Ever seen a sharpening stone like this?

[george wilson]

This is an unusual sharpening stone I picked up ages ago. It is NOT a scythe stone. It is round in cross section,and is made of the same very fine reddish brown material as some old razor stones. I have found it handy for carving tools,but do not really know what its primary purpose was.

[David Weaver]

Never anything other than conical or cylindrical. I wonder what it was for.

[Carl L Goff]

I don't know for sure but it could be used to sharpen knives on a sycle bar for a horse drawn mowing machine without taking the knives off the cycle bar. Just a guess but it would work for that.

[george wilson]

As I mentioned,it is like a RAZOR stone,exceedingly fine. It's ONLY good for putting the finishing touch on an already fine edge.

[James Taglienti]

george, maybe it was manufactured for gouges and such... you know I've found some pretty fine stones that were likely scythe stones but none that were truly round in cross section.

[Jonathan McCullough]

I'm not an authority, but the first thing I thought of was the bevel on all the incannel gouges I've gotten recently.

[Jim Koepke]

After honing the bevel on an out cannel gouge, there is often a bit of a wire edge on the inside that a fine stone would be good to use for clearing away.

jtk

[Dan Andrews]

I have a hook bill fixed blade knife that I was told was a carpet knife. That stone would be just the ticket for sharpening that, though a bit larger than necessary.