Carborundum hone.

I picked up an old hone at the flea market.

The Carborundum Company. Niagra Falls, New York. 118S Razor Hone. 4x2x3/4.

It has been used very little. It is a bit dirty, it looks like some rust from bits razor that stuck to the stone during honing. Anything special I should do to it before using it? Any good way to clean it?

I'm inclined to treat it like a waterstone. Wash it off and store it under water. I've never had an actual barber's razor hone before, so I am unsure how to treat it. Thanks for any insight.

Try cleaning it with dish soap . You may want to soak the hone in water to soften up the crud on it , but the hone does not need to be soaked before use . I believe Lynn has demonstrated how to use a barber hone in one of his instructional videos .

Are you sure it's a razor hone? In a post from this past June, Utopian pointed out that Carborundums usually say on the box if they are in fact, for razors. Here's an excerpt from his post:

"I'm working on a compendium index for all the Carborundums that I have found. I hope to post it soon. The only impediment is taking all the damn pictures for it. In the mean time, here is a list of all Carbos that I know of that are in fact razor hones.

45
79
101
101a
102
103
104
105
106
118s
152
160? (based on a photo provided by an SRP member and we couldn't properly make out the number)
200
201"

Yup. I'd would say it is a razor hone. The orange box it was in has all the words I wrote above about it. 118S Razor Hone.

You are right. The 118S is a razor hone. It is softer than the low 100 grit hones and it seems to have a slightly more coarse grit, but it works just fine and maintains a perfectly useable edge.

I picked up a Carbo #200 that was so dirty I thought it was a double-sided hone, and after a few minutes on 1200 grit wet/dry (on the flat kitchen counter) it was clean as whistle.

From what I've read here, they don't require lapping, and from experience I can say that it's so hard that high-grit sandpaper won't harm it, so if it were me, I'd run it over sand paper or a green kitchne pad. That should do it.