Thread: Swaty questions

I just resurrected an old junker Swaty that I got on eBay. It had huge chips in the edges and some gouges in the face, but some elbow grease and 400-grit sandpaper smoothed things out, and now it's usable.

I have a couple of questions about using it, though. I'm interested in how everyone uses these things.

1. It seems like the consensus is that you can "oversmooth" an edge. Would honing a razor on the Norton and finishing it with a few dozen laps on the Swaty "oversmooth" it?

2. In the same vein, can you maintain an edge indefinitely with a Swaty, or will it become oversmoothed at some point and have to go back onto something coarser?

3. How do you hold your Swaty? I'm using mine in the palm of my hand, with my hand open flat, but I'm finding that on the X-stroke away from my body the end of the hone closer to me wants to tip up as the tip of the razor moves onto it. That seems like it would cause uneven pressure as I'm honing.

4. What is your routine when you're using the Swaty to finish an edge as opposed to refreshing it? I'm wondering about pressure/no pressure, number of strokes, dry, wet or with lather, etc.

5. Do you still use a pasted paddle, or does the Swaty provide enough improvement over the Norton 8K?

Thanks,
Josh

bump------

I can answer SOME of these even though I don't own a swaty and use a pasted bench hone....

1) It depends on how many strokes... Try 10, shave-test, another 10, another shave test, until the performance stops improving. Then just do 10 strokes every 5-10 shaves.
2) As long as you don't damage the edge, the Swaty will maintain the bevel indefinitely.
4) Lather would probably be your best bet and about 10 strokes of decreasing pressure. When refreshing even the strongest pressure should be relatively light, but you can put more force (2lbs or so) into it when establishing the edge.

Originally Posted by joshearl

1. It seems like the consensus is that you can "oversmooth" an edge. Would honing a razor on the Norton and finishing it with a few dozen laps on the Swaty "oversmooth" it?

Maybe. This is one of those things that "just depends". If the razor came off the norton close to overhoned already, then sure. You have to use your judgement here, based on what your sharpness tests are telling you.

Originally Posted by joshearl

2. In the same vein, can you maintain an edge indefinitely with a Swaty, or will it become oversmoothed at some point and have to go back onto something coarser?

Joe Lerch certainly thinks so, though I hesitate to speak for him. However, he claims to have kept several razors going for over a year using just the swaty. From what I've seen with my own experiments I have no reason whatsoever to doubt it.

Originally Posted by joshearl

3. How do you hold your Swaty? I'm using mine in the palm of my hand, with my hand open flat, but I'm finding that on the X-stroke away from my body the end of the hone closer to me wants to tip up as the tip of the razor moves onto it. That seems like it would cause uneven pressure as I'm honing.

You can lay it flat on a table if you think it's more stable. I handhold all my barber hones, but I wind up holding it tilted up and sideways a bit to keep the pressure even.

Originally Posted by joshearl

4. What is your routine when you're using the Swaty to finish an edge as opposed to refreshing it? I'm wondering about pressure/no pressure, number of strokes, dry, wet or with lather, etc.

No pressure, no matter why you're using it. I prefer using lather on all my barber hones, it seems to help them cut smoother and finer, and it keeps them from clogging up with swarf.

Originally Posted by joshearl

5. Do you still use a pasted paddle, or does the Swaty provide enough improvement over the Norton 8K?

This is entirely up to you, your personal preferences, and your skill with the hones. I prefer going to the paddles.