Cushion Hones

I just got a pair of Cushion Strop Hones from Tilly an was curious about there original use.
I assume most would use a barber hone wet, ie either soaked in water or with lather. So, what happens to the leather side while the stone is wet??

Do any of you use the stones dry? The instructions that came with it mention using it wet so they must mean just wetting down the top and not soaking as many would do.

Any thoughts on this? I was thinking of doing a few up with my finish leather and wanted to see what others thought.

Tony

Tony, how much would you want for one of those done up that way?
I'll buy one tonight if you make it.
John P.

I know that some waterstones need soaking and others do not. I think it has to do with the binding material, but am not sure right now. My Shaptons do not require soaking; only wetting the top.

John,
I didn't want to sell any until I work out the water issue. Wetting from the top looks like it will work, soaking will ruin the leather pretty quickly.

The instructions that came with these are pretty interesting. I plan to post a copy once I scan them in. Interesting thoughts on the fin on a raor and how to, well, 'tame" it.

Tony

Hey Tony, I think those hones are really cool!:) I saw one the other day and between the leather and the hone was a layer of felt! The kind of felt that the old school chalkboard erasers were made from.

My guess is that the hone is just wetted, not soaked, and then probably with lather, since it would not run so much.

Just my two cents this early in the morning,:)

Tilly mentioned the felt to me as well. I have seen a few old one like that and it would put some distance between leather and wet hone as well as padd the leather a bit. I don't think a little give or cushion would hurt on a non-pasted strop but would not use that for pastes.

She mentioned that she has seen Gem hones with leather too.

Tony

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tony Miller

I just got a pair of Cushion Strop Hones from Tilly an was curious about there original use.
I assume most would use a barber hone wet, ie either soaked in water or with lather. So, what happens to the leather side while the stone is wet??

Do any of you use the stones dry? The instructions that came with it mention using it wet so they must mean just wetting down the top and not soaking as many would do.

Any thoughts on this? I was thinking of doing a few up with my finish leather and wanted to see what others thought.

Tony

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I bought one of those and it works well with just a coating of water. It also works dry, but it's a lot faster, and you need to be careful with pressure.

I have a combination paddle strop/stone, and there's no problem keeping the stone wet (you don't soak it). If you want to make one of these, I wouldn't recommend the cushion strop hone. It's too fast and it's a medium hone. What would be great is a Swaty type fine (fast) touchup hone. it would be great on a 2 sided paddle with a finished leather.

If you wanted to use the cushion strop hone, I would put it on a 4 sided paddle, so you would have room for a few finer grits (pastes) after the hone.

A two-sider with a finishing hone and finishing leather. Those ever-popular Chinese 12k hones from woodcraft.com come in 8X2x1for $20 each. If you could slice them into .25" slices you could get 4 hones out of each one. That would be a nice travelling paddle...Subtract the width of the diamond saw blade, allow for re-lapping to true them up, and worst case scenario you get two hones out of each stone.

As I am sitting here beside me is a Spyderco Ultra-fine ceramic hone. It is about twice as long as a standard barber hone but the same thickness and width. If it was simply cut in half and then have a piece of leather glued to the other side you just might have a superb traveling/bathroom touchup hone/strop. The ceramic hones do not need water to work.

Just an idea,

Thanks guys. I can't see myself resawing stones at this point but am still looking atbarber hones. I like the more nostalgic approach anyway.

I was thinking a Cushion hone with a finely pasted leather on the back, maybe a 0.5 or so would make a reasonable step before going to the plain leather of a hanging strop. I do like th extra length of the Cushions over shorter hones like the Gem.

The Spyderco looks interesting. How thick is the ultra fine? The website says 2" x 8" but does not give a thickness. It could be made into a pair of 4" stones but that seem a little short to me.

The glass hone idea still sounds interesting. I made up two from different grades of frosted glass I have here. Both feel very much like a fine barbers hone. Mine are between 1/16" and 1/8" but I can get this material in 1/4" thickness and possibly different finishes if it works. They could be bonded to one side of a 2 sided or 4 sided strop in place of a fine stone.

Tony

I just emailed Tilly. I bought a cushion hone, and although the site said the the leather wasn't attached, should it have been included? Also, the directions that came with mine said to use it dry.

Randy

Randy,
They come without leather. I ws going to make up some with leather if guys wanted them but was unsure how the wetting would affect it. I tried tonight with just wiping water on top with my fingers for a while and the back of the hone stayed very dry. If I can find a suitable felt tomorrow to go between leather and hone I will try that but I think maybe a natural leather directly on the hone and then dress that with 1.0 or 0.5 paste to refine the edge from the hone.

I also tried the frosted glass idea. And while it felt like a hone and sounded like a hone I saw zero results. Won't be wasting any time in that direction.

In a different direction I used Neat's Foot Oil as a strop dressing and while t gave a nice drag to the razor it does not apply as nicely as a creme type dressing.

Also found some nice looking pigskin with a nice texture I was going to try with pastes. I think someone mentioned pigskin in a different thread.

Tony

[QUOTE=Joe Lerch]I bought one of those and it works well with just a coating of water. It also works dry, but it's a lot faster, and you need to be careful with pressure./QUOTE]

Well said Joe,

I have two of these in the longer version (6.5 inches, considerably longer than most barber hones). They are among my favorite medium grit hones. They will work well dry, with water and with lather. The properties of this hone are such that, used skilfully with all three mediums, it alone could suffice for general maintenance. Highly recommended for anyone starting out.

I'd be most interested a refurbished Strop-Back, should Tony to offer them. I sure like the that deep red oiled leather he uses on the finishing side of his paddle strops.

What about using some balsa (the edges treated to stop water absorption)instead of felt between the leather and the hone? Would that offer enough of a cushion?

Hal

Hal,
Good suggestion but I do think the leather itself has more give than the balsa. I am beginning to think the secret of the balsa is in the open pores moe than it's give. I have used thick leather and thin leather on a hard surface for stropping yet balsa is different. I just think it holds the pastes differently.

I am going to make up some of the Cushion hones and will gladly offer substitutes in materials if they are wanted, ie..red finish leather, natural for paste, cushioned or not, etc....

Tony