Thread: I should probably get started

If it says Aloxite on it and is the color of a Swaty or the De-Fi, then it's probably a Carborundum. Were both sides not flat? Most of those hones are the same on each side so I prefer to use the non-imprint side because there is more surface area.

Since you already flattened them, you have exposed the coarse grit. Barber hones use relative large grit and only become fine in the same way Arkansas hones do--by burnishing. Use SIC powder or a diamond plate with increasingly finer grits. I think the SIC powder would be the better option. Eventually though you are going to have to rub steel on the hone to bring back the surface. The hones made by the American Hone Company were surface prepped with 100 grit SIC powder on a rotating 5' diameter steel plate. Absent such a plate you are going to have to do it by hand.

Do you need the best hone? No. Is the Norton barber hone better? Yes. Is a Swaty good? Yes. Does your De-Fi or Aloxite have the potential to be good? YES. It's more important that you figure out how to use it.

For maintenance, you either can do just a little on a regular basis or, what I do, just touch up an edge whenever you notice a reduction in the quality of the shave. I do 4 to 6 ultralight laps on a lightly lathered surface. That does not mean lather on the hone. That means I wet the surface of the hone with water and then touch a lathered brush to the water on the surface and then rub the surface with my finger to make a uniformly wet surface. Without the lather, the water on many barber hones will bead up and get pushed off the surface with the first stroke of the blade. The small bit of lather added to the water breaks the surface tension of the water and allows for uniform distribution. I have never liked honing on straight lather. Try it for yourself and you may have a different opinion.

Don't get carried away with more strokes. Too many can degrade the edge. Remember that the grit of barber hone is probably in the range of 400 to 600 or even bigger. This is why surface prep of the hone is critical.