Thread: 1 Year into SR shaving, time to learn to clean a edge up.

<sub>I am planning on using this thread to keep my experiences straight, so feel free to not reply!

History:
I have a few straights:
1 Dovo BQ
1 Wiederstrahl
2 J.A. Henckels(just returned from Obie sharp as can be)
1 Whipped Dog Straight

I believe the Dovo, and the whipped could use a little sharpening(I have balsa strop with pastes from Larry at WDS as well), but I am very interested in learning to hone.

I was at the Barbershop today talking straights while getting my hair chopped and one of the barbers(a older gent) had a old barbers hone sitting in a drawer that he let me borrow(hoping I can buy it if you gentlemen say its a good stone).

None of my blades are dull by any means, but I think a full honing is beyond my abilities as of now, but a refreshing on a barbers hone sounds reasonable.

Currently reading through the WiKi to get a good understanding on where to start.

Here is the stone:</sub>

He let you borrow a h*ll of a good barber hone, use it with care , as I'm sure you will.
Keep reading the Library Section & watching the videos.

Very good to know! What is it, exactly..if you don't mind me asking?

It's written on the side, " Frictionite". Google it, & use the "Advanced" search key, above right , enter it in the keyword section & it will pull the threads related.

I have a nice one, possible NOS, but I have never used it, I collect barber hones mostly; so wait & I'm sure a member with hands on experience in Frictionites will give you some info. on it.

It appears to be a Frictionite 00. These are getting all the money on the bay. Search this site you'll find lots of information.

It's an older Frictionite, made before the company was bought and moved to Iowa. Extremely good hone, once upon a time pretty inexpensive. None have been made since sometime in the 1980s, I think. Competition lumberjacks in Australia seem to be the driving force between the insanely high prices they'll fetch on ebay. I'm very lucky to have gotten one as a teenager; mine came with a reedmaking kit.

The dark side is the coarser one, light side finer. Exact grit hard to say, but you should get a comfortable shave from the fine side. You can gentle it back a little with a CrOx strop if it's too harsh.

Use with water or lather. If lather, rinse it well. Keep from extreme heat and extreme cold so the binder doesn't go weird on you. Barber's hones have a high ratio of grit to binder, so don't need as many laps as do natural or some other synthetic hones. Your searches of this site should scare up photos of the original instruction sheet.

To touch up a blade, always start with the finest side and only a few strokes--five light laps, say--and proceed to more strokes and the coarser side only if the first attempt didn't bring your edge back.

Barber's hones are intended as finishing or touchup hones, not for the heavier work like bevel setting (1k) or initial polishing (4k). Their utility begins at about the same point an 8k's would begin, in my experience.

Anyway, you've got a treasure. Do a little more research on it and enjoy the edges!