Barber's hone - wet or dry?

Hi,

Without getting into the pro and cons of using my 8" Swaty to finish my edges, is it preferable to use a barber's hone wet or dry? I have used it with lather, but plain water just beads up on the surface and it drys out in just a few strokes. Did barbers always use lather or did they just do their touch ups on a dry stone?

Thanks,
Randy

You can use it with plain water , lather or dry. I've even heard of people who use oil. Personally, I use mine dry. No specific reason for the preference.

Imo, Later works best with a swaty and I use about 6 strokes, that's it.

I usually use it with lather or water, both works fine.

Hi Randy,

My Frictionite beaded water after I'd used it with lather for a while--I think there was lather residue making the surface a little hydrophobic. After a light lapping the plain water spread out again.

I think a little lather in the water knocks down the water's surface tension so your blade gets slightly better contact with the hone surface. That's just how I imagine the dynamics, though.

I haven't settled on a consistent mode of using my Frictionite. Mostly, though, I use it dry.

--Tim

For a long time I used mine dry (and still do once and awhile) but a couple years ago I was shown a little trick that works very well for me. I mix 2 drops of dish soap into one cup of water and it helps keep the hone clean and offers a nice glide. I actually keep the mix in a dish soap squirt bottle so it's easy to add a few drops to mt hone.

I have quite a few Barber's hones, some still in their original boxes. A few do say to use dry, other's say to use lather, or water or dry. If I use my Swaty(s) I use them dry, and only do 3-5 lapps max....

I read a whole thread on barber's hones tonight, and there was one post with all the instructions for a Frictionite. Here's the link.

I think it depends on the hone. Lather should make it slicker, so for a coarser stone perhaps that's preferable. I have a barber's hone that I'd consider to be pretty smooth, and on that I like to use water only.

Also, for the beading: I find if I soak mine or run it under water for a minute, the surface saturates a bit and it beads a lot less.