Originally Posted by
zib
I to collect and restore old Barber hones. I have several, including quite a few Swaty's. I think you'll find that some of these hones are made out of the hardest material known to man. I had 3 Swaty's with chips in them that I had to get out. I used a DMT D8XX, and it took a while. I progressed up to 1000 grit sandpaper. After the D8XX, you can see how scratched up the hone is, by the time you get to the 1000 grit paper, it'll look nice and new....As Utopian said, 3-5 passes is all you need to refresh your blade. I keep my Barber hone(s) right on the counter next to my razors. It really is amazing how much honing they save me....