Thread: Bottom of barber hones

When using a barber hone such as this one, (the surfaces seem to be the same on the top and bottom) can you use either side to hone on. By that I mean the side with the logo (top) and the opposite side (bottom). Its just that the bottom side is nearly an inch longer than the top due to the logo so it got me thinking.

I only use the bottom on mine,Grant. Course that's the side I lapped.....

The ones that I've tried which look the same on top and bottom seemed to work the same, so I used whichever side was quicker to lap. If both were fast, I'd use the bottom for the extra distance.

The bottom always made more sense to me. In fact, it always seemed illogical that they made the stamps so big on the face. It would have been just as easy to stamp the side and maximise the honing space.

I agree with the above. Obviously the longer surface of the side lacking the imprint is preferable. Some barber hones are two sided and obviously so as indicated by two obviously different colors.

Some barber hones that do not appear to be two sided claim that they are. In general, the imprinted side is the more fine of the two. In reality, I believe these to be quite rare. That is, most barber hones are homogenous and are the same on both sides. That means you might as well use the non-imprinted side.

Now, if you feel the urge to lap your hone (and with barber hones you should try to fight that urge) it is best to lap the bottom of the hone because
A) you are lapping the longer honing surface and
B) you are preserving the integrity of the imprint.