Thread: New Swaty(?)

I've just got a small hone from ebay, and I have a few questions about it. First the pics:



There is some very faint lettering on the darker side, which hasn't come out in the photo, which says "SWAT**" ('*' for an illegible character). I'm hoping it's a Swaty, but searching the other hone threads I see photos of Swatys in a red/brown material, with deeply embossed lettering - they look totally different.

It feels very smooth (on both sides) and seems to be smoother than my Llyn Melynllyn (which feels sort of velvety), which is good because I hope it's suitable for final polishing and touch-ups. Is it likely to be the right stone for these jobs?

Do I use both sides, and is there a way to tell which to use first? They feel about the same to the touch.

It's not a Franz Swaty. You are right that it is a synthetic. Only way to gage the "grit" is to compare the scratch marks left on a razor to known grit scratch marks.

I have a pike brand swaty. It's brown and single sided.

Try both sides and if one side feels rougher then you will know which to use first.

Michael

There are two sided Swaty's out there, though I've only seen them in pictures. If I remember right, they have the same deep embossed stamp that the other Swaty's have, with the dark side(stamp side) being the finer of the two sided.

Thanks, I will just have to play with it and experiment.

Swaty hones were so popular other companies copied the name for their barber hones. So it is possible it said Swaty without it being a real Swaty. Either way barber hones usually work great.

Is that the one from Ebay? If so isn't the 'swaty' written on it in marker, not stamped? I hope it turns out to be a nice hone.

It's from the UK ebay, yes. I'm pretty sure the letters aren't marker pen, but I can't tell what they are - they're very faint (more so now I've lapped it).

I didn't have a lot of time to research it as the auction was finishing in 3 mins when I searched. More fool me. At least it didn't break the bank. :/