Thread: FRANZ SWATY HONES

Originally Posted by khaos

In my experience (a few Swatys have passed through my hands) they are a BITCH to lap. I don't think you could do it with the "soft" lapping stones like the Norton or Naniwa- I think the swaty would eat through them. Using sandpaper was fine but it CHEWS through paper like breakfast. Even with a diamond hone its no small task. Also I think I agree with Jimmy- no one used to and from my limited testing its not a big deal.

Whether you lap it or not, at least smooth the chips- either by beveling the edge or just spot sanding them so they're slightly recessed and smooth. Both will be a lot easier than trying to lap them out.

With regards to price, typically it's not discussed. I got all of mine for $20 or less (I was lucky) and regret selling some of them at prices between $25 and $35. The one I kept I have gotten such good use out of that personally it's worth a lot more. They seem to go for $50 nowadays and that seems pretty steep but I guess its a question of usage. I have one barber hone (the Swaty) that I use weekly, so if I had to do it again, I would pay more. However, back when I was experimenting I wasn't gonna fork over $$$$ for somethign I wouldn't end up using. The worth is up to you.

Thanks! I appreciate the advice and am sorry for asking about SWATY value. I asked because I am "watching" on eBay and there is one going for around forty plus at this point in the "war". I'd imagine before the war is over (in a few hours from now) it'll be around your estimate of 50. Here's the stone being sold.

Thanks again. I will take the sharp edges off the chips and leave it at that. Sounds MUCH easier!

Yeah np. I mean if you want you can lap it, it won't hurt it'll just take a while. What I did was lap mine flat then chamfer the edges. My current swaty I would only sell if you gave me a lot of money or a better one. Value is what someone is willing to pay for it.

Originally Posted by khaos

Swaty provenance - Straight Razor Place Forums

I actually was really interested in this for a while. Here is a distillation of what I have gleaned:

Original was the 3-line: Franz Swaty, Wahring bei Wien (Austria)

Then his son did the Marburg 2-line: Franz Swaty, Marburg Austria (someone has a packaging insert that states this)

Then the 4-line: Franz Swaty Maribor Jugoslavia Fruher Marburg Austria (logical, they changed the stamp to the new location and nationality of Maribor/Marburg, and had to let people know it was the same, Fruher is German for earlier)

Then another 2-line: Franz Swaty, maribor Jugoslavia

At some point, Swaty's were distributed by SR Droescher, and had a sticker on the side to this effect. At a later point (I believe), they were distributed by Pike, and had a sticker on the side to this effect as well. It said something "Pike sole US distributors of the original Swaty hone".

For some reason, the FS, WbW (A) 3-line was popular and barbers/customers used to ask for it as a 3-line, so as a marketing ploy (after Swaty stopped I believe) Pike made a (literally) "The Franz Swaty 3- Line Razor Hone" and it is stamped that on the hone.

I found just such a hone from S.R. Droescher, Inc. that has the following inscription at the top of the hone

"THE SWATY
three line
RAZOR HONE"

It is in remarkably unused condition as the reflection is good enough to ready my computer screen with it.

Originally Posted by AdamAZ

I found just such a hone from S.R. Droescher, Inc. that has the following inscription at the top of the hone

"THE SWATY
three line
RAZOR HONE"

It is in remarkably unused condition as the reflection is good enough to ready my computer screen with it.

I would guess it is a fake.
It has been said Swaty never made a hone that said "3 line".

Many things qualify as 'it has been said' in this hobby, however this does not necessarily mean this is true.
Possible, certainly. Most likely outcome, perhaps not.

If counterfeit, they had to bother to create the excellent counterfeit later era packaging, as well!

In any case it looks to be a barber hone in top condition.

Jarrod
Would you pay for this hone the going rate for a three line Swaty?

I do t k ow enough to say its a fake but i do have two three line swaty hones and they are not marked that way. It would make me wonder. I wouldnt buy it.

.
.
The American Hone Company in Moravia, Iowa made hones marked like this for other companies.
To me it is a fake.