This whetstone was recovered in 1995 during a highway salvage project undertaken by Kansas Historical Society archeologists at a Chautauqua County farmstead. Whetstones are also called sharpening stones or water stones. The term "whet" was originally used to specifically describe the sharpening of a blade, though now it is often simply used to mean sharpen. This whetstone is a rectangular block with a fine grain grit for honing a tool edge.