Thread: Identify this Barber Hone

Please! Just wondering if anyone could estimate the grit on this hone. It has no markings, just a metal leather (sort of?) base.

Richard,

This is totally a guess, but I'm thinking the leather backing is a small strop. So maybe this is a medium or medium-fine hone. The leather might have been used with some sort of paste to give a little extra smoothing...

It seems like most of the barber hones out there are in the medium to medium-fine range. They tend to be reddish, like this one.

Just a guess,
Josh

Josh, thanks for the feedback. I never thought about the back being a strop, interesting. Would honing on something like this and then going to a strop be adequate? While my 4k/8k technique is currently being worked on, I seem to get ok results with this little barber hone.

Richard,

What do you mean by "OK results"? Are we talking shaving results here, or just that the blade seems sharper to you?

If it shaves well for you, I'd say go for it. There are so many medium hones around on eBay and elsewhere that I imagine some guys had to shave with them back in the day. I haven't been able to shave with anything lower than 8K as of yet, although I mean to give it another shot one of these days.

By the way, when I said "medium" before, I guess I'm saying around 6K. The problem with saying that is that these barber hones cut differently, so they might make scratches that are wider (or "coarser") than a Norton 8K but shallower ("smoother").

Don't take any of this too seriously, because it's mostly speculation.

Josh

I just reread your post, and you said "metal leather," not leather. In that case it probably wouldn't be a strop. But if there's a smooth leather surface than it might have been a strop.

Josh