Thread: old barber hones

I found these old hones on my recent semi-monthly/monthly antique hunting trip to southern Indiana.

Here's the story: I asked a shopkeeper about barber hones and razors. An older woman in her mid 80's, shopping there, overheard my question. To make a long story shorter, she sold me the hones below. 1 through 6 were in a gallon plastic baggie, 2 dollars total. 7 and 8 were loose, $1 each... I can only think that she sold them so inexpensively because she was glad somebody might finally use them again; who knows.

She said that they used to belong to her Great-Grandfather and/or Great-Great-Grandfather, who were both barbers. If we assume that all of her family had children at age 20, then that would place her Great-Great-Grandfather as being 20 years old about 140 years ago (circa 1869). They all certainly seem to have an "old" feel to them.





Hones number 1 through 6 all had glue remnants on one side of them (except for #3, a broken piece of coarse combination hone). My guess is that they were mounted to wood at one time. All of these hones are fairly soft, including #3.

#1 and #2 were thought to be Hindostan hones at first. After lapping, I believe that they are different. Either Hindostan hones vary a lot, or they are different types of hones.

#3 is a broken combination hone, coarse (even on it's finer side), and unlike any combination hone that I have ever seen. I think the coarsest side is around 80 to 125 grit.

#4 is somewhat fine, looks almost "volcanic", and has an extremely high (and reflective) density of some fine abrasive.

#5 is very fine, 12k to 17k is my guess. The slurry when lapping would get very thick.

#6 might fall somewhere in between #4 and #5 (haven't used it yet).

#7 looks like a Swaty in color, but is much softer when lapping. It is almost as fine in grit as number 5 and 8.

#8 is the same material as #5.

My guess is that hones numbered 5, 7, and 8 were the main finish hones. This barber(s) had a nice range of grits for sharpening.

Of interest to me is that all of the hones were obviously lapped flat at one time. The finer hones were very close to flat when I received them, the once-glued sides were unlapped as expected.

Any guesses as to what types they are?