Thread: Three line Swaty

Barber hones I've so far -

1 x 3 Line Swaty ("am Wein")
1 x C-Mon (2 Sided)
1 x Lakeside

Haven't put them to the test yet...

Originally Posted by Utopian

I confidently choose "a."

I maintained a set of razors with nothing but a Swaty and a Carborundum 102 (with pretty much random use between the two) for over a decade.

Absent an edge catastrophe, a Swaty and a strop is all you need to keep your razor shaving sharp forever.

The Boys from Währing bei Wien ("veh-hring bye", the Währing district in-, alongside or near, and "veen", Vienna) made a pretty good little rock. With nothing to go on except clean it, bevel the edges, smooth the chips and try it dry, lathered, watered or oiled. I went with dry.

After the Swaty hone, linen and leather the Torrey gave easy HHTx3 results and a superb shave on a three-day beard. Two passes: with a little neck-scythe thing on the down stroke and some guillotine things on the upstroke; chin was smooth as it gets in two passes and a touch up on the jawline. I am pretty amazed and very pleased with this hone. I never got it. Now I get it.

The "a"'s have it.

Welcome to the fold!
It actually is amazing just how easy maintenance honing can be.
Now just repeat what you did whenever you notice any reduction in the quality of the shave. Personally I prefer to use water with just a touch of the lathered brush to break the surface tension of the water. About 5 strokes is all you need to bring the edge back year after year!

Originally Posted by Utopian

Welcome to the fold!
It actually is amazing just how easy maintenance honing can be.

This is true.

Honing-honing is another story entirely. Had you, Lynn and Randy not shared your experience, enthusiasm, time and gear so selflessly in Asheville last year I might have called it quits. I was far too preoccupied trying to hone ebay basket cases instead of starting out with maintenance on known good razors in my rotation. A year and a half later, and post-Asheville, I have finally understand the basket cases and turned them into good shavers. I should have just gotten a Swaty and kept up with what already worked.

Yes. Maintaining an edge with a barber's hone is very easy, uh, after I learned what a hone should and should not do, how to do a rolling-X stroke, how to keep a blade flat on a hone and, uh, how to do it all with a light precise hand. I am....... a-MAZ-ed what a motivated moron can learn in a couple of short years.

I have 3 barber hones. A 2 line Swaty, a barbers pet and a Shwarty(swaty clone). I must say I really like them. I use it before the 12k chinese finisher. I have also used it to freshen a blade and finish with .5 micron crox and strop. Can't go wrong putting it in the mix.