Thread: Need ID on this (I think) barbershone

I bought some rusty old razors for 8 bucks off a ebay like site for restoration try-out purposes. The seller told me the razors were his father's who used them for about 40 to 50 years(but that's irrelevant for my question).

The guy also threw in his fathers hone. And I was wondering if you guys would know what kind or type it is, It is the first hone I ever held so I'm really dumb about this.

The smaller topside(judging by the wear) is a brownish yellow. And the bottom looks like roughly cut brown stone. There are no markings on the hone whatsoever.

Some barbers used those for hones but it ain't a 'barber hone'. What you have there is a coticule and a yellow/bbw at that. Great score. Edit, might be a bbw on the bottom or it may be slate. If slurry is purplish it is bbw.

Looks like a vintage coticule. The join looks a little clean to be a natural though once sanded that may not be true. Should be a nice stone. (My, you've come into some nice gear lately.)

So I could use this hone to touch up a razor? Or would a pasted strop be better?

Originally Posted by BrickBag

So I could use this hone to touch up a razor? Or would a pasted strop be better?

Yes you could use that hone to touch up a razor. A pasted strop would work too. There is a learning curve with that hone, or any of them, and you should lap it flat. Take a look at the SRP Wiki honing guide for info on how to use it.

I have a similar hone, as do many here. When I first started using it I wasn't that impressed. I even tried to sell it. But once I figured out how to use it I came to love it. You will love this hone too.

You could use that hone to do everything from Bevel setting to finishing if you so desire. Coticles are very versatile to say the least. Great score!

Yup, it's a Coticule. You have some major work to do, to get that thing cleaned up. Watch those chips, Your going to need to take care of those as well. you don't want anything that will catch a razor. Wet sanding, or a DMT XX or DMT C will do great on that....Yes, Some, and I say, Some Coti's can set bevels...Each is different and as Jimmy said, there is a huge learning curve. Coticule is probably the most unfriendly newbie hone out there...Setting a bevel on a hard Coticule can be an exercise in futility.
Some are just fantastic as touch up hones...

Looks like it has a BBW back, it's hard to tell in the pic, BBW have speckles in it..an d when you sand the blue side(if it is blue), if the slurry is purple, you have a bbw...The lines are clean, so it's not natural, and least it doesn't look to be...I could be wrong...

Some are great touch up hones, I like to use mine with lather as it seems to give me a better finish. I also find that the older ones tend to be finer. Great score and I'm looking forward to seeing pics of it once cleaned up.

I'll try to test the bottom part this afternoon for the slurry that comes off it(after I read the wiki that is).

I hope I can clean it up/lap it. However, some chips go all the way to(but not into) the other rock, but I think that cleaning up the chip edge won't make it catch the razor.

I'll see what I can do tonight using these instructions.

Thanks for all the information!