Thread: Barber Hones

I have Tilly's starter pack of a cushion strop, a Gem, and a Lithide.

Cushion strop---------good
Gem---------------------good
Lithide------------------JUNK!!!
Wojtec slate-----------OK but seems to cut REAL slow
Jugo swaty------------Haven't used it yet
Coticule----------------Can't beat it with a stick

I also have the Wojtec slate, a small green coticule, a Jugo Swaty, and a couple others.

When resetting the bevel on a ebay I use my knife stone, a large Arkansas stone to remove whatever nicks.

Next it's a sheet of 2000 sandpaper for 50 laps to knock down the big scratches.

I then use the front of the cushion strop until the razor just starts to pull-pop arm hairs.
I have used MAAS on the back of this hone as a slurry to speed removal of larger amounts of metal and it works well. It also clogs the hone up pretty good. When it gets sticky, just add a little oil.
I have found that the clogged hone produces finer scratches under a microscope, so I do about 25 laps on the clogged side of the hone.

To the Gem! Use the Gem until I get the razor to pop arm hairs just before it touches them, normally around 50-200 laps.

If at this point there are spots on the edge that only work so-so I go back to the backside of the cushion strop for 30 more laps.

Back to the Gem till it pre-pops hairs along entire edge.

Next I have my little green coticule.

I have found that one of my major problems was doing too many strokes on the finish hone.
I was doing more and more trying to pass HHT but never got there.

I would then have terrible shaves.

I have found that around 6-14 strokes is plenty on my hone. YMMV depending on stone. Mine clearly states "strictly dry use".

I have actually found that I can shave straight off of the Gem, it's just a little rough.

Now that I have spent about 200 hours(no joke) on the barbers hones it takes less than half of the time it used to. Sometimes less.

At one point I was shopping for a Norton because I was convinced barber hones were junk.
Not so now. I have the utmost confidence in my hones and am buying more whenever I see them.

As a benchmark of how good I have become with barber hones, I got a couple of razors back that I had Joe C hone for me, just to see how sharp a razor was supposed to be.

After looking at one of them under a microscope and one of mine, I saw right away that I was using the finish hone too much.
I changed my system a little and can now get a razor Joe C sharp.
Maybe not the first time, but I can do it.

JEW KEN DEW WHEAT !! (waterboy)

I will occasionally use barber hones too. I have nearly 30 or them as they are inexpensive and something I often find in antique shops I visit.

I got a DD Satin Wedge from Floridayboy the other day that needed some edge work on it. A few waves and a tiny nick or two. Not owning a Norton (yes, that's right...no Norton <g>) I grabbed a Kimberly Special I got from Tilly. Got it wet and did circular movements with a slight pressure until the nick was gone, maybe 5 to 10 minutes. I did quick circlers for a minute on one side, flipped it over and did the other side of the blade and repeated it. I then went to normal honing strops with very light pressure on the same Kimberly. I then went to normal honing strokes on one of my Hunsruecks and on a very fine vintage Belgian I had. Both of those were done with a slurry. That little wegde has turned into one of my favorite shavers now.

Oddly though I rarely do finish honing or touchups on a barbers hone. Guess I need to try that a bit too. Maybe for a mid shave fixer.

Tony

[QUOTE=gratewhitehuntr;110429]I have Tilly's starter pack of a cushion strop, a Gem, and a Lithide.

Cushion strop---------good
Gem---------------------good
Lithide------------------JUNK!!!

[QUOTE]

I have these three hones and, while I don't think the Lithide is JUNK, I'll just say its one of the more inconsistent/problematic hones. Even after much lapping, including using the 8k side of the Norton, its still a PIA and I don't use it as a finishing hone - too coarse.

I agree that the Cushion Strop (medium) and Gem (medium-fine) are good little hones.

I also have the following hones:

Little Devil (very coarse/coarse) - good for lapping other hones, setting a bevel on new razors and/or e-bay razors in decent shape.

Amalgamite (fine) - good hone - I can shave off of it, but I generally use it as the second-to-last hone before going to my finishing hones.

American Hone - not a bad finishing hone, especially at $10 for a hone in almost mint condition on e-bay.

Apart - very good finishing hone, I think its similar to a Swaty (made in Marburg, Austria) and a steal at $10 (in very good condition, very little use no chips, etc) on e-bay. This is my go-to finishing hone and I get very nice edges I do a few strokes dry and then a few more with water or lather. The edges I get off of the Apart are very good (I rate them as comparable to the edge I get off of the .5 diamond paste) and smooth. It also works well on all of my razors (but haven't tried it on my wedges yet), regardless of size or material.

One of the tips I picked up frome someone off the board is to hold a barber's hone firmly enough to provide a stable surface, but no so tightly that there's no give/float. The explanation why this works is because it gives the hone a little play/float that allows the razor to find the proper angle along its entire length and allows you to compensate for any small irregularities/uneven spots along the lenght of the blade.

I really like my barber's hones - there's a lot of trial and error involved, which is why I use a practice razor to play with a new hone to get a sense of where it fits in with my other hones in terms of coarseness and how to get the best results from it.

I have gotten NOS razors shaving sharp in about 15 minutes using nothing but a succession of 3 - 4 hones of various grits.