Thread: buying swaty on ebay

In buying a swaty or other old fashioned barber hone on ebay, is there anything in particular I should be worried about? Are there "bad" old swatys? it doesn't seem that it would be as easy to see what the issues are as say with an old razor.

Also, roughly what should a swaty cost?

Things to worry about:
1. Make sure you see photos of both sides so that you are aware of any chips or cracks, or at least get seller to declare its condition on both sides.
2. Degree of wear. Some Swatys are a long way from flat. Expect to have to lap it.

I can't think of anything else. On eBay, expect them to go for between $5 and $40, unless they are exceptional. I would guess average to be $30 to $35.

Yeah, cracks in the surface would be bad, you can deal with chips on the edges/corners.

I watched one go for approx. $75 last week, which is ridiculous. I wouldn't pay more than $30 for one because any higher and you might as well just buy a Chinese 12k or Muller Thuringian, unless you're really attracted to using a barber hone or something.

Recently watching ebay and it seems that hones are working their way up in price along with razors.

Thanks. What would I use to lap a swaty or other barber hone? Do you need something like diamond plate or does sandpaper do fine?

thanks on the chinese 12k point. If that's similar to a barber hone I may go that way eventuallly.

Ebay seems pricier than new for razors themselves now. I suspect that will calm down in a year or two - either the hobby will become less chic or it will become so chic that the old manufacturers get back into the business with new blades and the old ones won't be so valuable anymore.

I never use sandpaper to lap anything, but it would probably work.

Chinese 12k: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=4920

Lots of guys like these. For the price, you get a huge stone that polishes as good as the Coticule, but does it a lot slower. Fwiw, barber hones max out at 10k, most being lower and some being as low as 6k. The swaty's your safest bet though.

Any stone that you buy will have to be lapped, btw.

I grabbed a Swaty off the bay for about $40 shipped not too long ago. Both sides were pretty close to flat. I rubbed it up against other fine hones that I already had to get them flatter. I'm sure it's not perfect, but a pencil grid comes off pretty quick.

Also, I'm not sure whether it's the Swaty or the stones I lapped with, but the writing side seems finer than the back. One edge also seems finer than the other, which makes me think one of the other stones left a finer finish than the other.

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

I never use sandpaper to lap anything, but it would probably work.

Chinese 12k: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=4920

Lots of guys like these. For the price, you get a huge stone that polishes as good as the Coticule, but does it a lot slower. Fwiw, barber hones max out at 10k, most being lower and some being as low as 6k. The swaty's your safest bet though.

Any stone that you buy will have to be lapped, btw.

thanks for the link. Those are nice prices.

What do you use to lap?

The general consensus is that a 3 line Swaty ( 3 LINES OF TEXT ON THE HONE) is finer than a 2 line Swaty.

However, of the Swatys that I have there are also some slight variations in color which would indicate a difference in composition of the hone.


Hope this helps,