Thread: Swaty Barbers Hones?

Originally Posted by Hirlau

You've got some great hones in that line up, might as well add a Swaty.

That's funny: I was thinking the same but opposite. You've got some great hones there; what do you need a Swaty for? :-)

I bought one, and found it really doesn't have a place that my others don't do better. Maybe for the one-hone solution 60 years ago it was OK, but it seemed to me like a does-nothing-well solution.

Originally Posted by mdarnton

That's funny: I was thinking the same but opposite. You've got some great hones there; what do you need a Swaty for? :-)

I bought one, and found it really doesn't have a place that my others don't do better. Maybe for the one-hone solution 60 years ago it was OK, but it seemed to me like a does-nothing-well solution.

In my world of barber hones, it has nothing to do with need.
I want one, two or maybe three , as I like to collect them.
Yes, there are better hones out there for certain applications.

Last, but not least, barber hones are icons of wet shaving going back generations. We save/restore straight razors to keep the tradition alive; barber hones deserve a place in our shave dens also.

For what it cost me ($24.00 total), it's a cool little collectible, that may be very handy-Gearhead

Originally Posted by mdarnton

That's funny: I was thinking the same but opposite. You've got some great hones there; what do you need a Swaty for? :-)

I bought one, and found it really doesn't have a place that my others don't do better. Maybe for the one-hone solution 60 years ago it was OK, but it seemed to me like a does-nothing-well solution.

You may need less passes to get better results. The genuine three line swaty is about 12k level...the rip off ones that say"three line" on them are around 6k level.

I get excellent shaves from mine. Id be happy with only owning it as a hone, and I have tried over a hundred hones and modern synthetic systems.

Heavy stropping helps as well since the stone cuts aggressively.

Thanx Disburden! Wondering if I can use my $14.00 Nagura with any stone? Have seen it used with a Norton 4K. Great forum!-Gearhead