Thread: LAPPORT RECORD

Hi can someone please tell me if this stone can be used for honing razors the only information i have is its name LAPPORT RECORD and i was told that it is of German make was used by many barbers years ago to hone their razors it as no makings that give the grit size but it is white on one side (very fine )and brown /red on the other and is slightly more coarse than the white side it looks like it will do the job but i just want any input before i part with my money
many thanks to any reply
JOHN_S

John, if you're thinking of just using the stone for the occasional touchup, you don't need a two-sider. Just get a fine finishing hone like Swaty or coticule. If you want to do an all-out honing job, spend the money right and get a Norton.

The Norton is the defacto standard here for a number of reasons. It is readily available, it is nice and big, you know exactly what you are getting in grit size and there is a simple tested pyramid method to get it to work. If you buy one, your odds of success are good. The downsides on a Norton are the expense and the need to be soaked in water.

Barber hones tend to be more of an unknown quantity and so you have to be comfortable with a trial and error approach. If you already feel overwhelmed with stuff to learn or are worried about messing up a razor this aproach is probably not for you. Also their smaller size is a reason why folks both love and hate them. Most can be used wet or dry so they are less of a hassle.

Depending on the cost and your proclivities, I would not discount this hone. If it can be had for considerably less than a Norton and you like to experiment, why not try it? How much do they want? What is the size and condition of the hone?

It sounds like a barber's combination hone. I've had several of these, and they all work pretty well, but they are very slow. Because they tend to be much smaller than the norton they can also be a bit trickier to use, it's easier to mess up the edge when using them. The tradeoff was fine with barbers because they used them all the time so they got good with them, and they were small enough to keep in their pocket.