Thread: who can tell me about this barbers hone?

So I went to about 7 different antique stores today looking for a barbers hone today and this is what I turned up it is a "wester bros DE-FI" combo hone. I only paid $10 so good or bad there's no regrets. I uploaded a couple of pictures of it but they are taken with my cell phone and there for not very clear. The back side of the hone is a yellow/green color and feels coarser that the front. The front is a dark blue/ grey/ black and feels much smoother. I lapped both sides first on 240 then on 320 grit sand paper mounted on a polished marble tile. Just wondering if a can get a little input on the hone, someone that can tell me definitively which side is coarser and what I expect out of the it, will this be sufficient for touching up a razor back to shave readiness or should I be going from this to a pasted strop? Any info would be greatly appreciated


Cheers
-Omid

This is interesting, but I have already replied to this thread once.

In summary to what I had previously posted, the side that felt smoother was more than likely just used & the side that "felt" rougher was the side that was not used and still had the factory natural finish. Typically the hones that are "two sided" can be noticed quite easily by color or by a side profile view of the stone.

Always Branded site of the stone will be finer compare other side of the stone.
Some barber hones may have same color but different grits. Not so many out there but there is some.
hope this helps.

I believe most barber hones are high enough grit to refresh a dulling edge to shave readiness (the only ones that can't being imitation junk), but they vary in grit greatly. So, if you want to follow with paste to further refine that edge then that's up to you.
There really isn't an exacting way to determine what the actual grit rating is on either side of your hone. At best comparing the edge sharpness or scarring pattern under microscope to a known grit hone (such as norton 8k) will give you a general idea.

As a side note, most barber hones don't need to be lapped from what I've read, and the factory sheen is something you want to get back with polishing. There are other threads on that topic like this one: Barber Hone Lapping

thanks for the input, the third picture i posted is actually the side profile and there is (although not clear in the picture) two distinct layers the back being yellow/green and the front being dark blue/ grey. as for my already lapped hone, should a re-lap with a higher grit paper to smooth the surface more of with that "glazed" look that it had before return with use? there where some bumps on it that where noticeable when I lightly ran a razor in the antique shop over it so i don't think i could have gotten away without lapping

-Omid