Barber's Hone Advice

[thp001]

Many years ago there was a school of thought that lapping a barber hone would ruin it forever, kind of silly advice since a lot of barber hones had specific instructions to rub the surface with emery cloth to remove build up, refresh the surface or to make the honing action more aggressive. Well obviously, lapping a hone that is in good condition won't ruin it at all and may actually go some way to making one more useable: case in point below. A newly acquired hone from fellow forumite Wid went through the lapping procedure today, revealing in the process a dip in the center of the stone.

After running from grits 400-2000 I had three hones ready to take their inaugural petrolatum bath.

Once melted, the heat is turned off and the hones are submerged until the jelly re-solidifies. The hone will absorb some as evinced by the small bubbles. This softens the action of the hone somewhat and just conditions and restores some cohesion to the hone, can't really be explained but if you skip this step (you can use any kind of high quality, food safe, thick synthetic lubricant which can be safely heated either in a bath or with a heat gun) the hone feels 'dry' under the razor and the edge produced is lacking.

Once everything is cool and solid, pull the hones out and wipe them down. What I might do if the surface doesn't seem as glossy smooth as I would like is to use some mineral oil and re-lap the faces using 2/3K wet/dry using the oil. The Swaty type hone will go through this tomorrow but the other two turned out well. The Koenig is exceptionally smooth and by far the most silky, glassy feeling barber hone I have encountered to date. It was noticeably softer than the other two, generating a fair amount of slurry while lapping even on the finer grits. I have a strong feeling it is going to leave a better-than-average edge for these types of stones.

 

[eKretz]

I have been lapping barber hones for a very long time. I have also seen guys say that lapping them ruins them. I think probably that is due to their methodology. If you lap coarsely you end up with a hone not suitable for razor use. The surface needs to be brought up to a pretty fine level, much like Ark users do to their stones.

I have tried lots of different methods, and pretty much settled on loose grit SiC lapping up to a pretty fine grit, then with some, buffing. Grit level for lapping depends on the individual barber hone and whether the fine or coarse side. Some do better with buffing, some don't. You've sort of got to experiment a bit.

As far as barber hones producing a slurry, in my experience that's a sign of bond/binder deterioration. Every one of those I've run across has produced an edge not fit for much more than a pocketknife.

 

[thp001]

As far as barber hones producing a slurry, in my experience that's a sign of bond/binder deterioration. Every one of those I've run across has produced an edge not fit for much more than a pocketknife.

I was referring to the slurry produced while lapping not any slurry produced while honing on the stone. Would agree though that slurry while honing is a bad thing.

 

[eKretz]

I was referring to the slurry produced while lapping not any slurry produced while honing on the stone. Would agree though that slurry while honing is a bad thing.

Ah, I misunderstood. Sometimes I read too fast. And yes, it definitely is, heh.

Generally I prefer a barber hone to be a hard bond. Softer can be okay as long as it doesn't release any abrasive particles. I will be interested in your results with that one.

 

[thp001]

Revisiting this thread, been a while. Sold some hones, bought some new ones. The most recent being this Swaty. This is a very hard hone but it was in fairly good condition so didn’t take long to lap. Only needed to take this to 800 wet and dry paper, the surface is incredibly smooth and reflective at this grit, I think due to just how hard the hone is; usually I’d need to go to 1.5 to 2K. Pics before conditioning with petroleum jelly.

 

[Empire straights]

@thp001 in glad you resurrected this thread because I've been thinking about getting one of these. I've seen through the various sharpening forums littered across the internet hint at axe men using barbers hones for a quick touch up on their axes....I imagine im going to have lots of wood to split very soon so these have been somewhat seductive lately but I've made out so far with a very soft washita and my la lune slurry stone for a final polish. How aggressive are these?

 

[thp001]

@thp001 in glad you resurrected this thread because I've been thinking about getting one of these. I've seen through the various sharpening forums littered across the internet hint at axe men using barbers hones for a quick touch up on their axes....I imagine im going to have lots of wood to split very soon so these have been somewhat seductive lately but I've made out so far with a very soft washita and my la lune slurry stone for a final polish. How aggressive are these?

I haven’t tested this particular hone out but most barber hones are on the faster end of the spectrum and can be really very fine if lapped and conditioned appropriately.

That said, if you’re splitting wood, putting an edge on with a stone that fine is just not necessary. I am currently splitting wood for our property and I only put an edge on with a bastard cut file and maybe the fine side of a carborundum stone (I split using a maul as everyone should, don’t use an axe unless it’s designated for such like those fancy Swedish splitting axes with the much too short handles). An edge so fine will be ruined after splitting the first few rounds, wood has all sorts of dust and even small stones and pebbles in the bark especially.

If you’re felling with an axe then you might want a finer edge but honestly a washita is going to be plenty good enough. The barber hones, especially the Norton, were popular with axemen down under, maybe there’s some advantage in competition chopping but it’s nothing they wouldn’t have got by spending substantially less money for a modern, high grit waterstone or ceramic (Norton BHones were going for hundreds of dollars).

Todays work using a German made Oxenkopf Splitting Maul (my American maul handle needs replacing).

 

[Legion]

I haven’t tested this particular hone out but most barber hones are on the faster end of the spectrum and can be really very fine if lapped and conditioned appropriately.

That said, if you’re splitting wood, putting an edge on with a stone that fine is just not necessary. I am currently splitting wood for our property and I only put an edge on with a bastard cut file and maybe the fine side of a carborundum stone (I split using a maul as everyone should, don’t use an axe unless it’s designated for such like those fancy Swedish splitting axes with the much too short handles). An edge so fine will be ruined after splitting the first few rounds, wood has all sorts of dust and even small stones and pebbles in the bark especially.

If you’re felling with an axe then you might want a finer edge but honestly a washita is going to be plenty good enough. The barber hones, especially the Norton, were popular with axemen down under, maybe there’s some advantage in competition chopping but it’s nothing they wouldn’t have got by spending substantially less money for a modern, high grit waterstone or ceramic (Norton BHones were going for hundreds of dollars).

Todays work using a German made Oxenkopf Splitting Maul (my American maul handle needs replacing).

View attachment 1490340

Those racing axe guys hone their axes to a razor edge before each round, and I'm sure they are plenty dull after.

Much like putting a literal razor edge on a kitchen knife. It can be done, but it lasts up until the edge hits the cutting board.

 

[thp001]

Managed to bag three of these absolutely mint, NOS barber hones from the bay. Edlis is a barber supply company that is still around although now at a different location. Makes a good reference for when reconditioning used hones.

 

[thp001]

Final two hones arrived. Again, both as mint as the first one, slightly more worn box but still obviously unused.

 

[thp001]

High reflectivity at an angle but these look reasonably matte face on.

 

[Tanuki]

My modest assortment of locally found barber hones. This thread may push me to restoring them for use. The two sided Austrian 'best razor hone' at the bottom is unchipped, also devoid of a trademark or manufacturer.

 

[Timeclo]

There is something special about Barber's hone that draws me to them. Maybe it's the vintage aspect of it but I enjoy cleaning them up into better conditions. I cleaned up my Carborundum #106 recently and lapped it today from 120 - 1.5K and am soaking it in mineral oil for couple days. Before lapping it, it felt like my Shapton 1.5K but afterwards, it reminded me of the Shapton 12K haha. I think there is a difference once the hone is wet but there was a significant improvement in the feel of the hone and how fine it became.

I got couple more barber's hones on the way... I made some offers and they all accepted. My goal was a Franz Swaty but I got look-alikes instead. One hone that I am excited about is the Raven hone. I think the dark black color grabs my eyes and once I clean it up, it'll look sweet.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Vintage Barber hones can be pretty good... but honestly... The ones I'd use daily? Synth coti's and Maybe the synth Panama fine side, plus a couple mystery ones with no identifying marks. Maybe 1-2 more I'm forgetting... but in general both naturals (thuri/Jnat/PDSO/Coti) and modern synths beat out 99% of them, even famous ones like 00's, Lakesides, etc by a sizable margin.

 

[Timeclo]

I'm trying to see if there are alternate uses for the Barber's hones other than for maintenance.

Is it possible to finish a razor using a barber's hone? I'm thinking of course back side/finer front side barber's hone.

Plan is to set the bevel on my Shapton 1.5K to the max, take it to the courser side of Barber's hone, and then to the finer side of the barber's hone. Very minimal setup but I wonder if this will cut. More of a experimental take on the hones.

I got couple B-hones on the way... King, Crown, Swaty, and I got a Carbo that's soaking in mineral oil.

 

[taffy]

Reading this thread I have a unused barbers hone, some great information here

 

[SliceOfLife]

When I was starting, I was convinced that $150ish for the Nortons everyone recommended was too much, and I could do better. Dropped hundreds trying barber hones, cheap synths, whatever I could snag for a low price.

Now I've been doing this 15 yrs, I've owned more hones than I would need in a thousand lifetimes... I'm of the opinion that if it's not worth buying a decent set of hones... it's cheaper/better to just skip it and buy your razor/s shave ready and a touch up method.

For me, the best set of hones for razor honing are DMT EF, DMT EE and a good natural finisher. We're talking ~$200 and up invested depending on your finisher. If you're honing a lot of razors, that's not expensive. If you're not honing a lot of razors (or using the hones for something else)... why bother buying yourself a set of razor hones?

Now if it's just a "can it be done" experiment for fun? I totally get that. More power to you. But if it's a "Is this a viable way to save money"... I'd say no.


That said, Frictionites (00 and others) usually have a pretty muscley low grit side... so they'd be a good option. Ahconite has an insanely fast coarse side (but fine side isn't a very good shave). There's definitely a lot of options that might be worthwhile.

 

[Wid]

Was looking for this thread today. Trying my hand at refinishing a Swaty that came in a bundle. Lapped it at 220 sic to 600 sic the 1K wet/dry. Put a coat of Vaseline on it and will see how it is in the morning.

 

[Wid]

Cleaned the Vaseline off and just buffed with a soft cloth. The shave from it was actually pretty good.

 

[HoneThis]

Question about those Norton Hones that the axe racing guys love… are there any dedicated forums where you can see/talk to the guys who use them? I don’t own one, nor looking to buy one, but I do have some questions I’d like to see about getting answers to. All the forums I’ve found thst mentioned them are razor forums, and they only discuss value and the fact that Australian axe competitors love them.

Anyone know where I might find such axe dudes hanging out on the interwebs?