Thread: Lapping a Franz Swaty baber hone.

How are these supposed to be maintenanced? Do they need lapped? If so how would I go about that?

I use my DMT 325. Also, per gssixgun's recommendation, I bought a small black hard Arkansas stone that I use to lap my Swaty. Works awesome & leaves a very nice surface to hone on!!

Here you go from a previous thread.....good luck
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...rs-hone-2.html

Here's another thread I started a while ago on lapping a Swaty..

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...new-swaty.html

To jpcwon,
Mine looks exactly like yours. Did you get yours the way you wanted it?

Why lap a barber hone? They were never meant for it and work just fine without the added trouble. Try it and see.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Why lap a barber hone? They were never meant for it and work just fine without the added trouble. Try it and see.

Only reason I lapped mine was because it had gouges in it, otherwise I woulda left it alone.

Originally Posted by JazzWillie

To jpcwon,
Mine looks exactly like yours. Did you get yours the way you wanted it?

Yeah, I used a hard black Arkansas stone to lap it. It worked really well. I agree with nun2sharp though; leave it alone unless it really needs it; it's not entirely necessary to lap a barber's hone like it is other stones...Now that I have it all lapped up though, I find that it works well to help an edge that's pulling a bit...

Guess I should have elaborated a bit. I was asking because mine has what looks like oxidation around the outer edges and corners. Is this normal, and will it effect its capasity as a hone?

JimmyHad shared his thoughts on this a yr or so back, saying he just scrubbed the old glazed metal swarf off w/ comet & a scrubbing pad. I was nervous to lap, 'cause I understood the finish is partly responsible for the cutting action. I've used the comet & scrubbing routine on 4 of them so far and have no reason to do otherwise. 'Worked fine.

I bought a Pike Swaty from ebay and did what pinklather mentions -- using Barkeeper's friend and a nylon scrubber.

I did use some wet/dry sandpaper to round off the edges but didn't really want to disturb the smooth surface by lapping.