Thread: Touch up - Barbers hone

Well I've been shaving about a month now and my barbers hone arrived. Thought I'd try it out. It is a BOSS that I found on a vintage site and looked as though it had never been used. Even had the original packaging. I cleaned it using soap/water then lathered it up as seen on videos on utube, then 5 laps as described in the hone instructions followed by about 30 laps on a leather strop.

My shave wasn't exactly what I'd call bad before the touch up and I did notice a little difference after the touchup, but nothing exceptional. I've read here to do the touch up when I feel pulling and I've also read about every 20 - 30 shaves would work. There is a huge amount of information here on honing. Any advice for simple touchups.

Barber hones are great, probably the most under appreciated, under estimated hone around. They really can keep your razor shave ready. That's why they were so popular with Barber's. They could be kept in their pocket and pulled out for a quick touch up.
I keep a Swaty out just for GP. I also keep an Escher out for the same reason. I consider the Escher to be a Barber hone on steroids....It's also great for touch ups....

Is your Barber hone small, like most, 4 inches or so...? If you think about it, 3 - 5 lapps on such a small hone isn't much at all. The info you have is correct, Tugging or pulling warrants a touch up. I have several Barber hones, Some say use dry, other's, lather or water...I tend to use my Swaty dry with no ill effects.

Barber hones are small, and fine, Even if you touched it up more often that 20 shaves, say, every 7 or so...it really wouldn't hurt. I did an experiment for about a year with a rotation of 9 razors that had minor hone wear, definitely not high dollar show pieces.

Each blade got 3 lapps on a Swaty prior to use. Basically, the blade never dulls, and the razor showed no visable signs of wear. I imagine I could go for a very long time doing that before I'd have to break out any serious hones...I'd venture to say you could keep the razor sharp (shave ready) indefinitely that way. I may take one blade and see how long I can go doing just that, using it every 7 days or so...It'd be a cool experiment...

Simple touch ups are just that. Keep them simple. Honing is so much more about using a good stroke than any other factor.

Anyway, a few of us will probably want to know what kind of barber hone it is. Not me personally, but some others.

The only immediate advice is that, for me, I don't get any benefit from 5-6 strokes either. I always go about 12.

The Boss is a good hone, as good as most barber hones. They are for touchups not actual honing, although it can be done, it will take a few more strokes than the few you did. A year ago I spent an entire night honing my grandfathers straight on a barbers hone, it took all night but I got a fair shave from it the next morning. My grandfather had been dead since '64 or '65.


BTW what unit are you with?

I have both my grandfathers razors and want someday to shave with them, so it's good to know I can get there with this stone. One of them has not been used in about 50 years and thats the one i'll probably work on first. Thanks for the feedback.

BTW I ride with 1st Tennessee Company C (Union). It is a VOLUNTEER unit, and I am a sergeant for the group. I am planning to shave in the field when I get this dow a bit better. The razor I found is a Smith Brothers and I believe that company was around during the 1860s so this is about as close to realism as it gets for reenacting.

Sorry, my bad. I have actually never heard of a BOSS barber hone, so I think that is why I missed it.

Found a site that carries them. It describes them in the 8K range. I've noted a few others that describe them as a little lower though.

It's funny how a razor hone doesn't show up for decades and all of a sudden, in 2010, the "Vintage BOSS Barber Hone" is popping up everywhere.