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:

Name: Swaty.jpg Views: 169 Size: 20.2 KB.

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!