Thread: Barber hone

I picked up a 3 line Swaty on eBay and it's been a welcome addition to my honing arsenal.

It's great for a quick touchup. The way I use mine is to squirt a small amount of hand soap on it, apply some water, and rub it with my hand while adding small amounts of water until I have a thin soapy solution.

I normally do 5 passes and test...after the initial 5 I do 3 and test until it's as sharp as I desire. Depending on how dull it is it normally takes from 5-15 laps to get it back to shave ready.

The only bad thing I can say about the Swaty is if you get too carried away with trying to achieve the ultimate in sharpness the shave can be rather harsh so I normally finish with a few laps on a chrome pasted strop after hitting the Swaty.

Are barber hones, in general, finer than a chinese 12k? Say, a swaty for example.

Originally Posted by pjrage

Are barber hones, in general, finer than a chinese 12k? Say, a swaty for example.

Yes I believe so.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Yes I believe so.

So, in the normal honing process of an ebay razor, or any razor for that matter, you would hit the chinese 12k, hit the barber hone, then go to the 0.5 chromium oxide paste? Or is the barber hone in lieu of the pasted strop?

Originally Posted by pjrage

So, in the normal honing process of an ebay razor, or any razor for that matter, you would hit the chinese 12k, hit the barber hone, then go to the 0.5 chromium oxide paste? Or is the barber hone in lieu of the pasted strop?

Either one should work.

I would recommend a Swaty, Apart, No. 00 Frictionite combination, Dubl Duck combination, Itsapeech, or one of the finer Carborundum Co. ones. There are almost certainly other barbers' hones in their class. I would agree that the Swaty is smoother than 12k.

According to the instructions that came with a NOS one that I picked up the side with the company name is coarser then the plain side. They also say to use as many strokes as necessary to get the razor to the level of sharpness that you desire. The non marked side being the finishing side. Before I had something finer in a stone I used a Swaty following my 8k Norton and it was good. The stones are better IME. YMMV.

Soooo, How big are these "Swatty's normally. As I mentioned, My barber hone is about the size of a pack of smokes...

And I do believe they are finer/smoother than a 12k. The one I have is definitely smoother than my 12k. As I said, it's great to keep out for a quick touch up. I just put it under the faucet for a few seconds, get it wet, and go at it....I get a very smooth shave with very few strokes....

Originally Posted by AusTexShaver

I normally do 5 passes and test...after the initial 5 I do 3 and test until it's as sharp as I desire. Depending on how dull it is it normally takes from 5-15 laps to get it back to shave ready.

The only bad thing I can say about the Swaty is if you get too carried away with trying to achieve the ultimate in sharpness the shave can be rather harsh so I normally finish with a few laps on a chrome pasted strop after hitting the Swaty.

5 round trips should be tops, even according to Swaty instructions, after the touch up you should strop and this should alleviate the harshness as well as refine the edge.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

5 round trips should be tops, even according to Swaty instructions, after the touch up you should strop and this should alleviate the harshness as well as refine the edge.

You know for years I've wondered about the 4-5 laps deal with Swatys and have pretty much come to the conclusion that it's a combination of a marketing ploy (use our stones and it only takes 4 strokes!) and an attempt by Swaty to keep the user from going crazy and overhoning. I'm also puzzled by people who think nothing of doing 100 laps or more on a Norton 8K or a Coticule being afraid of more than 5 laps on a barber hone.

Since I'm firmly entrenched in the "less is more" camp (and the razors I touch up are already fairly sharp) that's why my routine is 5 laps and test followed by 3 laps and test...and as many 3 and test as it takes. If it ain't sharp it ain't sharp.