Hi Folks,
     I recently refurbished and flattened an old
oilstone I got as part of a "big box" purchase of old
tools.  It is an extremely fine-grained stone that
puts a finish on my tools about the same as a
2000-4000 grit waterstone.  It's 2x8" and sits in an
old home made pine box, the base of which is very
tightly fitted to the stone, and the top is a "just
barely loose" fit.  The great thing is, because the
bottom of the box is so tighly fitted, the "bottom" of
the stone hase never been touched, and the original
label is perfectly intact on the bottom of the stone. 
It says Deerlick Oil Stone Co., Chagrin Falls O.  The
box is clearly made entirely with hand tools, and you
can see the marks left by the auger bit used to hollow
out both the top and bottom.  The chiseling to level
the bottom is very rough but the fit of the edges of
the bottom half of the box is so tight the stone has
to be tapped out.  It was dished pretty badly but even
after getting it to perfect flatness it is still about
7/8" thick.
    The only reference I can find online to this
company is an old catalog, for sale for $40 and dated
1902.
     Does anyone know anything about this outfit?  It
seem to be a very high quality finishing stone and I
feel lucky to have it, but I'd love to learn a bit
more about its history.
 
Thanks,
Rex in Tucson 

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

Rex and Galoots,

I can't add much to this other than a "me too."  I
have a slightly smaller oil stone that I used for my
fine stone for a year or so before I noticed "Deerlick
Oil Stone Co." impregnated in the stone.  It is more
brown in color than any other fine oilstone that I
have.

At least we now know that the company was from Chagrin
Falls, maybe some northeast Ohio galoot will be
inspired to do some research.

A search of the DAT did not turn up any information.

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi.

- Robert CARPENTER  wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>      I recently refurbished and flattened an old
> oilstone I got as part of a "big box" purchase of
> old
> tools.  It is an extremely fine-grained stone that
> puts a finish on my tools about the same as a
> 2000-4000 grit waterstone.  I
> It says Deerlick Oil Stone Co., Chagrin Falls O. 
>     The only reference I can find online to this
> company is an old catalog, for sale for $40 and
> dated
> 1902.
>      Does anyone know anything about this outfit? 
It
> seem to be a very high quality finishing stone and I
> feel lucky to have it, but I'd love to learn a bit
> more about its history.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

A quick search via Google comes up with:

http://www.old-woodworking-tools.com/index/pages/034.htm

Besides the foregoing, there is an endless number of other kinds of Oil 
Stones, among them the " Deerlick," 'Seneca," "Niagara," "Chocolate," "Lake 
Superior," "Hindostan," etc., all of which are used as substitutes for the 
Washita. None of them are claimed to be any better than the Washita, and, in 
our judgment, none of them are equal to anything better than a second 
quality Washita.

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Hone

The finer kind, known as Arkansas hone, is obtained in small pieces at the 
Hot Springs, and the second quality, distinguished as Washita stone, comes 
from Washita or Ouachita river. The hones yield on analysis 98% of silica, 
with small proportions of alumina, potash and soda, and mere traces of iron, 
lime, magnesia and fluorine. They are white in colour, extremely hard and 
keen in grit, and not easily worn down or broken. Geologically the materials 
are called novaculites, and are supposed to be metamorphosed sandstone silt, 
chert or limestone resulting from the permeation through the mass of heated 
alkaline siliceous waters. The finer kind is employed for fine cutting 
instruments, and also for polishing steel pivots of watch-wheels and similar 
minute work, the second and coarser quality being used for common tools. 
Both varieties are largely exported from the United States in the form of 
blocks, slips, pencils, rods and wheels. Other honestones are obtained in 
the United States from New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Ohio (Deerlick 
stone)

I could find no record of Vermont, Ohio but did find a spelunker reference 
to a Deerlick Cave in northeast Ohio.

Dennis Heyza
Macomb MI
 

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

About Deerlick stones I quoted -

> blocks, slips, pencils, rods and wheels. Other honestones are obtained in 
> the United States from New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Ohio (Deerlick 
> stone)

Then wrote -

> I could find no record of Vermont, Ohio but did find a spelunker reference 
> to a Deerlick Cave in northeast Ohio.

I now realize that was Vermont (state), Ohio. Duh.

Dennis

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

A few weeks ago Rex Carpenter wondered about Deerlick Oil Stone Company. Jim 
Crammond mentioned he possessed one of their stones. At the time I did a 
quick web search and found that Deerlick stones came from an area of 
northeast Ohio near the Deerlick Falls, and were one of the many types of 
honing stones that competed the well known Arkansas stones.

Now, thanks to some help from Pat Zalba, a sweet lady and curator of the 
Chagrin Falls (Ohio) Historical Society, I have some additional information 
that may be of interest.

NOTE - the following was gleaned from articles that appeared in the Chagrin 
Falls Exponent, a weekly newspaper published from 1874-1963.

11/11/1886 - Deer Lick Stone Company organized by M.B. and Z.L. Kent.

02/17/1887 - DeerLick Whetstone Co. reports bright outlook for business.

12/28/1893 - Z.L. Kent sails to Europe on Deerlick Company sales trip.

03/29/1894 - Deerlick Company reports large volume of trade. Z.L. Kent on 
sales trip to Russia.

02/03/1898 - Deerlick Oil Stone Co. incorporates in Columbus with $20,000 in 
capital. Incorporators areMarcus Morton, Willis Victory, Chas. S. Bentley, 
L.B. Beers, and N.C. Brooks.

12/08/1898 - H.S. Kent purchases old C.F. paper mill building on River 
Street in rear of Exponent offices - to be fitted for warehouse and offices 
of Deerlick Oil Stone Company.

05/14/1903 - Deerlick Oil Stone Co. purchases Frazer's Mill building on 
River Street and consilidates operations at that location.

07/02/1903 - Deerlick Oil Stone purchases old Bullard & March turning mill 
for timbers.

02/11/1904 - Deerlick Oil Stone purchases giant chestnut tree of J.W. 
Harvey, Bainbridge, Ohio for $25. Tree measures five feet in diameter. Will 
yield estimated 3000 board feet of lumber to be used for oilstone cases.

11/25/1909 - M.B. and Z.L. Kent sell Deerlick Oil Stone Company to eastern 
interests due to lack of operating capital. Company sells products in all 
states and many foreign countries.

12/30/1909 - Carborundum Company announces they are "eastern interests" 
which bought Deerlick Oil Stone Company. H.S. Kent attends yearly meeting of 
salesmen.

And that, as Paul Harvey says, is the rest of the story.

Dennis Heyza - pondering getting 3000 BF of chestnut for 25 bucks
Macomb MI

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

oh, it'd just be sitting around cluttering the place up, eh? ;-)

>Dennis Heyza - pondering getting 3000 BF of chestnut for 25 bucks
>Macomb MI

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

On Sep 13, 2006, at 7:46 PM, Dennis Heyza wrote:

> Deerlick Oil Stone purchases giant chestnut tree of J.W. Harvey,  
> Bainbridge, Ohio for $25. Tree measures five feet in diameter. Will  
> yield estimated 3000 board feet of lumber to be used for oilstone  
> cases.

I'd sure like to have that, even at twice the price...

---------
Dan Miller
Dragonfly Canoe Works
http://dragonflycanoe.com

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

according to st. roy, in "the woodwright's companion", the following  
comes from "the annual report of the geological survey of arkansas of  
1890," chapter 3, "whetstones and novaculites of arkansas".

forthwith:

ohio:  sandstones are found at berea in cuyahoga county, amherst in  
lorain county, hocking river in hocking county, manchester in summit  
county, and farmington and mesopotamia in trumbull county.

new hampshire:  a fine-grained stone from lisbon in grafton county  
was known as the "chocolate."  those from orford came from the shore  
of indian pond and were sold under the "indian pond" brand name.   
other grafton county stones are found at littleton, haverill, and  
piermont.  a silurian novaculite is found at tamworth in carroll county.

new york:  there is silurian and cambrian novaculite slate in  
columbia county at clermont, germantown, greenport, livingstone,  
rogers island, stockport, and stuyvesant.  there is sandstone at  
labrador lake in cortland county and beaver kill river and monticello  
in delaware county.  silurian whetslates are found in rensselaer county.

vermont:  there are oilstone quarries on an island in lake  
memphremagog.  the island is about seven miles west of stansted  
village.  one quarry is now entirely underwater and the other partly  
so.  these were large quarries with stones of good repute.  there is  
cambrian novaculite slate at thetford in orange county and at  
guilford and marlborough in windham county.  huronian mica schist is  
in windsor county at ludlow, plymouth, and stockbridge.  cambrian  
mica schist is found in newport, trasburg, and brownington.  there is  
huronian talcose schist at northfield in washington county and mica  
schist at berkshire and fairfield in franklin county.

at least it says where "chocolate" is from.  without knowing if the  
deerlick stones were of a fine-grained sandstone (silurian sandstone  
can be remarkably fine-grained) or of novaculite, it'd be harder to  
narrow it down further than this, i guess.

paul's slate could be novaculite slate, either cambrian or silurian.   
true arkansas novaculites are lower siluran, and are fairly thickly- 
bedded (hence their abundance).

i am a hard-arkansas/lily-white washita/medium india man, myself.

cool thread.

bill
felton, ca

On Sep 13, 2006, at 7:52 PM, Dennis Heyza wrote:
> When I first tried to track down this company I found references to  
> the following types of domestic honing stones: Deerlick, Seneca,  
> Niagara, Chocolate and Lake . States identified as sources were New  
> York, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Ohio.
>
> One reference implied these were all of "lesser quality" than the  
> Arkansas, although it sounds like the Deerlick Company was at least  
> moderately successful, with distribution across the 48 (or however  
> many states there were c1900) and overseas.
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Schobernd"  
> 
> Subject: Re: [OldTools] Re: Deerlick Oil Stone Co?
>> Dennis and Galoots, Does anybody know if the Deerlick Stones were  
>> Novaculite or another mineral?  I never thought about what other   
>> types of natural stone in the U.S. were sold other than the  
>> Arkansas  Novaculite. I do have a couple old stones that appear to  
>> be closer  to slate than anything else, but that is about it for  
>> diversity in my  stable.  I remain a diehard user of Arkansas  
>> stones, but I'd like to  hear what native stones others are  
>> using.  Paul in Normal
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dennis and Galoots, Does anybody know if the Deerlick Stones were  
Novaculite or another mineral?  I never thought about what other  
types of natural stone in the U.S. were sold other than the Arkansas  
Novaculite.  I do have a couple old stones that appear to be closer  
to slate than anything else, but that is about it for diversity in my  
stable.  I remain a diehard user of Arkansas stones, but I'd like to  
hear what native stones others are using.  Paul in Normal

On Sep 13, 2006, at 6:46 PM, Dennis Heyza wrote:

> A few weeks ago Rex Carpenter wondered about Deerlick Oil Stone  
> Company. Jim Crammond mentioned he possessed one of their stones.  
> At the time I did a quick web search and found that Deerlick stones  
> came from an area of northeast Ohio near the Deerlick Falls, and  
> were one of the many types of honing stones that competed the well  
> known Arkansas stones.
>

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

Paul,

When I first tried to track down this company I found references to the 
following types of domestic honing stones: Deerlick, Seneca, Niagara, 
Chocolate and Lake . States identified as sources were New York, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, and Ohio.

One reference implied these were all of "lesser quality" than the Arkansas, 
although it sounds like the Deerlick Company was at least moderately 
successful, with distribution across the 48 (or however many states there 
were c1900) and overseas.

Dennis

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Schobernd" 
Subject: Re: [OldTools] Re: Deerlick Oil Stone Co?

> Dennis and Galoots, Does anybody know if the Deerlick Stones were 
> Novaculite or another mineral?  I never thought about what other  types of 
> natural stone in the U.S. were sold other than the Arkansas  Novaculite. 
> I do have a couple old stones that appear to be closer  to slate than 
> anything else, but that is about it for diversity in my  stable.  I remain 
> a diehard user of Arkansas stones, but I'd like to  hear what native 
> stones others are using.  Paul in Normal

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

Bill, thanks for the info and reference.  I'll have to go back and  
read that section of St. Roy.  While we are on the subject of natural  
sharpening stones----what do you folks across the Pond and in Oz or  
elsewhere for that matter use for sharpening stones?  I am sort of  
assuming that people everywhere had to find local resources at some  
point in their history even if they are using man-made or imported  
stones today.

When I was a boy I mowed a lot of cemeteries with my grandfather-- 
lots of relatives who didn't share the same religion so they got  
buried all over the place! The old man always used a file and  
carborundum stones on mower blades and relatively rough work.  But,  
he had what appeared to be a local stone in that it was sort of  
irregular.  It was tan and as I remember was very very fine---this  
was for pocket knives, kitchen knives and butchering knives before  
they were stropped. He used kerosene on it and it was well-dished,  
but he didn't seem to mind.  Of course, I have seen folks sharpen  
with water on limestone or spit on old flat marble tombstones! Seems  
like where there is a will to sharpen, something always seems to turn  
up.  Paul in Normal

On Sep 13, 2006, at 11:04 PM, Bill Kasper wrote:

> according to st. roy, in "the woodwright's companion", the  
> following comes from "the annual report of the geological survey of  
> arkansas of 1890," chapter 3, "whetstones and novaculites of  
> arkansas".
>
> forthwith:
>
> ohio:  sandstones are found at berea in cuyahoga county, amherst in  
> lorain county, hocking river in hocking county, manchester in  
> summit county, and farmington and mesopotamia in trumbull county.
>
> new hampshire:  a fine-grained stone from lisbon in grafton county  
> was known as the "chocolate."  those from orford came from the  
> shore of indian pond and were sold under the "indian pond" brand  
> name.  other grafton county stones are found at littleton,  
> haverill, and piermont.  a silurian novaculite is found at tamworth  
> in carroll county.
>
> new york:  there is silurian and cambrian novaculite slate in  
> columbia county at clermont, germantown, greenport, livingstone,  
> rogers island, stockport, and stuyvesant.  there is sandstone at  
> labrador lake in cortland county and beaver kill river and  
> monticello in delaware county.  silurian whetslates are found in  
> rensselaer county.
>
> vermont:  there are oilstone quarries on an island in lake  
> memphremagog.  the island is about seven miles west of stansted  
> village.  one quarry is now entirely underwater and the other  
> partly so.  these were large quarries with stones of good repute.   
> there is cambrian novaculite slate at thetford in orange county and  
> at guilford and marlborough in windham county.  huronian mica  
> schist is in windsor county at ludlow, plymouth, and stockbridge.   
> cambrian mica schist is found in newport, trasburg, and  
> brownington.  there is huronian talcose schist at northfield in  
> washington county and mica schist at berkshire and fairfield in  
> franklin county.
>
> at least it says where "chocolate" is from.  without knowing if the  
> deerlick stones were of a fine-grained sandstone (silurian  
> sandstone can be remarkably fine-grained) or of novaculite, it'd be  
> harder to narrow it down further than this, i guess.
>
> paul's slate could be novaculite slate, either cambrian or  
> silurian.  true arkansas novaculites are lower siluran, and are  
> fairly thickly-bedded (hence their abundance).
>
> i am a hard-arkansas/lily-white washita/medium india man, myself.
>
> cool thread.
>
> bill
> felton, ca
>
> On Sep 13, 2006, at 7:52 PM, Dennis Heyza wrote:
>> When I first tried to track down this company I found references  
>> to the following types of domestic honing stones: Deerlick,  
>> Seneca, Niagara, Chocolate and Lake . States identified as sources  
>> were New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Ohio.
>>
>> One reference implied these were all of "lesser quality" than the  
>> Arkansas, although it sounds like the Deerlick Company was at  
>> least moderately successful, with distribution across the 48 (or  
>> however many states there were c1900) and overseas.
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Schobernd"  
>> 
>> Subject: Re: [OldTools] Re: Deerlick Oil Stone Co?
>>> Dennis and Galoots, Does anybody know if the Deerlick Stones were  
>>> Novaculite or another mineral?  I never thought about what other   
>>> types of natural stone in the U.S. were sold other than the  
>>> Arkansas  Novaculite. I do have a couple old stones that appear  
>>> to be closer  to slate than anything else, but that is about it  
>>> for diversity in my  stable.  I remain a diehard user of Arkansas  
>>> stones, but I'd like to  hear what native stones others are  
>>> using.  Paul in Normal
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> --
> 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
>
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Paul and Beth Schobernd
paul.schobernd@v...

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

One minor cavil with the research Bill  dug up--:



Nope.  Sullivan County.

John Wadsworth,  in Delhi, Delaware County, NY  

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

    John, Sounds as if the federal government may not have known  
exactly where the sandstone was located or which county the town was  
in. Hard to tell how they collected the information in 1890.  Is the  
sandstone quarried at all or has it ever been?  I am beginning to get  
really fascinated with the possibility of gathering representative  
stones from some of these places.  Where we use mostly high carbon  
steel in old tools, these stones would still be viable alternatives!   
A rock is is a pretty cool old tool!  Paul in Normal

On Sep 14, 2006, at 8:31 AM, JTWad@a... wrote:

>
> One minor cavil with the research Bill  dug up--:
>
>  county>
>
> Nope.  Sullivan County.
>
> John Wadsworth,  in Delhi, Delaware County, NY
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> --
> 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://www.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswingle/archive/faq.html
>
> OldTools archive: http://www.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswingle/archive/
>
> OldTools@r...
> http://ruckus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools

Paul and Beth Schobernd
paul.schobernd@v...

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