Well grinding slate is just something I've picked up, there is very VERY little information about it on the web other than "Yeah, people did it". The most well known being Inuit "ulu" knives. Everybody is into knapping instead. Yes, knapping makes much sharper and stronger edges, but slate is common (more so than knappable stone) and easy to work. Arrow points, spear heads, and small knives have been found made of ground slate. The saw is just something I wanted to try, I don't even know of any artifact stone saws.

Stone grinding is ridiculously simple though, just find yourself a chunk of slate. Home and garden shops sell slate paving stones, you can get a LOT of stone very cheap: a 12x12 inch paving stone is good for dozens upon dozens of arrow points. Slate cutting boards are another easy place to get slate, especially if you find one that somebody dropped and broke, because then they're free. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> You also need handy pieces of stone to grind with. Slate is soft, pretty much anything can be a grinder. You can break slate into thin sheets with a flat head screwdriver (I have a stone wedge I use instead for purity's sake). The only thing I must insist on and underscore for budding stone-grinders is that stone dust can lead to permanent health problems. Grind your stone wet so that the dust makes a slurry, and you don't breath it.

If you need some inspiration, here's some in-process shots of an arrowhead being made and some action shots of a stone ulu.

Making cordage though, there's lots of info on that. Just search for "cordage cattail" and pick your favorite. There are many other fibers that work well too, I just play with cattail a lot because it's easy to harvest and we have acres of the stuff.