For sale is a vintage XX BLACK DIAMOND RAZOR HONE or WHETSTONE from the AM Hone Company, Olean, NY. This razor sharpening stone is in very good condition. The stone measures about 5 1/4 inches, by 2 inches, and by 1/2 inches. Razor shown in listing is sold separately. A great vintage stone for display or use with your vintage razor.
A “whetstone” is called that because the word “whet” means to sharpen or incite. The term originally referred to the act of sharpening a blade, not to the use of water or oil with the stone. So, a whetstone is simply a stone used for sharpening.
The company made honing stones for sharpening knives, scissors, and anything else that had an edge on it. The company’s most well known stone was “00 Frictionite”. Barber shops all over the world bought them because they worked better than anything else available. Lumberjacks were the biggest customers for these stones who used them to sharpen their axe heads for competitions. These stones could be used with water or oil, or they could be used dry. In the hone industry, these stones were referred to as ‘hot hones’ because they were actually baked to manufacture them using natural ingredients in the form of grit powders from various stones and silica from all over the United States.
