Thread: 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.

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

Originally Posted by edhewitt

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?

Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER

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.

I think it is just a heavier bodied and slicker lubricant than water.

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.

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.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

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.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

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

Originally Posted by Utopian

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.