How old masons kept their tools sharp ...

[Paul Rigby <rigby@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steve

I recall reading in Micheangelo's autobiograhical writings and in a
biography on him as well, references to working daily with the preparation
of tools.

I cannot substantiate this without going back to the books. But my
impression was that at that time one had a forge going and tools were
continually being worked.  This was probably economically viable since
the work was done in fairly large studios (factory like) and there would
be sufficient work to justify this expense.

My own supposition (again without substantiation) is that the blacksmiths
probably knew more than we may credit them regarding hardening/ tempering
of tools.  This would have been very valuable proprietary knowledge and
may simply have gone undocumented.

I would be very interested in following your research on this issue.

Paul Rigby