Thread: Barber hone question

I decided to give my razor another few passes on the barber hone because I noticed some staining on the edge. So I gave it 3 or 4 laps on a dry barber's hone. No pressure, smooth laps.

On the first 2 laps I felt the razor "catching" on the stone. It was very subtle and I know it's not the stone because it was lapped when purchased from whippeddog. On the last two laps it didn't happen.

I'm assuming that there were either burrs on the edge or it was the staining being removed with the metal. There are no longer any stains on the edge after the passes.

I just want to know A) if I'm correct in my assumptions and B) did I do the right thing?

Did it catch on the edge, while you were dragging the blade edge over the edge of the hone? Or are you describing some resistance while the blade was moving across the surface of the hone away from the edge?

it was resistance over the surface. The edges are rounded so the blade has nothing to catch on. It felt like it came from the center of the razor. It happened on the first two passes, by which I mean I felt it a total of 4 times...the remaining four half-passes felt clean.

I have had that happen. AFAIK its fine and dandy. You cleaned off the edge. The question becomes, WHAT was cleaned off the edge? soap gunk? or rust? Either way, you need to reexamine how you are caring for your blades!

It could have been a slight rolled edge created from too much pressure while stropping.
Do you strop before or after shaving? If so be carefull of how much pressure you use.
When I first started stropping on a home made strop I used too much pressure and rolled my edge. I actually had to go back to my 4k stone to fix.

I agree, and don't think it had anything to do with the hone. For one thing, if it was the hone, the dragging would have continued.

I wasn't worried about the hone...I was just curious to know what it could have been on the blade that was catching. I don't think it was soap scum because it felt sharper, like a metal issue...I'm pretty good about drying, stropping and oiling after I'm done shaving. My thought was a rolled edge or rough patch that I might have worked out. I guess I'll know the deal when I shave later.