Thread: a couple of new stones

Some barber hones have a base layer of a lesser material and a thin coating of good honing material. Some use a binder that can break down with time.

gssixgun has previously suggested rubbing a freshly lapped barber hone with a hard natural like a arky, to remove any unwanted high spots.

Jonathan

The longer one does look like a BBW. It should create purple slurry.

The smaller one is a Barber's hone. Looks like a Swaty knockoff. You can clean it up with Dmt plates, or sandpaper. I've restored several. If I remember, I'll post some pics. If you don't have Dmt plates, start with 220g to remove the heavy stuff. Work your way up to 1000g.

If you have coarser hones, like an Arky, you can try it, but that one may need more work.

That will make it look new and won't harm the stone.....!

Good luck

I think the OP makes it clear he has already lapped the Apart. So I assume there are no high spots to remove. It still has a chalky appearance. Further lapping with a DMT or sandpaper or an arky won't fix that. Re-hydrating with vaseline will.

Originally Posted by Lazarus

I think the OP makes it clear he has already lapped the Apart. So I assume there are no high spots to remove. It still has a chalky appearance. Further lapping with a DMT or sandpaper or an arky won't fix that. Re-hydrating with vaseline will.

WoW, I've actually done this before. I'm not talking about removing high spots, I'm talking about proper finishing. I've never heard of rehydrating a Barber hone with Vasaline. No need to get bent out of shape about it. I can tell you, The Barber hone does look lapped, but not finished. After I lapped a few Swatys, They looked exactly the same. Taking it up to 1000 grit, brought back the finish.

I'm at work. I'll post pics, before and after when I get a chance.

Edit: Here's a few that have been lapped and refinished up to 1000g. I have one at home that's still rough. I'll post pics of that later.
They looked exactly like the OP's.

Well vaseline is mostly mineral oil,anyone ever heard of doing this?
Barbers used tallow soap (fat) Interesting.

Originally Posted by zib

WoW, I've actually done this before. I've never heard of rehydrating a Barber hone with Vasaline. No need to get bent out of shape about it. I can tell you, The Barber hone does look lapped, but not finished. After I lapped a few Swatys, They looked exactly the same. Taking it up to 1000 grit, brought back the finish.

You've actually done what before?
I didn't think I came across as bent out of shape what makes you think I was? Was it my implication that folks were weighing in on the tread without having read it? You're right that is kind of annoying. I've lapped a few swatys and I have also lapped an Apart and a number of other barbers hones. My experience has been that after lapping them up to 1000 grit a simple coat of vaseline makes a world of difference.

Originally Posted by Lazarus

You've actually done what before?
.

Restored Barber hones.

The Swaty's above looked just like the OP's after initial lapping. White and Dry. After finishing them up to 1000g, the finish came back.

I didn't have to do anything further. TBH, I never thought of lubing them up. I was under the impression they did not absorb water, oil, etc...

Yep I've had some come back pretty nice just from a good progressive lapping such as you suggest. But after I brought a couple back from the dead with vaseline I started doing it on every barber hone I lapped. It makes them brand new. I've tried it on a small (maybe 30 total) sampling of barbers hones and it has worked well on everything. I have been surprised at how much some of them absorbed. Another tip I got from my white haired barber is keep them away from heat even hot water when lapping them. I now lap them under a constant stream of cold water.

is there any production data left from the barber hones? my wild ass guess is that they were in production from late 1800's to mid 1900's- and manufacturers were pretty tight with what they considered trade secrets in those days.

I have lapped many barber hones & own more than my share. I have questions/concerns on refreshing/loading barber hones with a petroleum jelly. Unless it is an older Carborundum razor hone; I am concerned about the binder being effected & that the petroleum jelly would 'fill" the pores of the hone, taking away from it's cutting ability.
I can see a certain amount of tallow soap or fat being during the touch up, but not left on the hone afterwords.

Interesting,,, the effects of a petroleum product on a barber hone.
I will try to find something on this, maybe Martin has something in his file.