I purchased this hone off the bay included in a lot. It was housed in a mismatched hone box, so it seems the former owner at least wanted to protect it. There are no maker’s markings and it’s 5 and 1/2 inches long by 2 and 1/8 inches wide. The color is dark chocolate brown and it appears to have white speckles throughout which I tried to capture in the photos. I washed the hone with soap just in case the white speckles were some sort of residue, but they didn’t wash off. It seems like a very fine grit. The surface is very smooth. The hone’s edges are chamfered on one face only. I wetted the hone with plain water which just beads up on the surface. Any ideas?
Hone Identification?
- Thread starter Honedright
- Start date
Maybe a Lisbon chocolate hone? I don't remember if they have white spots though. Does it feel like a slate? Novaculite? Sandstone?
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- #3
The surface feels almost glass smooth. I have a cream colored Belgian that feels similar but smoother. I don’t have any that you mentioned to compare.
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Does it ring when you tap it with a knife blade or make a muted "tink" like on a Belgian?
Hard to say from the pics but I’d guess it’s a synthetic Barbers Hone.
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- #7
Tried both with a metal butter knife. Both sounded the same to me, a muted “tink” sound.
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- #8
That was my first guess, until I noticed the light colored speckles. All of my synthetics are uniform in color.
Then I'd guess chocolate hone(I've never had one in hand) or some mystery slate.
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- #10
Ok, thank you. I’ll just have to try it out with one of my razors and see what it does.
Can't tell if it is a barber's hone or not but plenty of them turn up with spotting like that. I"ve had dozens with similar spotting. I suppose that it's caused by the binder and composition breaking down over time.
Could be anything though - I wouldn't go guessing it's some sort of obscure thing right off the bat though.
Could be anything though - I wouldn't go guessing it's some sort of obscure thing right off the bat though.
I'd lean towards degrading barber synth as well... sorry.
