My shave results; edge comparisons.

[SliceOfLife]

I've got a handful of new hones to rank and score; and rather than resurrect my 3 year old barbers hone thread, with outdated camera images and a ton of junky hones not worth the time to test; I figured I'd do a reboot of sorts. Not planning to keep it exclusive to barber synths, and using a simpler rating system of 50 + 50. Max 50 pts for shave comfort, and max 50 pts for shave closeness.

Comfort
0-25. Shaves not able to be completed because razor was cutting, biting, tugging, etc.
25-30 Shave was completed, but strongly considered abandoning
30-35 Shave was completed with significant irritation afterwards
35-40 Shave was completed with minor irritation and significant alcohol burn afterwards
40-50 Quality shave with indicated amounts of acceptable tightness, dryness, or slight discomfort.

Closeness
0-25 Not a shave. Inferior results to a single pass shave from a sharp razor
25-30 Equal results to what is attainable from a single pass shave with a sharp razor
30-35 Inferior shave. Beard can be felt in most directions across face and neck
35-40 Borderline shave. Beard can be felt with skin stretched ATG exclusively across face, XTG at tricky to shave area's.
40-45 Acceptable shave. Beard can be felt with skin stretched ATG in some hard to shave parts, but not all of face.
45-50 Exceptional shave. Beard can not be felt at all with skin stretched after shave. Score reflective of closeness of shave prior to 3rd pass.

 

[SliceOfLife]

To kick it off, a synthetic finishing Ambicut.

Ambicut is a very interesting barber's hone. Two-sided, and sold boxed with a rubbing stone. It evidently went through three iterations. The first, and seemingly most common, is a Thuringian back for finishing. The second, tested here, is a synthetic back. The third (which I've only heard of), was apparently a black hard arkansas back.

The feel of the stone is similar to a Frictionite, though noticeably softer and more resistant to glazing. In general, this stone struck me as being of exceptional quality for a Barber's synthetic... to be expected I suppose when the bar was set by a freaking Thuringian.

The shave did not disappoint. Though the way it moved through my beard was reminiscent of synthetics; it didn't struggle or scrape; and there was zero after-shave irritation. A shave comfortable enough to not require aftershave, were I not looking for alcohol burn... of which there was none.
My beard is just barely there at my trickiest spots (right under the hinge of my mandible)... otherwise a perfect shave. Honestly, this little synthetic may well give the Thuringian it replaced a run for its money. Very impressive.

46/50 comfort
45/50 closeness

overall:
91/100

 

[Ufgoodies]

interesting thread! no photos of the hone?

 

[SliceOfLife]

I was planning on just doing pictures of the hone for naturals, as they would be harder to identify without, But here are two pictures of the Ambicut reviewed above, Showing the seam that will designate it as a synthetic back versus their natural backs available. As well as a picture of the surface of the finishing side.


This thread's going to be pretty slow moving, as the last one was borderline torture with some of the hones being very uncomfortable shavers; so I'm not planning on doing a daily or even semidaily shave to test/review a stone. I'll probably be aiming for one a week or so.

 

[stone and strop]

What is the baseline prior to testing these?
Will you just be testing the finish side this time?

 

[SliceOfLife]

Scores are explained in detail above. Yes, just finish side off 8k.

 

[David]

Subscribed. I enjoyed your last thread and look forward to following this one. Let me know when you want the white norton razor hone.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Thanks. Yeah. I'm sure I'll get to that eventually. As long as you're not planning to sell it, I'll save it for once I work through the hones I've got on hand though.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Today, Itsapeech Barbers synthetic.

I bought this a few years ago based on several forum posts saying it was among the top tier (alongside things like Panama, Frictionite 00, Lakeside, and several other high demand ones) hones. If memory serves, it arrived just after I stopped updating the original barber hone review thread, and it got put in my box and not used until today.

It hones very fast, and consequently starts to get glazed much faster than the ambicut... but it is quite fine and leaves a very polished edge (that little chip looks like a very tiny piece of micropitting to me, not damage from the hone). It has a pretty good feel for honing, not great... and has a good amount of surface area for honing.

The shave feel reminded me a little of a really good swaty. Not quite as sharp, and more comfortable than I recall, though. It had some irritation. Spots where it felt like it was chewing through the beard, not smoothly cutting. It did feel a little less "synthetic" than the Ambicut; though... at times having a little of the "safe" feeling of a coticule, where it doesn't seem like it wants to cut the skin. There was a significant amount of aftershave burn and I felt the need for a shave balm after. All in all, it is among the top tier vintage barber hones, but I feel the tradeoff in comfort, aftershave feel and closeness of shave definitely put it a step below the Ambicut.

Comparing it as an option if you can find one cheap... I'd say it ranks notably below a good quality coticule or a thuringian; but above things like a Cnat or Welsh slate. I would pay more for one of these than those stones, but if I got close to the price where I could buy a 6x1.5" or bigger vintage coticule or thuringian... I'd definitely take those over it.

Comfort 36/50
Closeness 41.5/50

Total: 77.5/100

 

[SliceOfLife]

Today: Frictionite 00 Stamped Moravia

So I've got a couple 00's that are very different hones and as such will review them separately.

Uneventful shave. Fairly comfortable, though there was a bit of irritation here and there, and a little aftershave burn. Closeness is acceptable, but beard is felt in many places ATG with skin stretched.

Hone is very fast, but glazes quite rapidly as a consequence. Less fine than shave quality suggests, a well balanced mix of surprisingly aggressive abrasives.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Nice little barbers hones... not worth what they sell for.

Comfort: 38/50
Closeness: 40.5/50

Total: 78.5/100

 

[kcb5150]

Be interesting to see how different states of degradation affects the edge with the frictionite.

 

[David]

One of the hardest stones I’ve ever lapped was a 00. It had ~1/8” warp in it so I got it for cheap but it took days to lap out.

 

[SliceOfLife]

That was exactly how I got my first one. Same story. They are quite a bear to lap.

 

[Ufgoodies]

I've never used a barbers hone, so i have a couple noobie questions if you don't mind @SliceOfLife 1) this looks like the standard 00 version, not the deluxe, is this correct? 2) are barbers hones used with a medium, or dry?

 

[kcb5150]

Depends on the barbers hone.

 

[SliceOfLife]

In general, water. Even “dry” hones give better results with water for me.

Not a deluxe.

 

[Ufgoodies]

In general, water. Even “dry” hones give better results with water for me.

Not a deluxe.

thanks! I found a Deluxe the other day, and was curious how they compare. And thanks for the input on the water, this is my first barbers hone that hasn't been breadknifed like crazy

 

[stone and strop]

I've never used a barbers hone, so i have a couple noobie questions if you don't mind @SliceOfLife 1) this looks like the standard 00 version, not the deluxe, is this correct? 2) are barbers hones used with a medium, or dry?

The "deluxe" hone is the same composition as the fine side of the Frictionite.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I've heard that... but the pictures don't appear right. Like I said though, the 00 Frictionite appears to have more than one iterations, so maybe.

 

[stone and strop]

Randy had comfirmed this in another thread long ago - well, technically, it is only the same abrasive at the same grade (1200 F). He has all the recipes for AHC barber hones. I cant remember if the Deluxe had more colorant in it.