My head is spinning!

[Dzanda]

I recently acquired 8" Swaty, and because it's my first Swaty, I decided to read up on these barber hones. My reading led me several threads, including this long closed thread. Now my head is spinning!

Here's the imprint on my hone:

.

And here's why I'm confused:

• Because mine is a "Two Line Swaty", I'm led to think that it's relatively recent...
• But because the imprint reads "Marburg, Austria", this hone should pre-date the end of WWI (1918), though 1918-1929 is an historical grey area...
• On the other hand, at least one person believes that the 8-inch hones are of Yugoslavian origin, which means post-1929

It seems to me that the "Marburg, Austria" imprint is the best evidence of age, and would suggest that my Swaty dates to 1888-1918 ('29?). If that's correct then I'm really amazed, because my hone is in like new condition! Is this possible?

Two other questions:

• The hone has been lapped. Should I roughen one side with fine emory, and the other with coarse emory as suggested here?
• Is the oil/Vaseline treatment appropriate for hones that will be used with lather instead of oil?

Thanks in advance!

[Jimbo]

Don't know about the history bit sorry, but I'm sure someone else will come along who does.

Not sure why you'd want to jigger with the surface texture using emery (or whatever) unless it was to make it smoother after lapping with a coarse plate. Making the surface rougher with coarse seems counter productive to me for something that's meant to be a touch up stone. However, the surface texture (within reason) shouldn't play a major role in the way the stone works.

No idea about the vaseline treatment, though I do know vaseline and water don't mix.

James.