Barber hone

What is a barber stone ( how much grit.) and why are thy so expensive on the classified. Will a 12000 grit. Work.

Most barber stones are around 10,000 grit, a 12k stone will do juuist fine, if used correctly. They didnt used to be so high.

Barber's hones are synethetic stones that are used to touch up a razor when it becomes dull to shave with. You hold it in your hand and make about 5 passes to touch up the razor. The hones you see in the classifieds right now, from what I checked, are not barber's hones but just high end hones. Escher hones, like the one seen in the ads are old hones that are no longer made and were mined in Germany at the turn of the last century. They are very prized for their amazing finishing results and have become extremely collectable for hobbiests. If you check Ebay for barber's hones you will see hones like the Swaty hone that are barber's hones. They usually sell for 40-60 $ USD. Some hones are very collectable and leave better edges so the value may vary.

If you check this thread here http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...ristics-7.html
you will see what barber's hones will look like for future shopping.

You could pick up a Naniwa Super Stone 12K or Shapton GS 16K and never go wrong. Then you would have your finisher if you ever decided to get into honing.

Be very careful when using ebay as a lot of chipped up hones get put up there. This is part of why the classified's are a little higher as 1-n-5 will be so chipped up a honorable person wouldn't want to sell it.

A few years ago you could pick up a typical barbers hone for maybe $20 or less. Of course there was a gal who was flooding the market with left over hones from the American Hone Co. Those are all gone now.