Hone difference???

Have a Pike Swaty and Pike Emerald.

How do they differ and when do you
know which to use?

I have no Pike brand hones, but what color are they? Based on most standard barber hones, I'm supposing the Pike Swaty is brownish. What color is the Emerald? If it's grey, it may be a little more aggressive, like a carborundum hone. If it's the same color, a brownish, I've got no clue, but suspect it's fine like the swaty. Can you post pics of them?
Parry

Pike Swaty = Brownish
Pike Emerald = Green

Recipes for the swaty sorts of hones are pretty much lost. But I suspect the reddish one is just your typical Swaty-style hone with a rouge abrasive of one sort, not too unlike red paste.

The Green one may just be a dying gimic, or it may actually be Chromium Oxide, a.k.a. the stuff green paste is made of ...

Send a chip of each to CSI: Miami and have them run it though the lab.

Run a razor lightly over each. You will be able to hear the difference in sound. With my Norton the 4k side has a more distininct cutting sound than the 8k.

Thanx for all the info.

The green one does sound more agressive than the brown one.

Interesting info Parry. The only other greenish hone I know of is the fine girt "Army and Navy". Does anyone know if it contains Chromium Oxide?

Hal

Chrome oxidewas used as the pigment for green paint. The micron size can vary of course.

As Rich suggested try honing a razor briefly with both hones. The one that "feels" the coarsest probably is. The green stone may be in the 2000-4000 grit range and the brown probably in the 6000-8000 grit range. The exact grit size is immaterial. In razor terms the green is a medium grit and the brown is a fine grit, most likely.

I once read where the oldtimers used to take a flat piece of wood board or glass and paint it with green oil based paint. They let it dry then used that as a hone. They were informed and inventive back then. My uncle used the side of his leather Army boots to strop a razor when he was in Korea.

Now I am experimenting with using vinyl as a substitute for leather when using abrasive pastes.
It seems to work.