Thread: Old 'Barber hone' grits'

There are a lot of 'barber hones' on the evil auction site. Many are brown, some red, some dark grey/black, etc...

How would you go about determining what grit the stone would be classified as? Comparing scratch patterns to the one created by a 'known' hone?

Some of them go cheap enough to just give them a try and see how they shave but what was the criteria for calling a hone a 'barber hone'? I'm guessing that many of them are hard arkansas stones of one sort or another.

Originally Posted by kelbro

There are a lot of 'barber hones' on the evil auction site. Many are brown, some red, some dark grey/black, etc...

How would you go about determining what grit the stone would be classified as? Comparing scratch patterns to the one created by a 'known' hone?

Some of them go cheap enough to just give them a try and see how they shave but what was the criteria for calling a hone a 'barber hone'? I'm guessing that many of them are hard arkansas stones of one sort or another.

Scratch patterns for sure. If you are looking at barber hones, I recommend Carborundum. I have 2 of em, and they are very tough, very consistent, and work great.

I think the consensus on Carborundum hones is, the lower the number, the "finer" the cutting action, e.g. my No.108 is "coarser" than my No.102. But both work great and yield a sharp and comfortable shaving edge. Also, once they are lapped flat, you can use em for a looooong time before they dish out appreciably.

I use quotations around fine and coarse when referring to Carbo's, they supposedly all have the same carborundum grit size, just use a different matrix to hold the particles in place.

I have heard that Swaty hone grit is determined by the number of lines of text on the hone: the three line is finer than the 2 line. I don't have either, so I can't say, but lots of guys like em.

Be careful when buying no-name hones, I have a few that I wouldn't dare to use on a razor, way to coarse!

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by joke1176

I think the consensus on Carborundum hones is, the higher the number, the "finer" the cutting action, e.g. my No.108 is "coarser" than my No.102

small contradiction there

Originally Posted by edk442

small contradiction there

oh yeah. I will edit the post, good catch. I wasn't quite awake when I posted that, I guess, hurrrrr.

The classic Barber Hones are usually a ceramic type product. The carborundum are very different as are the Arkansas stones (quartz if I recall correctly).

A lot of the barber hones are a "finishing" grit size, somewhere in the 6000-10,000 range. Not a hone to use to restore an old razors edge. They are primarily for "refreshing" or "touching up" an edge.

There are combination grit barber hones that can do a bit more. You can tell those, usually, by the different colors on each side.

The 3 line Swaty has proven to be an effective performer. Supposedly finer than the 2 line Swaty but....

This can all be frustrating to a new guy but they are really cool and not to expensive.....usually.

Hope this helps,