DE Razor Hones - Uranium Glass

[TheVez2]

I have a few glass, DE blade hones in my collection. Two Lilicrap's hones and one McKee hone.

Many of you have seen the Lilicrap's hones discussed by others around the board. It is often stated that the are made from Uranium Glass which fluoresces under a black (UV) light. What I haven seen discussed is the fact that only some of the Lilicrap's hones are uranium glass and the others are just regular green glass.

Uranium glass (also called Vaseline glass) fluoresces due to the addition of uranium oxide. In 1942 the British Government confiscated stocks of uranium oxide for War. So hones made after that were just green glass.

Well, I have one of each.

My McKee hone could possibly also be made from Vaseline glass, as it too fluoresces. Vaseline glass comes in many different colors, not just green.

I have not tried to use them to actually hone any blades, because these were meant to hone carbon steel blades and do no work (so I've read) on modern coated blades.

Here are my hones on regular light, and UV.

 

[DaltonGang]

I have a glass hone, and haven't had luck with SS blades.

 

[DCRIII]

Those are pretty cool.

 

[fightingillini22]

Looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. So cool!

 

[Ad Astra]

Was going to say, how cool is that!

AA

 

[TheVez2]

Those are pretty cool.

So cool!

Was going to say, how cool is that!

I know. I love uranium glass. I have a whole collection of uranium glassware. It was ultra cool to find these pieces that fit two different hobbies. I've also been working some of my other pieces into my den.

 

[TheVez2]

Here's a couple other pieces I use in my den. The furniture coaster makes a nice place to set my brush to dry, and keeps any water drips off my shelf. The glass bowl is a good place to keep my current razor and I use it to soak my brush prior to lathering.

 

[BSAGuy]

Cool hones. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ashcampbell]

Very nice!

 

[Blade4vor]

Silly question? Does the uranium oxide made these pieces radioactive?

 

[Slash McCoy]

Kryptonite!

i have a few glass, de blade hones in my collection. Two lilicrap's hones and one mckee hone.

Many of you have seen the lilicrap's hones discussed by others around the board. It is often stated that the are made from uranium glass which fluoresces under a black (uv) light. What i haven seen discussed is the fact that only some of the lilicrap's hones are uranium glass and the others are just regular green glass.

Uranium glass (also called vaseline glass) fluoresces due to the addition of uranium oxide. In 1942 the british government confiscated stocks of uranium oxide for war. So hones made after that were just green glass.

Well, i have one of each.

My mckee hone could possibly also be made from vaseline glass, as it too fluoresces. Vaseline glass comes in many different colors, not just green.

I have not tried to use them to actually hone any blades, because these were meant to hone carbon steel blades and do no work (so i've read) on modern coated blades.

Here are my hones on regular light, and uv.

View attachment 583238

View attachment 583239

View attachment 583240

 

[TheVez2]

Silly question? Does the uranium oxide made these pieces radioactive?

They will register on a Geiger counter, so I've read. But they are completely safe. You get more exposure from background radiation in your everyday life, than you do from these.

 

[DonMac]

I have a number of these glass hones in various flavors. They actually do work well in maintaining the edge. They will not sharpen a dull blade, but will maintain a blade in a sharp condition much longer.
For those of you who have one, I would suggest that next time you note your blade performance starting to decrease, use the glass hone and then immediately continue shaving, and you will note an improvement in perceived sharpness. I use mine all the time.

One thing to remember, which has been previously mentioned, is that these devices were originally intended for softer carbon steel blades, so instead of using five or ten strokes, use 100 and you'll note there is a significant difference in your shave. 100 strokes on each side of the blade takes less than 2 minutes total time.

Good luck and enjoy your shaves!

 

[chongo gordo]

Glowing green glass, so cool.

Also, great tip about furniture coaster for brushes. I'm going to keep an eye open for that.

 

[Blade4vor]

They will register on a Geiger counter, so I've read. But they are completely safe. You get more exposure from background radiation in your everyday life, than you do from these.

Thanks, KJ! They're really interesting pieces. I'd never heard of uranium glass before this.

 

[DonMac]

The concept behind the glass hones is that they are a lower grade less refined glass with a slight abrasive quality. That's why they work better than a standard drinking glass. Holding a light behind the glass hone, you can see that the glass is not as fine or clear as regular glass.
I've tried to restore dull blades by using them, and they do not work. However when used regularly to maintain a keen edge, they work well. Again, remember stainless steel blades require more strokes.

 

[emwolf]

coming back to this thread. I had purchased a McKee hone a couple years ago. I thought it would be just an addition to my "old shaving stuff" collection. Recently I participated in a blade PIF for Elios blades. I found them to be less than ideal, tugging rather than cutting. I used about 30 strokes per side on the hone and the effect was miraculous. I've since used it on other blades that I had never enjoyed before with similar results. This is amazing! Now, I generally get butter smooth shaves from Nacet right out of the box, but my next change-up I want to try the hone on a Nacet to see if there's an improvement there.