Thread: Cushion Strop-Back hone

I recently bought a Cushion strop-back hone in good condition from an online auction site. Lapped with 800 grit wet sandpaper and tried it out. Honed 3 different razors to see how different razors react to the hone. I couldn't shave with any of them, not even close. What went wrong? Should I use a higher grit sandpaper? I used water on the stone, do I need to use oil or lather? Or is it simply not a good stone?

Barber's Hones work just fine to REFRESH and edge, was the razor shaving "OK" before you tried the new hone ???


Here is an old vid I did on how to use them,, you can actually hone a razors with them but that is not really what they were designed for...

Bevel set through Shaving sharp is a true effort with them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP-GUeN_yBs

Originally Posted by JackeHj

I recently bought a Cushion strop-back hone in good condition from an online auction site. Lapped with 800 grit wet sandpaper and tried it out. Honed 3 different razors to see how different razors react to the hone. I couldn't shave with any of them, not even close. What went wrong? Should I use a higher grit sandpaper? I used water on the stone, do I need to use oil or lather? Or is it simply not a good stone?

The abrasive in them can be fairly coarse, and they are generally modern abrasives (that cut deep and brash). They're not intended to establish an edge, they are too brash and they'll leave a jagged rough edge, except for the finest (norton, frictionite, etc). As glen says, they're intended to refresh a razor, but elaboration on that - refresh meaning to thin the bevel but not allow the stone to remove the actual established edge.

I think the idea of establishing a fresh edge often is a modern thing, and skilled barbers and shavers in the past would've thinned the bevel instead and let linen and leather establish and maintain the very edge of the razor. The number of times instructions in print caution against removing the edge and "overhoning" due to that provides a clue that those stones were intended to work close to the edge but not all the way to it.

The poor shave could be due to two things off of the top of my head. The grit of the hone is such that it will not provide you with a comfortable shaving edge OR when you lapped the hone with 800 grit sand paper you roughened up the surface enough to degrade the edge it imparts.

I would lean toward the second option. When I lap a barber hone I will lap it up to 1500 or 2000 grit on wet/dry sandpaper and usually works pretty well.

Yes, the razors shaved ok before I took them to the barber hone. I know they are used to refresh an edge. Sorry if I where unclear... So I'll try to re-lap it using a higher grit sandpaper and then use lather next time. I'll let you know how it turns out!
Thanks!

I don't know where the instructions for your hone might reside, but if they were available, they would probably say something like use the hone on a razor that is beginning to pull, and only use it five strokes. Repeat only if the shave doesn't satisfy.

Even if you get the surface of the hone back to where it was (in terms of the glaze that's on the surface, which allows the abrasive to pretend to be finer than it is), I would still apply general barber hone rules, which is five strokes at a time, and never to remove the actual edge.

I know we don't always (we not being me) follow the instructions and instead find things to try to make the barber hones cut finer than their grit size, but this is a case where it's better to learn the art that the hone is intended for, and that is only to remove any curvature in the bevel so that it is thinned just before the actual cutting edge. Leave the edge on the razor. It's usually the bluntness of the edge that makes a razor feel dull, and not damage, so there's no reason to remove it in this case.

Listen closely to the advice of Glen & Matt,,, the problem you are having probably has little to do with the lapping you did, but the way you are honing on it. They are used to "maintain" an edge. I have several different brands of strop-hones & use one for travel.
Here are a couple photos of the instructions in a couple of brands,,,, hopefully you can enlarge the photos enough to read.

Originally Posted by DaveW

The number of times instructions in print caution against removing the edge and "overhoning" due to that provides a clue that those stones were intended to work close to the edge but not all the way to it.

I have maintained razors for over a decade with nothing but barber hones and the edge was all I cared about and the edge was what I was honing.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I have maintained razors for over a decade with nothing but barber hones and the edge was all I cared about and the edge was what I was honing.

Are you honing the edges completely off of the razor (as in new metal all the way to the edge every time you use one?).

I've got some barber hones that will allow a shave like that, but others that definitely won't (but the latter work fine if they are used as per their instructions - that is if not too much honing is done with them).

I tried the hone again, relapped it just in case with 800-grit paper, did 5-6 strokes with lather on an already working razor. I loved the shave I got from that razor! Fantastic! Thanks for the help!