Thread: inherited barber hone + honemeister available?

hi,

(i have to say it once, but i feel like an idiot because i've been to this site, but didn't actually realize there is a forum here. instead i focused on the yahoo group. what a great site is here!)

okay,

so i just inherited four old razors and a hone.

since i'm in the hone section, i wanted to ask about the hone.

it's a C-MON barber hone and i want to know about it. is it useful for a beginner?

yesterday i bought a strop from thewellshavedgentleman (thanks, tony).

i have two (will get strop soon) basic tools and can read how to use them, but so many have encouraged a professional finish so i can know what my goal is. how does that work? any honemeisters willing to help me out?

thanks,
lickthefrog

Contact adjustme69, and send one or two blades to him. You'll need more stone than just a barber hone to attack an old razor yourself. Check you private messages for more details.

The C-Mon hone is a finishing hone if it only has one grit.
If it has two grits (one on each side) then it can be used to restore a previously shaving sharp razor. However, you need an even coarser grit to restore the edge to an old razor. The reason is that the steel has oxidised and become weak.


Hope this helps,

Greetings.

I, too, have recently come into one of these C-Mon barber hones. Mine does have the two grits, one side is something of a dark rusty red (best way I can describe it), while the other is grey/black.

Is it a safe presumption that the black grit is finer than the brown? I'm guessing it's similar to the colors of sandpaper, the darker it is, the finer the grit.

Also, when I received it (from my barber), I was told an oil would be needed when using it to sharpen. This makes sense, however is there one type of oil that folks prefer over another for this type of application?

Appreciate the time.

- yci

The color is just an indicator. Unless you're familiar with the particular stone, you should examine the stone surface under a magnifying tool.

hi yci,

my c-mon is two-sided, too. there's a sticker on the side of mine telling me which side to start on and which side to finish. when i get home tonight i'll post which side is finer.

i can't say that i successfully used it to restore an old razor, but i did use the c-mon to get a chink out of an edge of an old razor. i honed it and stropped it on my belt and shaved with it. it worked! but i want to make it sharper, so back to the hone.

and i just used water while honing. if there's any advice on using oil, i'm all ears.

next i'll be sending a different blade off to a honemeister so i can compare. i was just too eager to wait.

Advice on oil: DO NOT USE IT. I used it on my Arkansas stones & it's about impossible to use anything else after that. I'm planning on selling those stones. Only water (or nothing) for me in the future.

To remove oil from an Arkansas stone you can use starter fluid
(ether) or oven cleaner. Some people also have soaked there
Arkansas stones in kerosene to clean them.

Originally Posted by dennisthemenace

Advice on oil: DO NOT USE IT. I used it on my Arkansas stones & it's about impossible to use anything else after that. I'm planning on selling those stones. Only water (or nothing) for me in the future.

I have 2 other possible strategies that I wanted to run by the experts before officialy recommending them

A)
1) Soak in alcohol
2) Scrub with a toothbrush
3) Another soak
4) Another scrub
5) Rinse

B)
Same as A but use gasoline instead... Give it a final cleaning with brake cleaner (it dissolves oil and it evaporates QUICKLY).

Originally Posted by randydance062449

To remove oil from an Arkansas stone you can use starter fluid
(ether) or oven cleaner. Some people also have soaked there
Arkansas stones in kerosene to clean them.

Randy,

Do you "fire it up" or let it dry after applying the starter fluid?

RT