Thread: Swaty

Are you supposed to use a swaty with oil? water? dry??? I have a 3 line swaty, and just wondered. also about how many laps do you typically do after you have honed?

As has been recently taught to me, applying lather is the best lubricant for a SWATY. If your razor is already shaving sharp, you wont need to hone for a while. But when stropping is no longer enough to maintain the blade, 3-5 round trips on the SWATY should be sufficient to bring it back up to snuff. The SWATY is a finishing hone and will not be sufficient to grind out chips and set bevels. I hope this helps you.

The old barber I got my Swaty from kept one in his pocket and used it dry for touch ups in the midst of a shave. He would use lather from the hot lather machine to hone on his Belgian stone though. I have never been comfortable honing anything dry so I use water on my Swaty.

What nun2sharp said +1.

As a general rule, when using a Swaty: dry, water, or lather will give you an edge that is fine, finer, finest (respectively). IMO

thank you, that helps. just wanted to make sure.

is the typical size of those swaty's 2x5 inches in size, and with the imprint logo being there only really having a 2x4 size surface that is actually useable?

It is definitely usable, that's why so many were sold over the years! Just use the x-pattern in your honing and you will cover the full length of the blade. If you want more surface area, just flip it over and then you will have the area of the imprint restored. Nearly all Swatys are homogenous, so the top and bottom of the hone are identical in grit.

Originally Posted by marklar

thank you, that helps. just wanted to make sure.

is the typical size of those swaty's 2x5 inches in size, and with the imprint logo being there only really having a 2x4 size surface that is actually useable?

There are Swatys that are an inch or two longer but I don't think they are wider. They come up for sale every once in a while. I lapped and used my Swaty on both sides with good results. I think one side is the same grit as the other but I am not sure.

Water works as good as anything.

Use whatever you want. Just make sure if you use oil not to mix it up with one you haven't.
The original instructions for them have been posted here somewhere before, in which water, lather or a product called "swatyol" are recommended. It's a safe bet the latter is a light honing oil possibly much like kerosene or sewing machine oil.

The things are very versatile. I've also seen one that recommended starting on the bottom then finishing on the top of the hone, implying it had two grits, although to be honest I couldn't tell by looking at it or feeling the hone.

John P.