Thread: SWATY EXPLANATION

Thank you so much kelbro for clearing that up!

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

the 1 st picture is the good herr Franz top slide.
i don't think so three lines of lettering means same .The reason is first hone and last hone both have 3 line lettering an dact 360 degree different each other.three line hone is courser then 3 lettering (last picture in top slide)3 lettering is more finer.
i am little confused ?why people doesn't want to accept three line hone and three lettering hone are different?why so maney of you are in denial?

i have showed
Austrian
German
american three line hones still not accepting it?

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you that you have a hone that has three line embossed on it. All that is being said is that when the forum members referred to a Swaty 3 line they mean a hone with three lines of text.,

I was thinking that back in the old days when traveling salesmen made the rounds of barber shops they probably were asked if they had any of the 3 line Swatys. Eventually a barber supply picked up on this and as a selling point embossed it on a hone hoping to sell more of their product. Just speculation.on my part,

Originally Posted by hazmat

Hi..newbie here!
I have another wrench to throw into this discussion.
I have a Swaty hone that is totally different and was wondering if anyone knows anything about it.

It says:

Franz Swaty
Three Line
Diamond Hone

And the sticker on the side only has two lines of print.

Any ideas??

I guess I did not quite get my question answered...Mine says "Diamond Hone" on it. Any idea what the difference is?? It definitely has two distinct grits from one side to the other. I don't have any other hones except for a Spyderco UF...so I don't have anything to compare it with as far as grit.

Most of the records of various hone companies have never shown up. Those that were located in Germany were probably destroyed during
WW II. The Swaty hones that I have are not all the same either. Different lettering and colors. I would fully expect that there are differences in the abrasive/binder composition of the hones. The American Swaty was probably made by the American Hone Company originally in Olean NY and later Monrovia Iowa. The Diamond Swaty is probably nothing more than a marketing gimmick. Just try the hones and see where they fit in the honing process.

Just my two cents,

I'm convinced that it falls between my 4/8k Norton and my Thuringian. Probably about 9 - 10k on the back side and 6 - 7K on the label side. Mine says "Three Line" on it. This stone came with a typed set of instructions that say Monrovia, Ia in the address line.

I had another Swaty years ago that got stolen It was much more coarse than this one and the same on both sides. Probably 5 - 6K. It did not say "Three Line" but it had three lines of text on it.

The American Hone Company until only recently was located in Monrovia, Iowa. If you have a hone from them that says "three line," then you have one of the many Swaty clones, not an actual Swaty. It is clear that there were lots of companies copying the original Swaty.