Thread: Hone questions

I never saw the sense in lapping a barbers hone. The usable surface structure is not the same IMO as the center of the hone.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

I never saw the sense in lapping a barbers hone. The usable surface structure is not the same IMO as the center of the hone.

Making an attempt to save one that's too scratched up to use otherwise is about the only reason to imo. Getting them cleaned up and burnished well enough to perform like they used to...seems to be easier said than done. Still in the experimental/testing phase with a Swaty I have that needed one side cleaned up. I think next time I do a touch up I'll use the face I haven't lapped for comparison purposes, but in theory it should be the same material throughout the hone, the burnish just gets shot to heck when it's lapped.

It'd be nice to know more about how they were manufactured, that might make it easier to restore/resurface damaged hones. But whatever they did to the surface after kiln firing it to make them perform so well seems to be a bit of a lost trade secret.

Well it's not really a trade secret, it's just a matter of mechanics. Often the hones that degrade after lapping are those that were resin bound. The abrasive and resin are mixed and then pressed.

Just like concrete, it's an aggregate of multiple materials and sizes of material, and the top surface is usually the finest. Lapping these down too far can result in a coarser hone. The same goes for those hones that the binder softens on over time - they were never meant to release much of their grit - and if they do it can be disastrous for the razor edge.

The barber hones that have a clay binder and are fired as well as the silicon carbide barber hones such as Carboloy seem to be okay to lap/flatten as long as you bring them up to a very high finish afterward. Others I would be wary of lapping unless you don't mind losing the hone if it goes bad.