Thread: Barber Hone for touch up

I've had a 3 line Swaty barbers hone for around 2 years and never touched it. During my shave yesterday I could feel my razors edge wasn't quite up to snuff and realized I'd never tried the swaty out. I grabbed it, gave my razor 4 quick ultra light x strokes and finished the shave.

i was actually surprised at how well it worked! Brought the edge back easily and gave me a nice smooth shave. I guess those things actually work for refreshing a razor that's in decent shape already

Anyone use one regularly for touch ups?

I use one periodically, however I've been kind of obsessed with hones lately so not recently. I have quite a few barbers hones, I was obsessed with them for a while. There are many quality levels. The Franz Swaty ones seem pretty good. I must say there are so many to sample, so if you like rabbit holes...

Yep. The simple, but effective every time for me is my Naniwa 12k SS. Easy for beginners like me and pros hone all day long on them and recommend them.

In fact, I'm either going to have to slow down the honing to a ladder rung a night or something or I'm going to have to look for more razors and soon.

Originally Posted by jc50

I've had a 3 line Swaty barbers hone for around 2 years and never touched it. During my shave yesterday I could feel my razors edge wasn't quite up to snuff and realized I'd never tried the swaty out. I grabbed it, gave my razor 4 quick ultra light x strokes and finished the shave.

i was actually surprised at how well it worked! Brought the edge back easily and gave me a nice smooth shave. I guess those things actually work for refreshing a razor that's in decent shape already

Anyone use one regularly for touch ups?

Sometimes I use it, works very well altough I have to complete 25-35 very light pass on my swaty (Austrian) but generaly I do 30-60 light laps on my Ozuku only water none of my hones can give me a result like this....

Originally Posted by jc50

I've had a 3 line Swaty barbers hone for around 2 years and never touched it. During my shave yesterday I could feel my razors edge wasn't quite up to snuff and realized I'd never tried the swaty out. I grabbed it, gave my razor 4 quick ultra light x strokes and finished the shave.

i was actually surprised at how well it worked! Brought the edge back easily and gave me a nice smooth shave. I guess those things actually work for refreshing a razor that's in decent shape already

Anyone use one regularly for touch ups?

Why were you surprised? They call them barbers hones because barbers used them daily for a quick touchup years ago and they worked great then and they still work great now.

Every other day I spend 15 minutes running the next two razors up for rotation on my Swaty or C-MON barber hone, depending on which razor it is. I will be continually amazed at how well it brings the edge back to 'near first off the hone' quality. Keeps me looking in the mirror at myself and proclaiming to the indifferent cat watching what a lucky man I am to be shaving with straight razors!

I enjoy using a barbers hone. 20 xstrokes freshens up my edge greatly! I use a velvet edge barber hone

Pardon my lack of knowledge, but where would I shop for a barbers hone and what would I look for in quality?

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

Pardon my lack of knowledge, but where would I shop for a barbers hone and what would I look for in quality?

I've seen several nice Swaty's on E-Bay that looked very nice. Even saw a Swaty 4 line one!! First I'd seen one of those! Just look for a good quality, new or barely used one with no chips / damage etc..

You can also use a finishing stone like a 12k for example or even a nice Select Grade coticule...but you can't go wrong with a nice Barbers hone.

I don't use a barbers hone, so others could weigh in on this one, it looks good and it's a BIN.

FYI - hope this helps:

Franz Swaty Austria Straight Razor Knife Sharpening Stone Hone Vintage | eBay

I've been using what I'm referring to as a triple 5 regimen:

5 shaves on a single razor gets
5 strokes on the barber's hone followed by
5 laps on a CrOx pasted strop to make the edge not so harsh

I then strop and shave as normal. Been working like a charm to maintain my razors.