Thread: Lithide Barber Hone Surface ?

Hi,

I recently obtained a Barber Hone Set including one Lithide Hone. As recommended by the seller I lapped them with a 1000 grit sandpaper (wet), and all are very smooth and flat.

What has me a bit wondering is the Lithide surface - while its supposedly the finest of the three hones (also Gem and Cushion) it has the coarsest surface, whereas the other two are definitely finer. Is this normal for the Lithide, or do I have to do something additional/different in the lapping process on this hone ?

Thanks,
-Axel-

That's the same thing I noticed about my Lithide lapped with the 1000 grit... The Itsapeech lapped much finer, and it looks harder too. However, at the places it seams to be getting a slight shine. The trick might be in using no pressure on the sandpaper... I will lap the lithide with my second lithide stone (now broken) as soon as I fix it, and post the results...

Nenad

p.s. I honed my razor on the Lithide for ~20 strokes, after the Norton 8000, and got nice shave...

Originally Posted by superfly

p.s. I honed my razor on the Lithide for ~20 strokes, after the Norton 8000, and got nice shave...

Hi Nenad,

thanks for your comment, so at least I know I'm not alone

With regard to your above comment, this is also very interesting to know as I am currently establishing a honing procedure for my barber hones and am thankful for any information regarding their actual uses...

Best regards,
-Axel-

Well, I have no idea what grit the Lithide and Itsapeech might be. As far as I know, with the label of "fine finishing hone" they might be anywhere around 6000-10000, and that's just a guess... So, I have no clue if I am actually improving the Norton 8000 edge. But, hey, that's the fun of experimenting...

Nenad

Hi again,

well, grit numbers would be nice With those barber hones I find this very difficult to tell. From comparison with my waterstones I would estimate that the Cushion is around 6-8k, the Gem also in the 8k+ range and the Lithide - well, thats hard to tell, as the surface is coarse but the particles are very fine. As its supposed to be finer than the other two I would put that in the 10k range. But thats just me and my beginner's guessing

Btw., yesterday evening I tried the "no pressure" thing on the sandpaper, the result is exactly the same as before. A final resort could be the lapping on a pure glass plate, I'll try that this evening.

I can also confirm that the "coarse" Lithide does something positive to the blade, it gets sharper. So it may be ok the way it is....

Best wishes,
-Axel-

Perhaps the best way to FINISH lap a hone is to lap it with another hone of the same kind. A lithiide with a lithide, 8000 Norton with an 8000 Norton etc. You guys might want to cantact Tilly to see if she has any broken Lithide hone's that can be used for finish lapping. The other alternative is to use a hone that is HARDER and FINER than the hone you are lapping. I use the chinese 12000 to finish lap my Norton 8000. I use a Belgian coticule to finish lap a Belgian coticule etc.
This approach first came to my attention from Hal Wilson and it works nicely.

Hope this helps,

I do something similar to that. Since my 4k/8k stones are separate, I just use them to lap each other. Ofcourse, not the working surfaces.

Hi,

thanks for your comments - for practical reasons I will try to pursue the lapping-on-plain-glass approach first, stated somewhere here in the forum a short time ago.

As especially the Lithide is giving fine particles very easily this could actually work - I'll report later when I have tested this

Thanks again,
-Axel.-

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

I just use them to lap each other. Ofcourse, not the working surfaces.

?? Why not? You should do exactly that...

Uhmmmm because I can lap the working surfaces without any additional wear on them. Also, using the spine of one stone to lap the surface of the other gives me more control, like in case I just want to remove a speck of accumulated steel dust.