Thread: "King" barber hone

I picked up an old frameback off of ebay last week, and it came with a "King" barber's hone. I was more interested in the razor than the hone, but tonight I lapped the hone on 600 grit sandpaper and gave it the smoke test on one of the W&B's.

I was pleasantly surprised. The hone is 2 1/4" wide so it's pretty easy to use and not too cramped. The W&B had been finished on the 15k Shapton and was quite sharp, but this hone looks to be an even finer grit: the bevel has a noticeably higher polish to it than it had from the Shapton (which itself seems finer than the 1m diamond paste). The truth will be in the shave tomorrow...

As for the razor that came with it, unfortunately it looks like the blade is twisted a bit. It's a real frameback with separate blade and spine pieces, and they just aren't as structurally sound as the unit blades. The twist isn't visible with the naked eye, but you could feel it going over the hone. Honing it was a real b*tch btw, I set the bevel as best I could with the stone then finished it on the pasted strops - the extra bit of "give" seemed to provide a critical margin for error when honing along the helical edge, and even then I had to set the strop down flat and two-hand the blade back and forth. No idea how this will shave either, though I'm not sure the twist will matter. It should shave like a smile, except the edge is maybe a degree offset from the spine.

has anyone got one of these hones? Its a King S-3 , a friend bought it for me as he is a regular visitor to sales rooms, so for the money he paid I took it. Unfortunately I can find no info on it, like;

Grit size...as Japanese stones are different from US ones

Do they still make these?

Do king have a website with info?

The price of these new...etc

can any of you guys help me out?

regards,simon

well, my king barber hone came with the original box with the price still on it - the princely sum of $1.00 :-)

Shaved with the frameback this morning, there wasn't any noticeable difference in the keenness of the edge. I'm guessing that the King hone is probably roughly the same grit as the Shapton but just a slower cutter which helps polish the edge more.

Did they have websites back in 1920?

In all honesty I think you are correct by noticing that the barber hone cuts slower, but I would venture to say that the hone is most likely closer to the 8K in grit maybe a bit higher. The shapton is a fine finish hone and would compliment the King.

Glen

Simon,
check on knifeforums.com there is a lot of info on the kitchen and the sharpening forum. The s-3 is a high quality stone.

Rex