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On a thread from long, long ago, I read that someone's grandfather recommended honing on a bottle as to the finish. Not that it necessarily yields a decent edge by contemporary standards, but the recommendation has piqued my curiosity. Anyone played around with this? My subsequent questions have to do with whether or not the bottle as traditionally used would have been round or flat, and what kind of glass would have been employed, crown, flint, and so on.
I've heard something similar for using a coffee cup. I would suppose it would only be good for touching up a kitchen knife, but I don't have any more information :shrug::shrug:
My concern about it is that the curvature of the bottle or cup would result in only a single point on the edge making contact at any given time. This means that all of the weight of the blade is concentrated at that single point. So, if anyone wants to give this a try, be sure to use a very light touch.
A lot of DE razor hones were made of glass,, so I guess glass in some forms could be used for straights & DE razors.
I suppose if you drank the contents inside the bottle first , using it a strop might cross your mind :<0)
Like Hirlau said Glass could be used but it would have to be a flat bottle like a pint.
My guess is that using a curved glass bottle form would be akin to steeling. Maybe some distilled liquor flask would have served like a paddle? But if flatness was the goal, some sort of plate glass cut to a custom format would seem to be preferable.
You could strop the old style of DE inside of a glass.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
My grandfather used to resharpen his DE blades inside a small, smooth sided waterglass with a bit of water in it, by swishing it back and fourth. He said it made them last longer.
I think your grandpa had bottle in mind and had plenty of them around :<0)
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Maybe you could finish or touch up a straight on a jalousie window strip of glass. :shrug:
My new word for the day jalousie..Quote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
You can tell you live down south! :rofl2:
What'z up with dat ?? Attachment 226628
I think they were jars...Quote:
Originally Posted by 10Pups
He always kept them next to his big copper kettle [emoji38]
Lead crystal Glass makes a super fine hone, some punk kids shot out some lens glass from one of the coastal light houses, I picked some of it up for a friend, was made in the 1800's good stuff wish I had cleaned up more of it.
Would this be something that is used with that concept of using a bottle or jar?
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Guys I know used to touch up their pocket knives on the rim of ceramic coffee cups or the top edge of their car window in a pinch. I would assume it would be too coarse for straights.
[QUOTE=Willisf;1596136]Would this be something that is used with that concept of using a bottle or jar?
Yes, it would. I have one from England that is pre WWII and called a Lillicraps, I kid you not. To get the green they have a uranium in the glass formula.
Bob
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[QUOTE=BobH;1596143]Does it glow in the dark too?Quote:
Originally Posted by Willisf
:hmmm:
[QUOTE=Willisf;1596160]They do glow under a black light.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobH
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I've got a flat style glass hone for DE blades. Glass one side leather the other. I've experimented a bit on it with straights but mostly it seems to do nothing, some blades it definitely dulls. I remain convinced that one day I will find a razor that this hone will improve the finish on it lol.
Our members are very inventive. There are probably few things you can't use as a hone or strop for your straight especially in a pinch. It's just a matter of how good some things are relative to others.
Well, my thread has got legs! I like the suggestion to use a square-faced milk bottle and the mention that antique leaded glass worked well. The curved glass examples are more oriented towards DE blades. Maybe frosted glass for pastes and slurries?
I'm sure there was a thread on here before about honing on glass and a member mentioned using using the glass from a shower door, I think just using it side on so it only touched a couple of mm of razor at a time. I seem to remember he found it useful for uneven spine wear.
The same thread also contained info about using the glass from a car door, again using the thin edge.
Here's a picture of a glass Barber hone made for straight razors. Actually works quite well...I've used it with pencil lead and also with a soft lead bar.
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