Thread: How to get the best out of your hone.

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

A lot of the old barber textbooks (such as Milady's) mention using lather - it does improve the suction, I find.

Regards,
Neil

I have a barber hone that, on the instructions, suggest the use of lather. I've used it both with lather and water only and get good results from both, though I find that lather gives more feedback than water only. It's easier to monitor the contact of the razor on the hone and also to see if the razor is "cutting" under the lather. That gives me a good pointer as to when the razor is, once again, sharp as it is supposed to be.

Up until recently I honed sitting down and using two hands as English mentioned at the start and had great results. Recently I switched to honing standing up and changed my hold on the blade to the one I use while stropping. I figured that I have more strokes stropping than I do honing so more practice and I keep the blade flat while stropping. I am now honing one handed. I don't know that the results on the edge are any better but I know they aren't any worse. I can now put an edge on the blade from start to finish in a fraction of the old time. I mix a few drops of soap into my water for honing and use it on all hones. I like it better than plain water. In the fire department we sometimes mix a little soap (foam) into our streams and call it 'wet water' because it coats the surfaces better.

What a treat! I am genuinely surprised by the effect. Thanks man.

I'm still trying to lap my 12K but as soon as I do I'm going to try it with soapy water or lather. I too hone with two hands! I thought I was a freak!

I tried with dishwasher soap and liked the feeling, but lather didn't work for me at all. Every time I turned the razor over it had a big cushion of lather so it wouldn't touch the hone right away.

Very interesting, i will give it a try, thanks for the post!

think I'll give this a shot this weekend - I've got a few razors that need a little TLC

I will be trying this method. Thanks for the suggestion. And, I for one will have no hesitation to try it on my Shaptons.

Chris L

Majurey,

so the Method with soap wil be more agrassive as the method with only water?

best regards,

Paysbas

just a thought, what of the oils in the lather will they soak in the hones and cause damege to the hones.