Thread: Barber Hones?

my 2c: if you can afford it (about $75 - I can reccommend getting them from The Superior Shave, very competitive prices and excellent service/advice for beginners), go with a coticule. nothing comapre as far as an all-in-1. barber hones are great and convenient, but to get a solid one (and I agree, go with glen, not ebay), it's coming up close on a coticule. coticule is much more versatile. problem with the naniwa, norton, and shapton stones is no one stone is going to cut it, for the most part. you'll need several, plus a lapping plate.... cotis need much less lapping. you can also get pretty far with diamond pastes (also sold at that site), but to get the array, plus a surface for each, that gets up there in price. I rather wish I had bought a coti right from the start, instead of staying away to try to save a little, but spending more in the long run.

Well, I was bidding on a coticule on ebay and lost by 4 dollars. I do have a SWATY barber's hone I got for $20 shipped from a member on badger and blade. Hopefully, that will do until I can afford to buy a coticule. I'm thinking of a 6x1.5 one as 6x2 seems unnecessarily more expensive.

You will hear a bunch of different opinions on barber hones.

The first one I bought was a Pike Ezy Edge lapped on both sides with no cracks.
I thought it was okay and did work to touch up a razor I had.

I bought a Swaty 3 line from a member here that looks like it was never even used. It has a much glassier and smoother finish on it. I found it to work much much better than the Pike. The Pike was a bit course for my taste.

I think barber hones are cool from a collectible standpoint and don't plan on ever getting rid on the Swaty not matter how many hones I end up with.

Also if you buy one and dont like it, you can always sell it for what you paid for it very easily so its not a gamble at all.

I would buy one from Glen if was in the market for one. You get a lapped and tested plus he rates the grit for you for 45 dollars.

Whoever said Rayman's Chromium Oxide strop doesn't do anything didn't get one like I received. That thing's awesome for $16. A commendable product.