Thread: New Barber Hones

Do they still make Barber hones, or are all vintage? If so where can I buy one or are there mondern day equivalents to a barber hone? What would be the approximate grit on those barber hones as well.

warreng,

I don't think they have made barber hones for a while, though others may know differently

As a 'substitute', I use the Spyderco Bench Stone ultra fine ceramic stone ( 8 x 2 " ), and have found it to be very good for this purpose.

:: Spyderco Product Details ::

I would suspect any stone of convenient size & grit (>= 8000) could be used. as a substitute.

There are many at SRP (e.g. Utopian) who will be able to give a better answer

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Really, what is a barbers hone? It's a small stone you can hold in your hand while using and it's synthetic. Probably any synthetic hone you buy these days depending on the grit does the same thing. If you want small you can cut a larger hone to match the size of a barber hone.

They don't make them anymore.

I've read that the Spyderco fine or Ultra Fine is more or less the same composition as some of the old barber hones. I had the Spyderco hones and didn't like them at all and said so in my description when I sold them.

I happen to know that one member of SRP is tirelessly working on duplicating and eventually manufacturing barber hones on a limited basis. When his work will come to fruition is unknown to me but sooner of later I think there will be barber hones produced again.

Thanks guys! I know what a barber hone is just wondering if companies out there still make em’. If you go to Ebay etc and search barber hones all you will see is vintage or the Crappy Brand Zeepek comes up. I came to the conclusion that a Chinese 12k hone with a slurry should be good enough to keep the edge fresh maybe every 20 shaves or so.

Originally Posted by warreng

Do they still make Barber hones, or are all vintage? If so where can I buy one or are there mondern day equivalents to a barber hone? What would be the approximate grit on those barber hones as well.

Barber hones are simply small hand held hones.

The classic fired clay hones with a makers stamp are no
longer being made. Another type is the grey Carborundum
brand barber hones. i.e. most are vintage (99%).

The Spiderco fine and ultra fine ceramic hones are close
to these classic hones and are being made today.
The Spiderco hones come from the factory with
variations in their surface that some of us dislike.
With use and a good lap they do improve but oh so slowly.

The grit of the red barber hones is variable... A random
barber hone might be 3K to 7K and with a light practiced
touch can finish a shaver. They tend to cut fast depend
more on the person using it than some inherent magic uniform
grit. The best are rumored to have a grit near 12K... I
have yet to find one. A good rule of thumb is to
limit yourself to six hone strokes and to also use
a bit of lather. They do not make a slurry
but a touch of white toothpaste can help both the
red hones and also the grey carborundum hones.

IMO the first hone to own should be something like a
3K/8K or 4K/8K combo. It is also possible to refresh shavers
on a 10K or 12K modern hone. This works so well
for me that I feel that a good 10K or 12K modern hone
and a flat lap may be all a man needs at home. I am
not ready to recommend this for the world yet (but almost)....
See gssixgun and lynn's recent post on "one hone honing".

I agree with JimmyHAD's opinion of the Spydercos: they're useless. Among other things, they load up (glaze) really fast, and are incredibly hard to clean.

wsfarrell,

I am glad my Spyderco Ultra fine can't hear you

The below refers to the Fine & Ultra Fine Bench stones - I have not used the 'Medium' Bench Stone.

For me, they have not proven to be useless; indeed they have been most useful.

As they are mostly used in the 'barber hone' mode, very, very little steel is being removed from the edge so loading is not an issue.

If they do get loaded, a quick scrub with an abrasive kitchen cleaner and a Scothbrite cleans them in about thirty seconds or less !

I have also found them very useful as a substrate for my 'slurry' experiments.

Being as hard as they are, I can also polish my CPM M4 knife blade edges without any problems; this is something I would not like to do with my waterstones

As with most things shaving, YMMV

Have fun & a Merry Christmas

Best regards

Russ

You can get a small coticule for what I've seen vintage Swatys go for.

I've got a Spyderco UF, and it does put a on very sharp edge. It's a harsh edge, though.

I clean it with my DMT325.