Thread: Scalpmaster hone

I have come across two scalpmaster hones in the last few weeks. Marketed as a maintenance hone, sort of a barbers hone.

They're about $17 and I suspect worth about what you pay for them.

https://www.appletonbarbersupply.com..._detail&p=3072

Any info?

Hmm, not that far from me.... might have to take a gander at them....

Well, this is new to me.

Thanks for the link, I haven't seen these before. I can hone on 4 inches if I have to, but I don't like to. It's about an inch shy of the low end of my comfort zone.

Both of the stones I have seen are in sealed plastic so I couldn't get a feel for grit. They are pretty small though. Much shorter than my apart barbers hone and a little less wide. I'm pretty close to buying one to see what they bring to the table and if they aren't fit for straights I'll use as a pocket hone for knives.

Shipping charge is more than the cost of the hone. Given that it easily would fit in a $7 priority mail box, I think the $12 charge is unreasonable. Oh well.

Apamburn: The most common size for a barber hone is 5x2. This one is 4x2.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Shipping charge is more than the cost of the hone. Given that it easily would fit in a $7 priority mail box, I think the $12 charge is unreasonable. Oh well.

Apamburn: The most common size for a barber hone is 5x2. This one is 4x2.

Huh. I didn't see the dimensions on this one, but I swear the ones in the store were smaller than that. I must be mistaken.

That shipping is absurd; I wonder if it would be cheaper elsewhere. With shipping that expensive it's better to just buy local.

Just looks like a very cheap small aluminum oxide stone, probably vitrified bond (speculating). I wouldn't buy it - let someone else do that. Very small alumina (micron-ish) still costs some money, so that's probably a step finer than a fine india (speculating some more).

In terms of operating like old barber hones, if you can establish an edge with a linen and use a stone sparingly enough that you don't hone it off, every stone that's 15 microns or finer is a "maintenance" hone. But when you hone the edge off with one accidentally, you just created more "maintenance" for yourself.

For about that price, you could get a Carborundum #103 or a vintage barber hone on ebay and be certain you are getting a usable touch-up hone.

Going by the straight razors they sell I wouldn't trust the hone they sell. But I may be wrong.