Thread: NOS Strop back barber hones and lithide De hone ?

Well I'm learning all sorts of things tonight! Thanks Richard

Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

After some research, AM Hone Company Olean, N.Y. i can barely read some of that on the hone. After looking around confirmed this info. So the barber hones are not from good old corn country.

Maybe not

But,,,,

There sure was a lot of corn liquor smuggled through Olean , New York from Canada.

Those barber hones could have belonged to a Gangster.

Ownership of the company changed hands in 1950 when the equipment and supplies were shipped cross country to Moravia, Iowa. An employee from Olean spent 4 months training a young new high school graduate named Lois. She took over the manufacture of all hones until her death on Christmas Eve around 2008. Sorry, but I don't recall the exact year.

I will say though, after spending some time in the rooms that she worked with all that dust, I consider it to be amazing that she survived making those hones for nearly 60 years.

Sure would like to get my hands on all the old correspondence from the hone company.

I have a similar hone that had the leather side but it was in real bad shape. I removed the leather & I found it to be a kind of average hone.
It is a George Worthington Co of Cleveland Ohio "Clearcut" model & is about an inch longer than most Barber hones.


Slawman

Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

Ok bad pics I know but there are almost ripples in the one pic this is after about 25 stroke wet.
This pic shows like a knot that I felt with my finger and knocked down running a pocket knife over it gently.
It feels smooth but not entirely but this is also the first and only barber hone I have ever handled so I might be wrong. Either way I'm not complaining maybe ill just have some neat decoration pieces.

Is that the back side that would have been under the leather?

No. The imprint side was supposed to be the honing side, as the strop would have been on the back side.

Utopian nailed it both pics are hone side

My Clearcut hone had the leather on the opposite side from the name logo. That was what I was going by. The leather & it's backing were the full length of the hone which is 6.5 " long. Most other Barber hones I have are around 5.5" long. Lot's of different Barbers hones out there!
OOP'S I just saw the inprint on the honing side like mine. CRS- Old timers disease!


Slawman

As I said at the beginning of this thread, The hones looked unfinished. I normally tell people never to lap a barbers hone unless absolutely needed. These hones need it.

After finish it up with some 3000 grit and if you have 2 of them, rub them together after you do, to polish the face to a shine.