Thread: Hones were not always flat.

I stumbled on this patent from 1938

RAZOR HONE - Google Patents

Patent 2,111,667

I am not sure if it adds anything today except
that an old blade might have been honed
in ways we might not expect.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

I stumbled on this patent from 1938

RAZOR HONE - Google Patents

Patent 2,111,667

I am not sure if it adds anything today except
that an old blade might have been honed
in ways we might not expect.

Perhaps... but if it was in any way common, we would see a lot more non-flat hones for sale on Ebay and in antique stores.

Very interesting, Tom! I have never seen one like that, but I have seen numerous examples of "cushioned" paddle strops that are formed in the same way. At one time, most of the really big makers in Sheffield seem to have produced a cushion strop. I have taken a few apart to re-cover with a flat piece of leather and found that the domed effect in the middle is made by having more stuffing there than at the edges.

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Very interesting, Tom! I have never seen one like that, but I have seen numerous examples of "cushioned" paddle strops that are formed in the same way. At one time, most of the really big makers in Sheffield seem to have produced a cushion strop. I have taken a few apart to re-cover with a flat piece of leather and found that the domed effect in the middle is made by having more stuffing there than at the edges.

Regards,
Neil

I have always liked the idea of a barber hone that has a
felt backed leather strop on one side. It is time
to dust mine off give it a light coating of strop dressing
and put them back to work.

I might note that my coticle once had this
very patented saddle back shape although
not so extreme. It was because I honed
my three razors on it for 20 years and
never lapped it flat. The shallow dip (less than
the thickness of a dime) and the bevel on
my razors developed over time and matched
each other very well. Then one day I found
this group and lapped it and my Norton combo
flat. The bevel profile of my razors no longer
matched my hones and I had some sad dull
edges for a while. What used to work stopped
working. Especially on my hard tempered TI
razor.

I have a hone like that. It is called the Scientific ( actually has an odd spelling) hone. It is very small.