Thread: Testing my long Swaty

Originally Posted by Joeman

a DD hone fetches a pretty hefty price on ebay these days and I've not heard much that the DD outperforms the SWATY.

Joe

It is the name you pay for.

When I first started out on SRP I had a Norton 4/8 and a standard size Swaty that I got from a barber many years ago. I used the Swaty with water after the 8k with good results. I didn't really know what I was doing but I was learning and the Swaty was smoothing the edge somewhat. I soon got a 12k Shapton pro and stopped using the Swaty.

A few weeks ago I took a long Swaty I had gotten off of ebay and for the first time I used it as the barber's intended, dry as a touch up hone. I had lapped it and never used it because I always use one layer of tape when I hone.

So if I was shaving with a razor that I felt needed a little extra attention between passes I was too lazy to tape it in the midst of the shave. On this particular day I wiped the blade off and taped it. Did 3 round trips, weight of the blade, on the dry Swaty and it definitely improved the sharpness and smoothness of the edge.

recently i have done some experiment with barber hones.
i have test only 4 of them.
i could use only barber hone and make blade ready from scratch includes if blade has chips.
or i have find result which i use barber hone after norton 8k barber hone then pastes with excellent result.
In using barber hones now days gives a little problem .
The problem is at the moment no one makes barber hones. As a result you cannot guide any new user right directions. example i know how acts swaty,three line swaty,frictionate 00, panama hone,keen cutter,cmon
In this case i can talk about them and how the new person will go find exact hone i am talking about?
I think i we can make a topic just name it Barber hones characteristics then every barber hone user can come in and let his experience rest of the people to know. In this case i think we will have more information and knowledge about barber hones. if anyone wants to know information about barber hones they can open that thread and read about it.
hope this idea helps.

That would be cool Sham...maybe have people post a picture of their barber hone, for visual aiding and also list experiences, methods of use, pro/cons etc...?

Thanks,
Mac

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

recently i have done some experiment with barber hones.
i have test only 4 of them.
i could use only barber hone and make blade ready from scratch includes if blade has chips.
or i have find result which i use barber hone after norton 8k barber hone then pastes with excellent result.
In using barber hones now days gives a little problem .
The problem is at the moment no one makes barber hones. As a result you cannot guide any new user right directions. example i know how acts swaty,three line swaty,frictionate 00, panama hone,keen cutter,cmon
In this case i can talk about them and how the new person will go find exact hone i am talking about?
I think i we can make a topic just name it Barber hones characteristics then every barber hone user can come in and let his experience rest of the people to know. In this case i think we will have more information and knowledge about barber hones. if anyone wants to know information about barber hones they can open that thread and read about it.
hope this idea helps.

+1; it would be awesome to have some sort of compilation of information on barber hones. A single thread, a sub-section, reviews, or something in the wiki - whatever everyone thinks would be best.

It would be awesome to know things like how fast they cut, how does water vs dry vs lather affect performance, what is the final edge like, what sorts of razors "like" the hone, what sorts of razors don't, and all that good stuff.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

+1; it would be awesome to have some sort of compilation of information on barber hones. A single thread, a sub-section, reviews, or something in the wiki - whatever everyone thinks would be best.

It would be awesome to know things like how fast they cut, how does water vs dry vs lather affect performance, what is the final edge like, what sorts of razors "like" the hone, what sorts of razors don't, and all that good stuff.

+1 on that idea, as a Mentor I nominate you for the task!

Joe

Originally Posted by Joeman

+1 on that idea, as a Mentor I nominate you for the task!

Joe

A little tongue-in-cheek, Joe (with regards to the Mentor thing)?

When it comes to barber hones, all I've ever used is Swaty's. I used to have a normal sized two line and a normal sized three line, but now the long one is all I've got. I'm planning on continuing to update this thread, and if some other area opens up for the info, I'll gladly post there.

If I had to make a suggestion on how to organize, I think a subsection for barber hones where users could post threads about specific ones or barber hones in general PLUS an attempt to distill the info on each thread into a section on the wiki would be the way to go. Just saying it, that sounds like a lot of work, but I think it would be the most useful way (at least that I can think of).

Maybe even a subsection for normal hones too? I have to admit, I don't spend a lot of time in the "Honing" section because I don't really like (or understand) why/how it is organized like it is.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

+1; it would be awesome to have some sort of compilation of information on barber hones. A single thread, a sub-section, reviews, or something in the wiki - whatever everyone thinks would be best.

It would be awesome to know things like how fast they cut, how does water vs dry vs lather affect performance, what is the final edge like, what sorts of razors "like" the hone, what sorts of razors don't, and all that good stuff.

Like a Barber's Hone "Club"?

Originally Posted by Pyment

Like a Barber's Hone "Club"?

If it was my choice, I would make a new subsection in the "Honing" section for barber hones (or maybe a full new section called "Hones" with various sub-sections like "Barber Hones" "Other Synthetic Hones" "Natural Hones"), but that's just because that's the way I think/organize. I'm cool with anything and whatever form it takes. Mostly I just agree that the information should be out there in some useful way.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

A little tongue-in-cheek, Joe (with regards to the Mentor thing)?

When it comes to barber hones, all I've ever used is Swaty's. I used to have a normal sized two line and a normal sized three line, but now the long one is all I've got. I'm planning on continuing to update this thread, and if some other area opens up for the info, I'll gladly post there.

If I had to make a suggestion on how to organize, I think a subsection for barber hones where users could post threads about specific ones or barber hones in general PLUS an attempt to distill the info on each thread into a section on the wiki would be the way to go. Just saying it, that sounds like a lot of work, but I think it would be the most useful way (at least that I can think of).

Maybe even a subsection for normal hones too? I have to admit, I don't spend a lot of time in the "Honing" section because I don't really like (or understand) why/how it is organized like it is.

Of course, can't pass up the pokes when you have the chance, off topic, but congrats on that, very well deserved.

Joe