Barber Stone

Hello all!
I am still a relatively new SR shaver (about a month deep), and it has been going great! I have been looking for a barbers stone (classifieds, Ebay, online...) and don't seem to be having much luck. As of now my razor is shaving great, and stropping seems to be sufficient. I'm just trying to look into the future a bit. Also, I am just under the impression from my wandering through this site that a barber hone is a good idea for minor touch ups and sharpening. If you think I'm mistaken, please let me know and set me straight! I would appreciate any links or ideas of where to look, and I will say the budget is pretty tight!
Thanks!!!

There a few Swatys listed on ebay. If that link doesn't work just do a search on Swaty. Be careful to scrutinize the pictures for chips and general condition. Utopian got by with a barber's hone for years so you're not mistaken. With luck he'll spot this thread and chip in.

wasn't glen selling some barber hones on his website? i'd go with something like this over ebay because you can know exactly how the hone performs, as well as not have to deal with chips which can be a nasty business to lap without a good coarse diamond hone.

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Originally Posted by gugi

wasn't glen selling some barber hones on his website? i'd go with something like this over ebay because you can know exactly how the hone performs, as well as not have to deal with chips which can be a nasty business to lap without a good coarse diamond hone.

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Just checked and he says he's got some on the way and I agree, this route would take out the lottery aspect involved with ebay.

This site has a couple barber hones that you might want to buy

Hones

I believe that a barber hone is the the only hone you'll ever need. Personally, I thinkCrox really helps out after the hone.

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Originally Posted by AlanII

Just checked and he says he's got some on the way and I agree, this route would take out the lottery aspect involved with ebay.

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Thanks for the link to this site! I contacted Glen to see what he has, and hopefully will come through for me. Also checked your ebay link. When buying from ebay many of the stones have nicks or cracks, should these be huge concerns, or just something I'd have to be carefull with when actually using the stone?

Larry Andro has some on his site too.

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Originally Posted by joben

Thanks for the link to this site! I contacted Glen to see what he has, and hopefully will come through for me. Also checked your ebay link. When buying from ebay many of the stones have nicks or cracks, should these be huge concerns, or just something I'd have to be carefull with when actually using the stone?

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The problem with nicks and cracks depends on where they are and how big they are. For example, a superficial nick on the edge of a hone won't affect much. In fact it may come out when you lap the stone flat. However, if the crack is big enough/deep enough and it is in the middle of the hone (or in any direct razor path) it could work havoc on your razors edge when you try to hone it.

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Originally Posted by joben

When buying from ebay many of the stones have nicks or cracks, should these be huge concerns, or just something I'd have to be carefull with when actually using the stone?

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Yes, these should concern you for two reasons
(1) If you cannot execute a perfect stroke so that the razor is completely flat on the hone the edge will catch on a chip on the edge of the hone and you will need a full honing job with removing the nick from the bevel. And since you have no experience, chances are you will make a mistake.
(2) Ceramic is hard, very hard, but also brittle. That means that the vast majority of the barber hones on ebay have chips along the edges. It also means that lapping those chips out takes long time.

BTW you only need one surface (on a typical barber's hone anyway, not the ones that are actually different coarseness on each side).

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Originally Posted by joben

Thanks for the link to this site! I contacted Glen to see what he has, and hopefully will come through for me. Also checked your ebay link. When buying from ebay many of the stones have nicks or cracks, should these be huge concerns, or just something I'd have to be carefull with when actually using the stone?

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What, 8BallAce and gugi say. Equally, most (not all) of the ebay sellers don't really know what they're selling beyond the fact that it's a razor hone and tends to go for eg around twenty bucks (and give them their due, why should they know more than that?), whereas buying from a knowledgable seller guarantees that what you're buying will do what they say it does. Good luck.