Thread: Check out my sweet new hone..... and then tell me what the heck it is !!

An old barber friend gave this to me, said he got it in barber college in Jacksonville FL.

For some reason the camera wanted to take pictures of a grey hone but this one is the exact color of the last pic, the blurry one.

It's VERY soft, softer by far than my lithide hone and it originally came with a small stone to keep it clean.

Is this a piece of Thuringen or coticule?

Like I said, its green like the last pic and super soft, and stuck to a piece of lucite.

That kind of does look like a coticule. I haven't had any experience with them, though, but they are supposed to be very nice for putting a finishing edge on your razor.

Hmmm, it says strictly dry, if this is referring to how the stone should be used, then it definitely isn't a coticule. Also, coticules are pretty hard, and don't wear much at all. I lapped mine a bit when If first got it just to take some rough spots out that the wet saw had left when cutting. It took forever.

Matt

The hard seam makes it appear to be a coticule to me as well. A two sided barber hone would have a color only seam like a natural stone would. There is an American Hone Co. Super Punjab that looks very much like a coticule when new as one side is quite yellowish but it quickly ages to a mellow, Escher gray. These were 2 sided with a wavy seam like a natural coticule. They came with a small rubbing stone too and special instructions on NOT leaving it in sunlight as it will break down. It is a very cool hone and I'll try and post a photo later..........but, I digress, yours seems to be a coticule.

Tony

I just tried to figure a way to define its level of hardness and here is what I came up with.


It's SOOOOOO soft that you can make just the SLIGHTEST mark in it with a thumbnail.

A gouge that will catch a fingernail just a little so you can tell it's an indentation and not just visual.

Some vintage coticules are very soft. I have maybe 6 or 8 stones here and they range from as hard as a Norton to soft enough to easily scratch.

Tony

Hey Tony,

What do you mean by " the hard seam "

and that stuff about two sided?

it is a one sided, single composition hone.

One side is a hone and the other is lucite.

A piece of clear plastic with a set of instructions glued to it and then a thin piece of hone on top of that.

See middle pic.

GWH, I've seen these on eBay from time to time. It's a type of barber hone I believe. I don't think that it is a natural hone like an Escher or Belgian. My understanding is that those are to be used with water and not dry. Howard might shed some light as to if Belgian yellow stones were ever sold in this form.

That last pic sure makes it look like a coticule due to the creamy color but it's the first I've ever seen mounted to lucite and not black slate. I love the caveat on the stone "No fancy strokes or don't blame the hone". Truth is, we will probably never know about this one. It's sure a beauty of a relic though. A nice addition to any stone collection.