Thread: Hone Use and ID Please!

I found a couple Hones/Sharpening stones lying around the house and was wondering if they are any good for a razor or what they would be used for.

I found some info from the web on the first one, but I'm not sure if it is any good for a razor or what it's use would be.
The first is a NORTON INDIA BENCH OILSTONES (Aluminum Oxide) Grit: Medium Size: 4" x 1" x 1/2" Norton Professional Sharpening Solutions - - - Bench Oilstones













The next 2 have no markings and have been used, 1 is broken. I have no idea how to tell what they are, so any ideas would be helpful. I think they are hones for razors because it looks like it is a set that comes with Razor Honing oil. (Might be a clue!)

The dimensions of the larger stone are: ~ 10.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 cm; Converted to inches: ~4.2" x 1.6" x .4"
The Dimensions of the smaller stone are: ~ 7.5 x 2.6 x .5 cm; Inches: ~ 2.9" x 1.0" x 0.19"













Thanks for taking a look!

I found some more info after searching the web some more....

It looks like they are hones for woodworking tools, I found a very similar set here Stones & Strops at the bottom of the page. The kit mentions that it comes with a Arkansas medium stone and Fine stone... mine are different colors however and I'm not sure if the hones would change color or the manufacturer would change the color, It seems unlikely to me??

I would guess that those are natural arkansas stones (too course for razors, but great for knives) the color would probably change once you clean then up

also the "razor-back" reference on the oil bottle does not refer to shaving razors, but references an animal, it looks like a hog, but has tusks and is called an Arkansas razor back

The only way any of those should be used for a razor is if you have an ebay beater with large nicks/chips in the blade. You could tape the spine an use them only long enough to remove the nicks. Other than that, those hones are useless for razors.

I have a norton india oilstone that I was looking for info about. I think they only went up to around 1000 grit. There's a thread on it here:

Narrow hones - Straight Razor Place Forums

In reply 33, there's a link to norton's catalog that has the grits listed. Mine is kind of dark orange and was originally glued to a gray stone as well. I'm not sure which one is yours. Mine is also harder than most stones. Almost as hard as a barber hone.

As far as the gray ones are concerned, you may find that they change color after you clean them up if they are arkansas stones. That might make it easier to identify them.

Originally Posted by currentman

also the "razor-back" reference on the oil bottle does not refer to shaving razors, but references an animal, it looks like a hog, but has tusks and is called an Arkansas razor back

ahhh, that explains some of googles results

Anyways, I wiped them off under water (It lefte a grease like residue on my hands), I wasn't sure what to use to clean them off, I read scotch brite pads would work, but I had none and wasn't sure what they were (steel wool or SOS pads?) I got a couple clearer pics of the stones that shows some texture/ coloring, not sure if this helps Identify them.

The big one:




Smaller& Broken piece:


This smaller one looks like it may be Translucent & The bigger one looks like it has some maroon coloring in it.

Originally Posted by Utopian

The only way any of those should be used for a razor is if you have an ebay beater with large nicks/chips in the blade. You could tape the spine an use them only long enough to remove the nicks. Other than that, those hones are useless for razors.

Actually...Thats exactly what I had in mind, and made me question as to what type of hones they are and if they would work for that purpose.

I read the Wiki page on restoring an eBay razor by gssixgun. That mentioned a bread knifing method which used a very coarse stone (220 Norton) and a 1k stone to set the true bevel.
I thought if these stones were close enough I might have a good restoration project to work on. I could send it out to get properly honed If I could set the bevel and get it cleaned up nicely....prolly not a newbie friendly project, but worth taking a crack at.

The razor is in post, so I'll have to wait till it arrives to see if it can be fixed, the chip may be too large. From the photos it looked like it was only in the bevel and it could be fixed. I could be wrong & it wouldn't be the first time