Thread: Stright down the hone

Originally Posted by superfly

You got it backwards. The smaller stones were made to force X pattern on all blades, giving them slight curve on the blade, or "smile" which is more desired than straight edge for comortable shaving. You cannot maintain a, let's say nice old W&B meatchopper, or that purty TI Pierres hand forged, just pushing it straight along the 3" wide Norton... Just think, there was no problem for old barber's hones manufacturers to just add another inch lenght and width wise, and up the price for 1/3rd.
Nenad

Hi Nenad,
I don't know if this is just a case of semantics, but rather than saying "they were made to force the X pattern" I would be inclined to say that barber hones were made small simply because it wasn't necessary to make them any larger. Their size is adequate to the task; besides they are easier to hold in the palm of the hand when honing which would be convenient for a barber who might not have workbench space in his small shop. Larger hones are no better or worse, but we should keep in mind that the modern 3" Nortons weren't designed originally with razors solely in mind; they were made for heavier and larger tools.
Hal