Thread: Barber hone- Last minute advice

There were three barber hones at the antique store and I chose the one in the best condition. No chips and a box with instructions. I have been looking through Modine's reviews and didn't see a review for A Keen Kutter.



Anyone have any experience with this hone?

Nice looking hone.looks like a lakeside Blue.

Pixelfixed, I did a search of Lakeside Blue because I am not familiar with the brand. I saw a picture of your Lakeside Blue in an old thread. The directions in the pic read exactly the same, minus the first sentence.
The underside of the Keen Kutter box has direction in German so I am wondering if this hone was imported from Germany like Keen Kutter razors.

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

Pixelfixed, I did a search of Lakeside Blue because I am not familiar with the brand. I saw a picture of your Lakeside Blue in an old thread. The directions in the pic read exactly the same, minus the first sentence.
The underside of the Keen Kutter box has direction in German so I am wondering if this hone was imported from Germany like Keen Kutter razors.

Lakeside Blues are Highley sought after,I sold mine,could not turn down 20 times what I paid for it.Is in a nice collection now.

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

Pixelfixed, I did a search of Lakeside Blue because I am not familiar with the brand. I saw a picture of your Lakeside Blue in an old thread. The directions in the pic read exactly the same, minus the first sentence.
The underside of the Keen Kutter box has direction in German so I am wondering if this hone was imported from Germany like Keen Kutter razors.

The wording and translation was used on several BH, they used it on the Toledo Blade, Velvet Edge, Lakeside and some more....up to date i found no source that these were made in Germany....

I cleaned the hone today and used it to touch up the edge on my Ralf Aust. The cleaned hone is blackish in color, but has an underlying brown tint. There were a couple of tiny pock marks revealed on the surface of the label side. There was no obvious humps or dishing.
I did 5 laps on the hone with the Aust using the X-stroke. The razor had been tugging and It has not seen much use since December. The touched-up edge provided a improved shave with no tugging.

After soaking in water


Shaving cream on surface


Drying off

Some further use and observations. Not meant to be a guide or review-these are my initial forays into honing.

I used the K15 again to touch up a Red Imp today. I shaved with the Red Imp last week. It was tugging so badly that I had to stop shaving at the mustache area and finish the shave with a DE. Last week I PMd a member asking for any info on the hone and he said it was in the 8k range and suggested 6-8 laps. This afternoon I applied some lather to the hone and did 6 laps of x-strokes. Afterwards I stropped the Imp 150 laps on leather.


The Red Imp and a Ralf Aust that I touched up last weekend (5 laps hone/150 laps leather) were used for an afternoon shave today. It was a 2 pass shave with a touch up around the chin and mustache. The Imp was used on the right side of the face, Aust on the left. Both felt keener than before and neither tugged. But, neither edge was came close to the keenness and smoothness the razors had when honed by pros previously. There were no nicks or cuts during the shave but the post shave alum stung a little.


When I started cleaning the stone last week it was initially tacky and totally smooth. Afterwards tiny pock marks were visible and no longer tacky. I used D.R. Harris soap to make my lather this week. The stone felt tacky again after being rinsed and some of the pock marks on the surface were filling in with soap residue.

That hone appears to be in very nice condition,,,,,