Thread: Damaged hone edges...

O.k. , I did a few searches and could not find the info I was looking for. I have been looking at used "barbers touch up" hones and have noticed a lot of them have small chips in the edges of the stones.
My question is . If they are not wider than three inches are they worthless for honing due to the chips.

Well, that hone in the photo seems to be a workshop hone and way too coarse to use on a razor.
~Richard

I would think they would still be fine for touch up hones (ie barbers hone). After you flatten the hone and chamfer the edges most nicks should be minimal. This is all dependent on only doing a dozen or less laps to spruce up the edge....... and that you donT have a huge ass gouge. A great spot for barber hone info is here
Lots of examples and great pictures of many different barber hone.

Round the edges with a DMT and you will remove most if the chips. Chips on the edge IMHO don't effect the stones ability as the blade will skip straight over them. For a beginner major problems with the edge may cause some honing difficulties if the edge is quite bad.

If you ever get into natural stones, particularly the Jnats, you will quickly discover what a non refined edge is. The stone above looks more then recoverable and would almost look new with a little work.

I should also note, the stone in the the OPs post above looks like a course stone, not suitable for razors. Be careful lapping "true" barbers hones, they come out the factory with a very refined surface, this surface is almost impossible to put back on, even by the most experienced guys on here.

An example of a stone I use on my razors that has a non straight edge.



I should note also, keep to synthectic stones for now. The pic above is only an example of what a stone edge can look like yet still be very usable.

The answer to your question is "No", a hone smaller than 3" is not worthless. I have a 1"x5" Thurigan 9(I believe that's how you spell it) borrowed from DoubleO, it put one of the best finishes on my razor to date.

As Geezer said, that does not look like a barber's hone, better pics please.

Originally Posted by MattCB

,,,,,,,,,,, A great spot for barber hone info is here
Lots of examples and great pictures of many different barber hone.

A great spot for barber hones is here, also,,,

http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...p/Barber_Hones

Originally Posted by Hirlau

A great spot for barber hones is here, also,,,

http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...p/Barber_Hones

Your right, that is a nice reference. Not sure how I misses that.

The stone in the pic looks like a standard knife 2 sided stone. I wouldn't use that on a razor. As said camfer the edges and maybe use sand paper to round them inwards if still there so the razor cant catch them. If the razor only moves over them without catching it isn't an issue.