutting rate
> is higher too.
>
> I worked a blade (and old chisel) using white spirit before the photo
> to attempt to have the colour as natural as possible
> I also used SiC paper to reveal "unused" stone (the lighter, bluer
> area near the top in the photo).
>
> The stone is lightly used, and unusually worn; the surface
> is convex in width, and also has two humps in length.
>
> Not the "overall concavity" normally seen on stones
> used for woodworking.
>
>     BugBear
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
>
> To change your subscription options:
> http://ruckus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
>
> To read the FAQ:
> http://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html
>
> OldTools archive: http://swingleydev.com/archive/
>
> OldTools@r...
> http://ruckus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
> 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Feb 1, 2010, at 6:17 AM, paul womack wrote:

> sgt42rhr@a... wrote:
>> Gentle Galoots,
>> In this New Year, I am returning to my quest to obtain a Turkey   
>> Oilstone.  It's not a stone that can be purchased from suppliers in  
>> this  country (or in England, so far as I've been able to determine).
>
> Rummaging through my pile of stones (I keep buying these things)
> I found this:
>
> http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10152/ 
> turkey_stone.jpg
>
> The label in the lid says:
>
> BEST SELECTED TURKEY STONE
> THE "EMU" BRAND (with picture to suit)
> T. H. & Co.
>
> The stone itself is a blue/gray colour, like
> many slate stones. However the texture is a little
> coarser than fine slates, and certainly coarser
> than a Charnley Forrest. The cutting rate
> is higher too.
>
>

	Any developments on the quest?  I am interested in a modern review of  
the old stones as I somewhat remember reading once that turkey stones  
were replaced my modern ones  which are better.  Where I read that I  
can't remember, but it may have been Charles Hayward.

Regards,
Steve

------------------------------------------------------------------------