Thread: Swaty mystery solved ?

The second set of instructions also mention something I've seen before on some Swaty instructions (I can't remember where I originally saw a copy of instructions). Interesting that the instructions advocate cleaning the Swaty with dry emery paper. Emery paper would absolutely remove the factory "glazing" found so often on barber hones.

That tells me that barber hones, at least Swatys and Swaty like (homogenus) hones can be lapped with no loss of honing ability from the hone.

Chris L

When I first read the thread I was thinking of the difference in glazing also. I have a cattaraugus cutlery Co. barber hone that was so out of flat that I was afraid to try it. I lapped both sides and I cannot see a difference( visually) but the back side seems to cut more. That may be an indication of not getting the lapping done on the front side.

Very interesting ont he Swaty differences though. I ahve been trying to find one that I can reasonably bid on, but you guys are wanting them more than I am.

Originally Posted by JCitron

It could also be possible that they are not refering to a difference in grit between the two sides but a difference in ability to remove metal. Thus the reccomendation of rubbing emory paper on the one side to make it rough again.

I think there would only be a difference in ability to remove metal if there were a difference in grit. Also, the instructions don't mention anything about only using the emory paper on only one side. I didn't mean to shoot down every thing you wrote, it just turned out that way!

Originally Posted by JCitron

It could also be possible that they are not refering to a difference in grit between the two sides but a difference in ability to remove metal. Thus the reccomendation of rubbing emory paper on the one side to make it rough again.

The instructions that I posted say the same for both sides as far as the emory paper. I cut the last part of inadvertantly when I scanned it.

Utopian, was your long Swaty flat when you got it ? Does it have the raised three line logo or the embedded like my Alumin ? Have you done much honing with it. I wonder if the average barber flattened their various hones or took for granted that they were serviceable as found ? I know that when I talked to several years ago about hones and honing none ever mentioned it.

No it wasn't flat, but I have never seen a Swaty that was. It was no more "unflat" than other Swatys though. Unlike yours, the stamping on it is identical to other Swatys. I brought some of my hones to the MN gathering and some of those are on the right side of the table in the second photo from the bottom of this thread. BTW, Chrisl's hones are on the left side. There are three Swatys in the center of the photo and I'm sure you will be able to pick out which is the 8" Swaty. I have not done much honing with it because I have several Swatys, most of which I am simply stockpiling for young relatives awaiting their first shaves. However, I have honed with it and it cuts just like the others.

I'm glad to hear that you now are also, ahem, well endowed with an 8 incher!

Originally Posted by Utopian

No it wasn't flat, but I have never seen a Swaty that was. It was no more "unflat" than other Swatys though. Unlike yours, the stamping on it is identical to other Swatys. I brought some of my hones to the MN gathering and some of those are on the right side of the table in the second photo from the bottom of this thread. BTW, Chrisl's hones are on the left side. There are three Swatys in the center of the photo and I'm sure you will be able to pick out which is the 8" Swaty. I have not done much honing with it because I have several Swatys, most of which I am simply stockpiling for young relatives awaiting their first shaves. However, I have honed with it and it cuts just like the others.

I'm glad to hear that you now are also, ahem, well endowed with an 8 incher!

Thanks for the info, finally after 60 years I can truly say that I am so well endowed.

I have several 2 and 3 line Swatys, and almost always use one as my final hone (right before newspaper).

All of mine benefited from lapping. Both sides seem, to me, to be the same.

I am guessing that using fine emery on one side and rough emery on the second is supposed to make a noticeable difference in sharpening ability. I did test a Swaty once by lapping it with a DMT D8C 325 on one side and a D6E 1200 on the other. There was a very slight difference in tactile feedback during the honing stroke. There was no noticeable difference in sharpness that I could detect (straight off the hone, no newspaper for the test).

The 3-line Swaty that I used for the test came with the same instruction insert that you have in the picture.

it seems that the same stone, with a different surface treatment, does very much remove metal differently..

spyderco's are also like this, no?

I am betting that the "Alumin" mentioned in the instruction insert is what all of them are made from. Later sheets just didn't mention it. All of those I have seen appear to be the same. I looked up aluminum oxide in the Wikipedia and this is what it said relating to the the abrasive quality,"It is widely used as a coarse or fine abrasive, including as a much less expensive substitute for industrial diamond. Many types of sandpaper use aluminium oxide crystals. In addition, its low heat retention and low specific heat make it widely used in grinding operations, particularly cutoff tools. As the powdery abrasive mineral aloxite, it is a major component, along with silica, of the cue tip "chalk" used in billiards. Aluminium oxide powder is used in some CD/DVD polishing and scratch-repair kits. Its polishing qualities are also behind its use in toothpaste".