Thread: Franz Swaty hone, Austrian

I was looking at a honing stone that was a Franz Swaty made in Austria. He has no idea what grit it is. Anyone ever hear of one? I've seen it, and it's kind of light tan color, a little like caramel. And also there is another one with it that is simply called "Standard".
I might be interesed in them, but I know nothing about that kind of whetstone or even if it's woth picking up.

Thoughts?

The Swaty hone is always a good choice. Over 5 million of them were made, in addition to countless clones. It is known as a barber's hone, and is used strictly for maintaining, rather creating, sharpness of an edge. You only need to do 4 to 6 strokes on most barber's hones in order to refresh your edge. I have seen a few different hones labeled as Standard, so I can't comment on your particular one.

I bet if you typed "Swaty" into our search engine, you'd get 1/2 million hits. As Utopian said, Very popular Barber hone, estimated around 8k-12k. Most are around 5x2 in size, made to fit in a Barber's pocket. Check our wiki here:
Hones - comparison table - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Oops, I forgot to address the grit issue. The grit of a barber hone is irrelevant, because the cutting by the hone is also so dramatically affected by the density of the hone and also the binder used to hold the grit. For this reason, barber's hones never declare a grit rating.

I just did. All I got in this search for this sub-group was you and Utopian and myself. I'm sure Swaty was well used by barbers.

Hmmm, interesting, I got 500 posts....?
Check here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/searc...archid=2518821 (Some of it might be helpful.....)

Also, Barber hones do not list a grit rating, However, it's always been accepted that they are between 8 and 12k.

Sorry, Zib, I had only searched in the "hones" sub forums only figuring that would be the logical place to find it. So, if these are so plentiful, then a lot of folks must have thought rather highly of them.

No problem. I just want you to be able to find the info your looking for....

Barber hones are really neat, I own quite a few of them even swatys. One thing to keep in mind is if you received a honed razor that was finished on a very high grit level (escher, jnat, shaptons etc), the swaty when used for a touch up isn't going to bring the razor back to that high finish again. It will definitely refresh your edge when it starts to dull but it won't be a 20-30k edge so it may feel different than what you first shaved with.

Lovely hones!

Agreed.

I have a set of razors I have maintained with nothing but a barber hone for several years. They shave just fine. However, their edges are not as good as the edges I can produce with some of my other hones.

Now, are the edges off of a $500 hone better than then edge off of a $15 Swaty????

Of course they are!
Their edges are $485 sharper and $485 more comfortable!!!!!