Thread: Franz Swaty bevel set and hone?

So I've read that it was possible and could be done with much time, so I embarked on a journey. The only hone I currently have is a Swaty 3 line from Austria. I also recently picked up a razor at an antique shop a while back that wasn't much better off than a butter knife.

Long story short, I figured, what have I got to lose. I've got the hone,and the razor came free with another purchase. Worst case I'd send it out to be honed. So I decided to play with the razor on the Swaty in my free time.

Well, it's about 3-4 weeks later now...can't remember how long ago I got the razor, but I've been fiddling with the razor and hone every evening while watching a movie or something...just kind of an idle motion I kept going while doing other things. I have no clue how many laps have been done, but I've done some half strokes and full laps off and on during my sessions.

Each night before giving up on it, I check it on my arm hair to see if any progress had been made. Each day it has gotten a bit better, and tonight, I thought maybe it was getting close enough to shave with. So when I finished up, I went and did about 10 laps on a paddle with crox, then many laps on wool and even more on the leather.

Wet my face a bit and tried it out on a sideburn, and it actually shaved all the hair down to the skin! I had about 2 days growth on it. It wasn't the most comfortable...some pulling, but I also didn't do any prep and didn't use any soap...just some water on the skin and on the blade.

Not sure if I've actually accomplished anything, but I was quite satisfied with what I had done with just a barbers hone. It was a relaxing job how I was doing it, and rather enjoyed it up to this point.

Anyone ever fiddle around like this before and actually made a "shave ready" razor?

It gives me hope that when my coticule and Zulu grey arrive, I may actually be able to do it!

Try raising a slurry on it and see if that helps... Hone one side until a but raises on the other side... Now flip it over and hone the other side until the but raises on the first side... Then make a slurry and go at it.... Then water only then with lather...

I dont know if slurry would work on a barbers hone. They were made to be really hard and I think the slurry would chew up the edge on a razor, but I have never tried it so I honestly don't know. Post the results.

Originally Posted by Heespharm

Try raising a slurry on it and see if that helps... Hone one side until a but raises on the other side... Now flip it over and hone the other side until the but raises on the first side... Then make a slurry and go at it.... Then water only then with lather...

I think I have a 3 line swaty at home... I may just do that

Never thought about a slurry, but at the current moment, I don't have anything to create one...

get another swaty, rub them together..

The Coticule will be WAY faster! lol! The Swaty is about 10k and fairly agressive and you are supposed to use 5-10 laps to refresh an edge. Maybe trying circles with some pressure on the Swaty might speed it up, I might experiment with this myself and see what happens

Originally Posted by Wxman2000

It gives me hope that when my coticule and Zulu grey arrive, I may actually be able to do it!

Originally Posted by rodb

The Coticule will be WAY faster! lol! The Swaty is about 10k and fairly agressive and you are supposed to use 5-10 laps to refresh an edge. Maybe trying circles with some pressure on the Swaty might speed it up, I might experiment with this myself and see what happens

I'm sure most anything would be way faster than this, but given the condition that the blade was in when I got it, I really didn't expect that I'd be able to do anything at all with it. Kind of cool what can be done with one little barber hone though.