Thread: Rough spots on barber's hone

Hi, all! Haven't asked any questions in a while, so I'll let loose with a few of them.

My Pike barber's hone has rough spots on, as though it has been etched by an acidic substance (does mold cause this?). Has anyone tried to sand a hone in this condition? If so, what grits should I use? Is there a better way to repair the hone? Is it even worth bothering?

Try lapping it with a 220 stone and see. Barbers hones can be a pain to lap though. Any pictures of this situation?

Here is a photo:



The rough patch is the discolored area in the middle of the hone. There are similar areas on the other side.

Like Nick said, lap it with a coarse grit. If you have a DMT D8XX you're golden. If not 120 wet & dry on a flat surface will do it. You can go up in grit after you get past that to further refine the surface if you choose. Barber hones can be very tough on lapping plates.

Lap it out, the spot should go away when you're done. Make sure do draw a pencil grid on the stone so you can see when it's flat.

Thanks for your advice, gentlemen!

I progressed through 120, 220, 320 and 600 grits. The back side turned out great, but the front side kept showing rough spots in different places during sanding. The hone behaves as though it is not a homogeneous stone.

Since I couldn't get the front face as smooth as the back, it made sense to leave this as a "two-sided" hone. I made the front as consistent as I can and left it at that.

I also learned I don't care to lap any more barber's hones.