Thread: Clearcut and Regal Stones

Dear Fellow Members-Does anyboy have an opnion on this Clearcut hone? It appears to be all one grit:

Vintage Clearcut Straight Razor Hone Quality Fine Stone in Great Condition | eBay


I already bought this Regal and would appreciate any feedback on this stone:

Genuine Antique Regal Double Grit Barber Razor Hone Stone in The Blue Box GP | eBay

Here's Swift and Sure that's being auctioned off-supposedly has two sides:

Vintage Swift Sure Two Sided Straight Razor Hone w Box Instructions No Res | eBay

A Swaty:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Franz-Swaty-...item51a5f3cf21

Still another: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Barb...item3ccd83ea61

And another: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Swif...=item4abfccedd

Lastly, a Tonsolial brand hone:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Tons...item589a24e82c

These are all barbers hones that must be carefully used due to the coarseness of even their fine side, correct? Thanx for any feedback-Gearhead

Dont confuse "coarseness" with quick cutting. A good barber hone is handy for the quick touch ups.

That Clearcut looks in pretty good shape, and teh swaty stones are always a fair bet.

I agree with Magpie, the swatties are always a safe bet as long as their condition is good. A word of advice though, posting links to stones you may be interested could be prohibitive as you are showing razor guys stones.

No worries! I will eventually figure it out

It is very often difficult to find much information on a lot of the brands of barber hones (there's so many and many are probably just rebranded). Of the ones you listed, the Swaty has a very good reputation. You already have the double sided Regal, you really don't need more unless you want to go for something of known high quality. The basic use of barber hones is to touch up and maintain a previously shave ready edge. When an edge starts to show signs of deteriorating, 3 to 8 round trips on a barbers hone is supposed to bring it back. At this point, already having the Regal, you should either start to be very selective and only look for Barber hones you know would be better or expand and start considering other alternatives, Unless you want a barber hone collection? There's some threads about barber hones, do a search and start getting a better idea of which ones are well regarded. You could also start looking into coticules, for the price of a few of the barber hones you're looking at, you could probably get a coticule to have next to your Regal. (Disclaimer: I already have three barber hones and I keep looking too.)

Thank you sir! The way I understand it, what I need is something around 8-10K, correct? Would this be a Coticule or a Norton 4k/8k? Again, ANY information is greatly appreciated!-Gearhead

If you are looking at a first honing stone, then hands down you should start with a Norton 4/8K or a Naniwa 3/8K. Coticules are nice, but they are natural stones, meaning they each have a personality of their own...meaning more difficult to learn. Please learn the basics on known stone grits before venturing into naturals.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Coticules are nice, but they are natural stones, meaning they each have a personality of their own...meaning more difficult to learn.

+1...I have been trying to teach myself how to use my coticule, and I will say it is MUCH more difficult to learn than, say, a Norton 4/8 which is what I started out with.