Thread: Anyone Know This Hone ???

A friend sent this to me for lapping and we hope to ID it. The hone belonged to his wife's grandfather, and he maintained his straight razor on it for years, until switching to DE. I cannot tell whether it is a synthetic, or a natural. It is 4&5/8 long, x 1& 7/16 wide, about 7/8 thick at the end, away from the dished center.

If it is a barber hone I'd like to be sure that lapping it won't get it to the point where it begins to come apart. I know some of them are good to lap, and others are not. I gave it a good wash with water and a nylon bristle brush. I've done nothing else with it as of now. The owner of this hone, an experienced straight razor user, has Frictionite 00, a Moravian, Super Punjab and a Swaty, so it is not like any of those.

Anyone have an idea on an ID ?

Chipped corner indicates to me it is a natural. It appears to be dual layered. The middle photo makes it look glued while the bottom photo makes it appear to be naturally a dual layer. Is the boundary straight?

So far, I have no idea.

Obvious first question is does it smell of oil?

Hard to tell Jimmy, looks like its almost 2 sided, perhaps lap a side or the end of it and post more pics? Unusually thick for a barber's hone?

I know that you and the owner are well experienced, but i have to ask if this might be a very dirty or miscolored Coticule ?

Originally Posted by doorsch

I know that you and the owner are well experienced, but i have to ask if this might be a very dirty or miscolored Coticule ?

I would go with this,,, if I were the owner, considering its current stated ,,, I would be willing to EZ-Off this stone for 30 minutes,,, this would pull a lot of the surface garbage & clear up the sides enough to tell if this is an dirty Coticule or a man-made.

Use a fine WD paper 1000grits and rub it over the side where both layers come together....just check which colors appear...

I would hit it with WD-40 as I sanded it.

Thanks all, I'll get it on a plate tomorrow and take more pix in good light. Too dark out now.

My guess.......Carborundum. In which case , good luck lapping it :<0)