Thread: A novel hone idea

Oh so I've been doing a lot of thinking. I've posted a few of my ideas in here in the basic honing forum trying to come up with some interesting ideas to create something like a barber hone.

Here is my newest idea, which I may be able to try sooner.

I know that balsa wood has been used as a pasted strop.

But would it be possible to use a piece of wood with a regular honing X pattern? If I were to find a wood hard enough and apply some kind of paste to it, lets say the hardest wood in the world...Lignum Vitae?

From what I understand the main problem would be that most hardwoods have much larger pores than soft woods. Still, does this sound interesting and/or crazy enough that it might actually work or has someone beaten me to the punch already?

Thank you for your time.

PS- the price for lignum vitae is not too bad. Here is the source I found. Barber hone sized pieces to :
http://www.exoticwoodgroup.com/order...gnum_vitae.htm

I would think that using a normal honing motion on pasted wood would cause the razor to pick up a fair amount of the paste (which would affect the distribution of the paste and probably round the edge a bit). Also, I would think the razor might bite into the wood a bit, but I'm not really sure since I don't know all that much about wood (that's really just my intuitive guess, not based on any knowledge or facts).

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I would think that using a normal honing motion on pasted wood would cause the razor to pick up a fair amount of the paste (which would affect the distribution of the paste and probably round the edge a bit). Also, I would think the razor might bite into the wood a bit, but I'm not really sure since I don't know all that much about wood (that's really just my intuitive guess, not based on any knowledge or facts).

The idea came to me after reading a post about someone on SRP using paste on a Chinese 12K. So I figured I could do something similar.

I hope I get some hits here because my normal wood guy is a tad busy...then there is the obvious implied honing questions.

First of all, very interesting idea. No idea if it would work, but very interesting.


I think that to even test it, the hardest part would be finding the "right" wood.

On one hand, you've got woods like mahogany, which can be relatively soft and straight grained. They would hold the abrasives very well, but I can't imagine that you'd be able to hone on one with an x pattern and not end up wrecking your razor.

On the other end of the spectrum, you've got something like ironwood. It's so dense, heavy and tight grained that you could probably run a razor over it all day long, but it wouldn't hold the abrasives well enough to be useful.

I think the biggest problem would be that to find a wood that could work, like maybe a nice burl of some kind, would be about the same cost as a new hone, or maybe more.

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

First of all, very interesting idea. No idea if it would work, but very interesting.


I think that to even test it, the hardest part would be finding the "right" wood.

On one hand, you've got woods like mahogany, which can be relatively soft and straight grained. They would hold the abrasives very well, but I can't imagine that you'd be able to hone on one with an x pattern and not end up wrecking your razor.

On the other end of the spectrum, you've got something like ironwood. It's so dense, heavy and tight grained that you could probably run a razor over it all day long, but it wouldn't hold the abrasives well enough to be useful.

I think the biggest problem would be that to find a wood that could work, like maybe a nice burl of some kind, would be about the same cost as a new hone, or maybe more.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking to. I know the Lignum Vitae would be more than hard enough. If lapped flat and smooth I'm 99% sure a razor wouldn't bite. The remaining 1% is:

#1 if I'd be able to even lap a slab of this stuff without motorized equipment. This stuff is so hard it was used as shaft bearings on some World War II era submarines as well as the main shaft strut bearings on the USS Nautilus. Although Argentina Lignum Vitae is not the same species as Lignum Vitae Guaiacum, it's similar enough that I think it would be splitting hairs in this case.

#2 If the wood can hold paste at all. I'd imagine if it has pores it would hold enough of a coating of paste to work.

Interesting idea...

Why hard wood? I think the knife would scrape off the compound, and if you veered off the wood at an angle, you could scratch the blade on the corner of the wood.

What about using softer, larger pored wood, like pine? (If you can get a straight piece) If you could get a buildup of compound to stick to the wood, like a sharpening stone, the softer pores of the wood would give a little, allowing the blade to run across without scraping out the compound.

Now I'll be thinking about this all night! Thanks a lot!

Why not go the old fashioned way and use a block from lead?

I have a piece of birch with chrome oxide (powder rubbed into the surface). I have gone edge leading on it before no problems.

This might belong in advanced honing.

Charlie

A thin enough coat rubbed into the wood and the edge is less likely to pick up the powder.
But instead of wood, I would use harder material.

Originally Posted by spazola

I have a piece of birch with chrome oxide (powder rubbed into the surface). I have gone edge leading on it before no problems.

This might belong in advanced honing.

Charlie

What effect did it have on the edge and the Chrome oxide?

With the paste stuff I was thinking of rubbing it in to the wood like one would rub a spice rub into a chicken or like...a sports massage. I'd put some mustard into it and really rub it in there and then let it try. I'd expect some to scrap off when I got leading edge but have some retained in the wood.

I've seen some balsa wood strops that have a fairly thin coating here on the forums. It was pretty much just enough to tint the wood. I think I might try this once I get my carpet replaced with laminate in a couple weeks. Gotta take care of the house first.