Thread: Recommend a very fine barber's hone?

I need a small stone for travelling that will approximate my Chinese 12k+ stone. I see a ton of 'em on eB*y, but don't which ones are on which end of the scale, abrasive-wise. Thanks

As I recall tilly from the other site sells a wide variety of barbers finishing hones on eboy which are small and would be what your looking for. I have several models like the peaches and cream, swattys, lautterjung, amalgamite. She sells under redtrader or something like that

here is her site:

http://redtrader99.com/hones.html

it looks like either itsapeach or the lithide

contact her, she'll know.

I emailed her about the itsapeech, but the more I think about it, I could just order the smaller thinner version of the Chinese 12k from woodcraft. It wouldn't be THAT much bigger, and maybe I can find some kind of cool leather sleeve or something to pack it in. We'll see what she says about the barber's hone. Where do the Franz Swaty hones fall in terms of grit?

Swatys are regarded as between 8000-10,000 grit.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Swatys are regarded as between 8000-10,000 grit.

I know there are two line Swatys and three line Swatys. Which were you referring to? I remember reading somewhere that the Swaty was more lik 12K. Does this sound at all likely to you?

A Honemaster (barber hone), if you could find one, should easily approximate your Chinese 12 K. Additionally, with barber hones, using lather will produce a considerably finer grit result than using water.

Hal

Originally Posted by halwilson

A Honemaster (barber hone), if you could find one, should easily approximate your Chinese 12 K. Additionally, with barber hones, using lather will produce a considerably finer grit result than using water.

Hal

Thanks. I have one of those.

BTW, have you ever heard of a Droescher water (barber) hone? I just got one and it came with a Nagura stone. I've never seen this type of barber hone before, but it feels a little coarse. Do the Japanese ones feel a little coarse or are they smooth, like the Honemaster?

Thanks guys, this is good stuff. Joe, could you explain two-line and three-line Swaty hones?

So far I have never seen a definitive analysis of the abrasive grain size used in barber hones nor the actual type of abrasive used.

We seem to be comparing the results to the modern hones whose grit size we have some informatio on.

In the case of classic barber hones I think we are talking about the effective rating as opposed to the actual grit size. Which is, in the end, what we are really interested in.

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

I know there are two line Swatys and three line Swatys. Which were you referring to? I remember reading somewhere that the Swaty was more lik 12K. Does this sound at all likely to you?