Thread: My great-grandfathers old hone?

My first razor was a D. Peres Solingen razor, it was my great-grandfathers old razor. got it from my grandfathers brother when I stared looking in to straight razor shaving. When he gave me the razor he showed me the strop as well, witch is currently used by a relative in his woodworkshop to keep his tools sharp, the strop wasn't in a good condition and not useful for straights. He also said that he remembered his father having a small hone he used to refresh the razor, unfortunately we never found it. But now I believe I have! I suddenly remembered that my dad have a really fine stone he uses to finish of his knives and tools on. As a kid I used this stone when I learned to sharpen my knives. I always just assumed my grandfather had a barbers hone so it had never occurred to me that this might be his old hone. When I asked my father where he had got it from he said from his dad. So it might very well be my great-grandfathers old hone. I have to ask grandpa if he can confirm this next time I meet him! I tried the hone on a razor and I managed to get a decent shave off of it. Not a great shave but okay.

Can some one tell me if this is a Tam O'Shanter hone or something else? From what I read about Tam's this one fits in the description. It is hard, had to work 1,5h on it to get it flattened out when it was a bit uneven. When I put water on it it absorbs some of the water, I guess Tam's do this since they are claystones(?). In grit i would place this around 8-9K, it does not give as fine edge as my Norton SS 10K does which I have most experience with, but still a shavable edge. But of course you cannot really put a grit size on a natural...

Do anyone know if Tam hones where sold in the US in the 20's as a hone to maintain a razor with? My grandfather picked up straight razor shaving when he vent to America to work a few years, so if this is his old hone then it had to be available there at that time.

Any tip on what stroke to use on a small hone like this? I have now used a X stroke or a rolling X-ish stroke.

Jacob