Thread: AM hone co

found this hone at the local antique store today for $5.00! hopefully it's usable for razors. it is labeled AM hone co. Olean NY. one side is a light tan and the other side is brown. Is this natural or man made? the dividing line is uneven so it looks natural to me. what would the grit be and which is the coarser side?

the lite side (pictured) has a chip in two corners but the dark side doesn't.

American Hone Company was a major maker of most of the Barber Hones in this country and some that we think are from other countries. The company was started by folks from the old country in Olean NY. and moved to Moravia, IA. and was active into the late 80's.
The hones were from ~6K grit to about a usable 15K.
Yours looks a bit rough so i would test it after lapping with a 8K edge and only a couple strokes on a side of the blade. Look at the edge with at least 40 power to see what the stone did to the edge. Lighter side was normally the fine.
I shall PM you with more info.
~Richard

Originally Posted by Geezer

American Hone Company was a major maker of most of the Barber Hones in this country and some that we think are from other countries. The company was started by folks from the old country in Olean NY. and moved to Moravia, IA. and was active into the late 80's.
The hones were from ~6K grit to about a usable 15K.
Yours looks a bit rough so i would test it after lapping with a 8K edge and only a couple strokes on a side of the blade. Look at the edge with at least 40 power to see what the stone did to the edge. Lighter side was normally the fine.
I shall PM you with more info.
~Richard

+1 ... Richard knows his stuff! I have just about every hone that the American Hone Co ever made...sometimes 2-3 of each brand. IF that is a Frictionite 00 then IT COULD be a good one depending on the condition. Many of the old American Hones (especially the Frictionite and the Little Devil Hone) tend to 'break down' over time if they were not well cared for. You can usually tell if this was the case based on cracks in the hone surface sometimes referred to as 'crazing'. Sunlight, heat, and even Hot water will cause these stones to break down.

If you see these defects then the effectiveness of the hone will be suspect...if it is in good condition then IMHO you have one of the best and finest hones ever made, comparable in many respects to some of the very best natural hones on the market.

Here is a pic of a NOS Frictionite that you can use for comparison:

it does appear to have some crazing when i look at it under magnification. should i waste any time trying to lapp it.(all i have is sandpaper) or would that be a waste of time?

Originally Posted by tintin

it does appear to have some crazing when i look at it under magnification. should i waste any time trying to lapp it.(all i have is sandpaper) or would that be a waste of time?

Lap it on a flat surface with a wet dry sand paper and find out what you have.
~Richard

lap it and try it. If it is a Frictionte 00 its actually very worth while to use and actually sell for quite a bit of moola compared to what you paid. The color of them varies so it's not easy to tell. Is there an ink stamp on the opposite side?

Originally Posted by tintin

it does appear to have some crazing when i look at it under magnification. should i waste any time trying to lapp it.(all i have is sandpaper) or would that be a waste of time?

You'll never know until you have it lapped flat whether it will be an effective hone or not. You've got nothing to lose but a little time and effort. Look at it this way: these hones normally sell on EBAY for 20 - 60 times what you paid for it. You might just have a gem...

WP34

Originally Posted by RezDog

Is there an ink stamp on the opposite side?

no, there's not any other marks on it. did they also make them with out the 2 textures? (they had another one there that was just the light tan that i didn't buy because there was a chip in the middle on one side.) I'll definitly do some lapping and see what i've got. thank you all for your help and info!

The most information you can find on barber hones is here:

Barber Hone Reviews

Modine is breaking ground with these studies. Currently he is testing Randy Tuttle's collection from the Am hone co.

I remember seeing some of the reviews & wanted a comparo to the same hones that were not lapped.