Thread: Unnumbered Carborundum hone

Is it greasy or oily? It seems like many of the Carborundums ended up that way. If so, I would start with oven cleaner. Spray it on and leave it for a half hour or more and then give it a scrubbing with a stiff nylon bristle brush. If need be, repeat it.

Carborundums are incredibly hard and will eat DMT plates. Don't lap yours with any DMT other than the XX plate. You can also use coarse sandpaper and if you do that I would start with about 120 grit. Realistically though, because they are so hard, they don't dish and are all close enough to flat. Barber hones don't need to be perfectly flat and almost any of the lower 100 series Carborundums, like your 102, will be close enough to flat that it will be perfectly useable without lapping.

For using it, hold it in the palm of your hand with your holding hand straight out and the hone just sitting on top of it. If you instead choose to hold the hone with your thumb and finger tips, then make absolutely certain that your fingertips are BELOW the top plane of the hone. If you fail to do this, then your fingers will be slightly shortened! Like the Swaty, you can use the hone dry, with water, or with lather. I definitely prefer diluted lather as the soap breaks the surface tension of the water and prevents it from beading and being pushed off of the hone. Just do 4 to 6 laps for touch ups.

It looks a little grimy. Can I use scrubbing bubbles in lieu of oven cleaner?

I do have an XX DMT plate, I never thought it would be useful for anything, good thing I kept it I guess.

I don't know. Given how non-porous the 102 is, I would guess that the hone won't be harmed, but I also question whether the scrubbing bubbles will be as effective as oven cleaner. I suppose you might as well try it and see what, if anything, happens.

After you get it clean, I suggest that you try honing with it without lapping it first. You can always lap it later, and if you have a DMTXX, then you are good to go. Just be gentle!

They are so hard that you can use 600 grit sandpaper to clean them. I picked up a #200 that was so ugly I thought it was a dual-grit hone! It was my first barber hone and I was woefully ignorant. I figured that since it was "fine" I should lap it with 600 paper on the kitchen countertop. Instead of lapping it (which it didn't need) It cleaned off all the gunk and left a perfectly clean hone.

So: consider using the hone's hardness in your favor. Use sandpaper to clean it. It will clean up quickly!