Thread: Maintain razor using a barbers hone?

Originally Posted by BYUTexan

the whole point would be to avoid having to buy a regular hone or send them in to get honed professionally.

Well, the original post implied that they would be sent off initially to be honed by a pro. Depending on how many razors you have, the money spent having them honed would more than cover a "regular" hone. The same technique applies, so the work you do maintaining them on a barber's hone would only get better and you would have a more confident hand if you learned to set bevels and do the initial honing yourself as well. If you can learn to maintain, you can learn to get the edge to the point of maintenance.

So while were on the topic (and im sure there r threads about this ) is it better to touch up on a barbers hone or chrome ox. ?

A two sided barber hone, like a Keen Kutter Kombination, is very handy for low cost honing. You actually get two hones, a side capable of sharpening and the other for finishing. I recently honed up two new razors, both now give close shaves. Yes, it took a couple hundred passes on the sharpening side, followed by 10-20 on the finishing side. Then CrO paddle, linen and leather. But the final result is just as good as my other razors.

Hello, everyone:

This has been a most useful thread in producing commentary along the same stream on the usefulness of the barber's hone.

The one thing I must add to the commentary is my hearty nod to the quality of Xman's honing video. My dear X, this is excellent work. No gimmicks, no extraneous talk, to the point, and quite instructive.

Thanks for creating a little gem of a honing video.

Regards,

Obie
obieyadgar.com

I used a barber hone for a few years before I decided to get more hones. Even now my barber hone is my finisher. I still don't have a lot of money invested in hones, and the barber hone continues to prove itself.

Originally Posted by thewatermark

So while were on the topic (and im sure there r threads about this ) is it better to touch up on a barbers hone or chrome ox. ?

Yes.... and no.

Barbers hones have a reputation for being very different.
Some are fast, some slow, smooth, rough.... In general
they are all light touch, five strokes and you are finished hones.

CrOx is softer and finer than all but perhaps the finest barber hone.

I think the only answer that makes sense to me is that CrOx being
less abrasive is better to use as a touch up first. Eventually CrOx
will not improve the edge so a more aggressive hone will be needed
and a good barber hone could do the trick. If you have one
of the better barber hones sure, a bad one no.

One hint might be to use lather with a barber hone unless it
is one of the rare ones that does not need it.

Edit: I am not sure but if you are on Ebray and the barber hone
has an original box it is not as good as a well used one. The good
box might have held a hone that was almost never used.... If the
odds are 1 in four of winning a good hone for less than 40 bucks
the smart money goes for a modern man made finisher.

I have a 2 line swaty, but havent lapped it yet, also it seems to wick away water when water is put on it is that normal?

Originally Posted by thewatermark

I have a 2 line swaty, but havent lapped it yet, also it seems to wick away water when water is put on it is that normal?

How does it hone without lapping (try it first).
It may have a fine and useful polish that you
may wish to keep and enjoy. Or is it too abused
for this....

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

How does it hone without lapping (try it first).
It may have a fine and useful polish that you
may wish to keep and enjoy. Or is it too abused
for this....

Haven't tried it , i always thought u had to lap it first before you use any hone, but actually its in extremely good shape( a little too good) it is super smooth to the touch and like i said when i put water on it it wicks it away and its hard to keep water on it , so should i use lather, or oil? sorry for the iphone pics

Take some scotch brite and wash it down good. The old barber who gave me my first Swaty in the '80s used them dry. Get any residual gunk off of it that may have accumulated over the years and try it without lapping. If it works well it won't be an issue and if it doesn't you can always lap it.

I have used them with water as a finisher before I had high grit hones and as a re-touch hone dry. They are a brute to lap unless you have something like a DMTXX so if it was me I would try it cleaned up and as is. I have a long one that I've used (with the x stroke) and never lapped and it works spiffy.

Here are the instructions that came with a NOS Swaty I got awhile ago.