Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 38
Like Tree29Likes

Thread: Lathering a barber hone

  1. #1
    Senior Member blabbermouth edhewitt's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Perth Australia
    Posts
    7,741
    Thanked: 713
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Lathering a barber hone

    Chaps,
    I have read that a thick lather is the thing to use on a barber hone, and I agree that it certainly gives a nicer edge than just using water.
    My question is what does the lather do that makes it a better lubricant from point of view of edge niceness?
    Kind regards ed.
    sharptonn likes this.
    Bread and water can so easily become tea and toast

  2. #2
    Senior Member Bazz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Victoria Australia
    Posts
    252
    Thanked: 48

    Default

    My though is the lather makes the blade aquaplane an achieve a finer polish

  3. #3
    Tradesman s0litarys0ldier's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Sault Sainte Marie
    Posts
    1,719
    Thanked: 245

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by edhewitt View Post
    Chaps,
    I have read that a thick lather is the thing to use on a barber hone, and I agree that it certainly gives a nicer edge than just using water.
    My question is what does the lather do that makes it a better lubricant from point of view of edge niceness?
    Kind regards ed.
    Ed, what type of barber bone are you using? And just for touch ups?

    Take it with a grain of salt but I think it adds a bit of cushion to the stone making it perform seemingly better then with plain water. Almost like water only shaving vs shaving with lather. Just a buffer between the abrasive particles of the hone and the edge. I'll pre finish my barber hone edges on water only and then finish on lather.. But then again who am I?
    Last edited by s0litarys0ldier; 09-29-2015 at 12:46 AM.

  4. #4
    Senior Member blabbermouth edhewitt's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Perth Australia
    Posts
    7,741
    Thanked: 713
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER View Post
    Ed, what type of barber bone are you using? And just for touch ups?

    Take it with a grain of salt but I think it adds a bit of cushion to the stone making it perform seemingly better then with plain water. Almost like water only shaving be shaving with lather. Just a buffer between the abrasive particles of the hone and the edge. I'll pre finish my barber hone edges on water only and then finish on lather.. But then again who am I?
    I think it is labelled "the best hone co". Much like a lot of the hardware store razors I presume it is a generic hone that just has X X X X brand stamped on it.i think I have a picture or two in my gallery thingo let me look.
    Bread and water can so easily become tea and toast

  5. #5
    Senior Member blabbermouth RezDog's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada
    Posts
    14,384
    Thanked: 4821

    Default

    I think it is just a heavier bodied and slicker lubricant than water.
    It's not what you know, it's who you take fishing!

  6. #6
    Senior Member blabbermouth JimmyHAD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    32,564
    Thanked: 11042

    Default

    The old barbers I knew, AFAIK, used the barber hones dry, and the coticule with lather. The lather from their 'Lather King' hot lather machine. At least that is what they showed me. I've tried whipping up lather off of a puck and using it on a coticule. Slick, like Shaun said. I don't remember liking it particularly, but maybe I didn't give it enough of a go. I may try that again just for the heck of it.
    Hirlau likes this.
    Be careful how you treat people on your way up, you may meet them again on your way back down.

  7. #7
    illegitimum non carborundum Utopian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Rochester, MN
    Posts
    11,544
    Thanked: 3795
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    A few barber hones that I have give instructions for repeatedly coating the hone with lather, letting it dry in place, and then wiping it off. Afterward it was to be used dry or with water. I think the idea was to fill in the pores of the hone.

    I have never liked the effect of honing with full lather on a barber hone. I just feel that I get too much glide and not enough cut. The only time that I use lather rather than plain water, is with the many barber hones that bead water. I touch a lathered brush to a wet hone and transfer just enough lather to break the surface tension of the water so that I have a uniform layer of lathered water on the hone.
    32t, Hirlau, rolodave and 1 others like this.

  8. The Following User Says Thank You to Utopian For This Useful Post:

    32t (10-02-2015)

  9. #8
    aka shooter74743 ScottGoodman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    SE Oklahoma/NE Texas
    Posts
    7,285
    Thanked: 1936
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JimmyHAD View Post
    The old barbers I knew, AFAIK, used the barber hones dry, and the coticule with lather. The lather from their 'Lather King' hot lather machine. At least that is what they showed me. I've tried whipping up lather off of a puck and using it on a coticule. Slick, like Shaun said. I don't remember liking it particularly, but maybe I didn't give it enough of a go. I may try that again just for the heck of it.
    I have just revisited my coticule and this just may be the ticket...I've done experiments like this on the CF with different types of oil.
    Southeastern Oklahoma/Northeastern Texas helper. Please don't hesitate to contact me.
    Thank you and God Bless, Scott

  10. #9
    Tradesman s0litarys0ldier's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Sault Sainte Marie
    Posts
    1,719
    Thanked: 245

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by edhewitt View Post
    I think it is labelled "the best hone co". Much like a lot of the hardware store razors I presume it is a generic hone that just has X X X X brand stamped on it.i think I have a picture or two in my gallery thingo let me look.
    Still waiting on the pics

  11. #10
    Senior Member blabbermouth Hirlau's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    South Florida
    Posts
    13,530
    Thanked: 3530

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Utopian View Post
    A few barber hones that I have give instructions for repeatedly coating the hone with lather, letting it dry in place, and then wiping it off. Afterward it was to be used dry or with water. I think the idea was to fill in the pores of the hone.

    I have never liked the effect of honing with full lather on a barber hone. I just feel that I get too much glide and not enough cut. The only time that I use lather rather than plain water, is with the many barber hones that bead water. I touch a lathered brush to a wet hone and transfer just enough lather to break the surface tension of the water so that I have a uniform layer of lathered water on the hone.
    Maybe they filled the pores to make the barber hone a less aggressive hone,,, since they probably touched a hone up once or twice a day, on a busy day,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, there were none of those Naniwa 12K lying around.
    ScottGoodman and 32t like this.

Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •