I made a celt by pecking and grinding.  What was the old way to polish them, short of cutting down a lot of trees?  Bill

I tried that, after about an hour, I really couldn't see much polish, the scratches from the sand stone were (still are) pretty noticeable.  I know where some silt mud is, I am going to put that on a board and try that.  I have about 80 hours in the celt so far, I have made it the old fashioned way to get an idea of how hard it is to make one of these.  So far, I have blown of a large chunk that pretty much made me start over, got about 80% done the second time and broke it in half, got 90% finished and broke the corner off the blade.  Pecked when I should have ground, got in a hurry when I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.  Finished grinding everything today, it was going to be about 9 inches (23cm) and about 1 inch (25mm) thick, now it is 4 inches (10cm) by 3/4 inch (15mm).  Next, I start the handle, I think I will use a piece of Eastern Red Cedar.  I am going to split and start grinding on it sometime tomorrow.  Bill