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I came across this today at an antique mall. Paid $4.50 for it. It looks like its in excellent shape, but should I lap it before I use it? Also, is there a place to post old instructions at SRP? I also ran across a Barry White greatest hits CD, I didn't know Barry was an antique. I bought him for $1.00 so now I have some Groooovy shaving music..:rock: Any advice on using and care of the Swaty would be helpful. Any Idea on how old this hone is?
Thanks in advance!!
Nice work! And the hone looks good as well! Swatys are great. I wonder if that one was not used with oil? It sort of looks like it. Scrub it good with some cleanser and a nylon brush, lightly. See how the water rolls off or not. I wonder if it is just dirty and has a ton of metal in it? The papers fold up and slide in. No evidence of oil on it. Might just be dirty, OR, If it was oiled, maybe oil should be used? I will leave it to others! Good find. As to the Barry White CD, you would have to send it to me to evaluate!;)
Personally, I think that lapping barber hones is pretty much a waste of time. Chamfering, though, is a good idea. It not only decreases the chances of damaging you blade, I decreases the chances of chipping the edges of the hone. This can usually be accomplished fairly easily with some 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper -- used wet.
When I look carefully at the hone, it appears that there are tiny little circles, not many, but some, but it appears prefectly flat. I ran it under the sink water and used a toothbrush to clean it, but I cant tell any difference other than the tape stickyness is gone.
Use some cleanser, like Ajax or Comet. Scrub it lightly, wet with your toothbrush. Clean it! It will probably be fine. (dedicated toothbrush)
And if the edges are chipped, will it still work ok? Are the sides of a Swaty different grits?
the edges feel rougher, but I thought it might be due to no honing on them. Can someone shed some light on this. Are the edges a different grit? There are no chips in the hone.
That looks good I paid 3$ for one last week just like it with no box or papers.
Like yours better.
...damn.... that is a great find.......... can't find those type of items at those great prices in Europe....
......everything here is sky high.................
Nice find! If the swaty is in excellent shape then just cleaning it is enough. I've seen a few that were scratched and one that was corroded but after lapping they worked fine. If you lap it you should lap it to a fine grit.
If the sides are of different grit the label side will be finest.
That appears to have 2 lines of text imprinted into the hone, correct? If so, then it is a very early model.
I picked up my Franz in SoDak as well, but I paid nearly twice as much for just the hone and the yellow box (which I did not think was the right box until seeing yours!).
Good find. IMO the hone's the same grit all around and a great one to have. Some other barber's hones were dual grit, but it's usually pretty easy to tell (a light side and a dark side).
Peace,
Jim
I have a number of barber hones and they varied widely as to how flat they were. Some definitively needed to be lapped. That process also cleaned them up nicely. Having said that-Quote:
Originally Posted by cconlee
From the wiki: Barber Hones
... They are usually very hard, so they tend to wear very slowly can take a long time to lap. Some claim barber hones do not require lapping, and certainly many barbers have used such hones for great lengths of time without lapping them. ...
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...p/Barber_Hones
Good stuff above.
Barber hones... do a lot of things before ya lap them.
Just use it.
Use it with water.
Just use it with lather.
Use it with mouth wash.
Clean it with common dish soap.
Clean it with kitchen cleanser.
Clean it with glass stove top cleaner (my fav. this week)
Audition it with a couple razors in the rotation,
using the magic marker test. If the razor smoothly
and addresses the entire edge it is flat enough.
If and only if it needs it lap it flat. When flat condition
the surface with a fine abrasive: Kitchen glass top
cleaner, kitchen cleanser (comet, bonami, etc),
white toothpaste. Gently work the surface with a troubled
razor, one with way too much spine wear etc. or a small
kitchen knife.
My best barber hones look clogged and glazed,
light reflects off the surface a little or a lot depending
on the surface. So let them get polished and glazed.
In all this there is no single answer. Try to do nothing
that is hard to undo. Barber hones like most ceramics
have a slip surface that is smoother and finer than the
ceramic just under the surface. IMO that is why they worked
well out of the box. The tight binding and careful classification
of the clay/ ceramic mixed with grit is what makes them
good for a very long time.
In the world of barber hones the Carborundum Barber
hones like the 101 are something special. I have
used a 101 to condition the surface of red clay barber hones,
other carborundum hones, and even used one as as a rubbing
stone on Naniwa and coti hones and been very pleased.