Is this a good hone?

[prezdead]

Was just wondering if these are good hones.

[hi_bud_gl]

very good one

[randydance062449]

If I remember correctly Hi-bud-gl has some experience with that hone.
Hang onto it. Remember that barber hones are not meant to bring back vintage antique store blades, they are for "touch up" work when the edge starts to pull.

[prezdead]

If I remember correctly Hi-bud-gl has some experience with that hone.
Hang onto it. Remember that barber hones are not meant to bring back vintage antique store blades, they are for "touch up" work when the edge starts to pull.

oh it was on ebay, but i got out bid.... seems like by the same damn person every time on ANY hone i bid on....

[prestonmcconkie]

It looks pretty typical of the synthetic pocket hones/barbers' hones of the early-mid 20th Century. The Swaty was as good as they got, but the Norton looks to have a nice, fine grit. Perfectly useful for refreshing a blade that already has the bevel set and doesn't have any nicks.

My first razor hone was actually an old Swaty, and believe it or not I used it to reshape a razor with a couple of sizable nicks. It only took me a week.

With a hone like this you'll still want to make sure it's flat. They've usually seen a lot of service and, though they're tough and haven't normally been used ignorantly like I did, if you rub them on a good flattener like a 10X4 DMT Duosharp, you'll see an hourglass pattern appear immediately, of darker unrubbed stone against the powdery rubbed-stone part. Flattening increases the usefulness of an old hone immensely.