Thread: Barber Hone Problem

My Swatys have a kind of "earthy" smell to them.

A petroleum smell might indicate some kind of solvent contamination, but I don't have a Primble in my collection. It might be normal for that hone since the 5 different ones I just tried all smell different. The Swaty and Apart do smell very similar. None, so far, remind me of petroleum.

I've never run across the problem you're describing; yet.

barber hones are relatively cheap, easy to get snd the problem you describe, if it is due to a manufacturing problem, old age, or a chemical contamination ( my bet ) the problem likely extends through the whole hone and will not be likely to be found in another hone you pick up!

I may have overstepped my knowledge when I declared the Primble to be similar to the Swatys. I know I have a Primble hone (somewhere) and I remember it to be the same size, color, and basic texture as the Swatys. I of course don't know how its actual composition compares nor do I recall what it looked like under the microscope. I have never had an actual Swaty display any sign of degradation but I have seen two Swaty clones with it. One was so bad it basicly fell apart in my hands.

I haven't noticed any particular smell to any of my Swaty or Swaty clone hones, nor have I notice a petroleum smell. I have found a lot of razor hones to have oily surfaces. I would guess this to due to the fact that a lot of other types of tool and knife hones require oil so people assumed their razor hones would need them too. I don't know if this would contribute to the pitting you described. I can't imagine how it would. If it is some sort of chemical contamination as JMS speculates, then I think that odds would be better that you could lap it away as these hones are not very porous so you might presume that the contamination did not extend far beyond the surface. On the other hand, if it is degradation of the binder, then the hone is toast.

OK, so I got home from work and checked a bit more closely.
Here's what I found on close inspection. The pits that I had sanded out apparently left some tiny remnants, and these grew larger. There were also pits where none had been before.

As for the petroleum smell, this was only on the un-sanded side, so perhaps it was surface contamination from usage.

Now, here's the weird thing. I tried polishing some stainless I had on the hone to see if any more grit came out of the pits--none did. I even tried a sharpened bit to try to pick some grit out of the holes, and I couldn't. It's hard as...well, it's really, really hard.

Strange. What do you guys think, should I keep trying to use it?

Here's a picture for your perusal:

If new pits are forming then I'd retire it (save the hone for experiments maybe).

It sounds like it would continue to damage your razors to me; as in your first post.

since your hone is different, I dont know if this applies, but a swaty I bought recently was very, very course, the seller stated he lapped it with a DMT, the surface had some pits similiar to what you describe.

I re-lapped it (not much fun) starting at 220 and working up to 2000, on each grit I started with 25 dry laps and then went wet, after all that the finish came out just a smooth as my other swatys, only time will tell if it lasts, but the lapping method does make a difference IMHO

Are the pits catching the blade at all? If they are not projecting up, and only extend down, they should be irrelevant. A lot of hones, natural and sythetic, have pitting, but of course most of them are only visible under the microscope!
Honestly, I have no freaking clue why the pits are growing. If I understand what you described, the pits grew without using the hone but did not get worse when you used the hone with some stainless steel. Is that correct? Did the pits grow without any exposure to water???