Making water stones

[Marius Nostro Titus]

Hi

 

This is a short discription covering the selection of stone for, and the making of water stones.

The type of stone needs to be suitably abrasive and have a homogenous grit. It should also be able to produce a slurry that helps with the abrasion. Stones can be the same grit but of varying hardness while some produce more slurry than others. It takes about one full day to make a stone and the slurry produced during the shaping is collected for future use.

 

First a piece of the required stone is selected and removed.

 

It is then trimmed to a rough outline using a hammer and chisels.

 

The outline is then cleaned up on a rough surfacing stone.

 

After rough surfacing the stone is given a smooth and level surface on a finer surfacing stone. It is now ready for use.

 

Here is another stone being surfaced. This one contains volcanic ash and clay minerals that give a finer finish.

 

Due to changes in sea level and volcanic activity there is a great variety of sedimentary stones to choose from in my home town although care is always taken to remove them in such a way that it doesn't cause an eyesore in the field.

 

Marius

[Brian Chan]

Marius,

 

Thanks for the educational photo essay,

I'm always looking for good sources of water stones.

 

How do you identify a good usable stone when in the field?

[Janel]

Thanks Marius,

 

Do you know the geological terms for the locations of such deposits? Sedimentary deposits yes, but would those deposits be positioned in relation to other sorts of features? Are there known deposits in the various continents on which our members live? More questions for sure, but not for this time.

 

Janel

[Marius Nostro Titus]

The best locations are places with deep marine or lake bed deposits. It should be possible to check geological maps of local areas that indicate the spots where there are appropriate outcrops. Certain types of shales, limestones and siltstone with soft clay content work well as well as fine sandstones with a clay mineral cement. At the end it comes down to experimenting with what you have untill you find something that works well.

 

Marius

[DCallaghan]

One of Roy Underhill's first woodwright books talked about looking for a sharpening stone quarry in North Carolina. This was most likely based on one of his early TV shows at one time you could get copies of his shows but I don't know if the old ones are still available.

 

David Callaghan