Thread: happy with my $10 barber hone. FINALLY!

so awhile back i picked up a barber hone on ebay, like $10, maybe $15 with shipping. anyway, i tried to put a hone back on a couple of 'extras' i bought around the same time. then i learned about real honing. i was so sure that i wasted my moolah. another dust collector.

one of the 'extras' i picked up was a genco, close to shave ready. i shaved with it, but it pulled. i decided to play again for the last 45 min waiting on laundry. put about 30 strokes on the barber hone, about 40 laps strop, and started popping hairs on the last half of the blade. getting there, where i never thought i would get. back to the barber hone with enthusiasm, careful not to put to much pressure. light strokes. another 40 or so strokes, 30 on the strop, popping hairs on my arm!! the whole blade!!

i am not the honemeister, however i am starting to think that if i can get a sharp blade, i may do better at keeping the edge now. i will shave with it tonight and give an update tomorrow.

vgod

Isn't that a great feeling? Those barber hones are slow cutters generally, but they do let you bring an edge up bit by bit like you're describing.

Josh

Oh dude, your in for an amazing shave. I know lots of guys that don't even believe in the hanging hair test.

You can do 60-80 strokes on a barber hone and get the most incredible edges. For some odd reason though no one ever thinks to just do the same thing on a Norton 8K. Odd.

You have, in my opinion, unlocked another important key in honing.

You need to strop lighter now than before.

okay, so my update.

such a great shave. BBS on 1st pass. very heavy blade. great feel on the neckline, and the upper lip is flawless. i really like this str8, and the fact that i put the edge on it .

unfortunately, this str8 falls into my needing new scales category. ugly, warped, loose. so i will keep this in the arsenal, but will use sparingly. thanks for the kind words on the honing. very cool shave.

vgod

I am new and just picked up a $5 barber stone. My new (frm. the factory ) blade is sharp but needs to be honed. Do you guys think the barber is comperable to 8,000 grit? If so do I also need to get a 5,000 to alternate with?
Thanks Al

I think it depends on the quality of the bevel from the factory. With lots of patience and a good factory bevel I'm certain it could get shaving. I'm not sure though that the factory bevel was that good.

Every once in a while you can just strop with a razor and it shaves. Rare but it happens.

If your game, and do enough reading up you might get it.

If it were me and I was in your shoes I would do about 50 passes on the stone with NO pressure and see if you could get it up and running. I would probably check the edge every 15 or so passes.

But I also have a good idea what an edge is like just by looking at it.

I wouldn't put much effort into it though. I think I've heard of guys honing like that for a week or so in order to get the edge honed. Thats a long time honing.

Most barber hones are estimated at a slightly higher grit than that, they all vary though by brand and "type", some are medium, some high grit etc.

Originally Posted by albertpotash

Do you guys think the barber is comperable to 8,000 grit? Thanks Al

if you do a few searches with 'barber hone' you will see a few remarks on the grit of these. around 6-12k is what i have seen. slow cutting. i got lucky getting a sharp blade. i would still have it honed by a pro to know what a honed edge is.

vgod