Thread: Great grandfather's old barber hone

I think that you can remove the thick outer layer of oil buildup but doubt if you can remove all of it soaked inside.

This is my take of Barber Hones and welcome any corrections or input.

They are made with relatively large grit particles as far as razors are concerned. When they are made only the tips of these mountains are at the top of the matrix that holds them together so they act much finer. When you lap one the matrix is much easier to remove and goes first exposing more of the course material. This makes them act more like the courser grit that they are. This can be solve by lapping with a finer paper or using a chunk of metal such as a knife blade to wear them down smooth again. This would have already been done by the wood working tools that you mentioned and is I think of trying it as it is before lapping.

Tim