Thread: Lithide Hone

Hi there, I picked up one of Tilly's Lithide Hones. Does anyone out there know the best way to lap it first before using. I have tried everything from diamond plates to silicon carbide on the Shapton plate to wet and dry all sorts or grits on glass to no avail. No matter what the surface always looks different colors and it seems allfully rough. I was my thought that it was supposed to be a fine finishing hone. I would think that the surface would come up smoother. Kind of worried about trying it on a razor. Should I use it wet, dry, with lather or what. Is it supposed to be in the 8K to 10K range? Any help would be appreciated. It seems rougher than the GEM and CUSHION STROP hones I got from her as well.

It is possible that it feels rough but is actually a fine cutter. I can't say for sure because I've had some bad experiences with it, so it's collecting dust on my shelf. For fine finishing I use a bench hone/strop (Tony Miller sells them at www.thewellshavedgentleman.com), pasted with 0.5 micron chromium oxide powder mixed in with strop dressing.

Maybe its been picking up grit as you've been going? I lap all my barber hones against each other . . . teaches them who's in charge. Try lapping it a lot on your least favorite remaining barber hone.

I lapped mine on a granite tile with 800 or 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper (the 3M kind in the yellow jacket). The color changed a little, but its still smooth. I follow up with a rub-down under running water with a scotch brite pad to remove any particles.

Jordan

I did the same as Jordan. Just a splash of water and rubbed it in an figure 8 pattern. I like to use water because it helps to keep the paper from clogging, eliminates any dust and give you some tactile feedback.

The surface of my hone was really smooth when I got it and it looked fairly flat, but I lapped it just to make sure. I lapped a small amount, checked for high spots, and continued until I had a consistent color.

Was your hone smoother when you got it? My guess is you either have some grit stuck in it or you've roughed it up with your efforts. Try cleaning it with a scotch brite pad and lapping with wet/dry sandpaper.

I've had a sililar problem with my "lithide" hone, also from tilly.
I actually went to the great length of using a piece of oak to lap it because I thought it was getting grit stuck in it from other hones.

After 11 hours (thats right) of lapping it was still rough. Closer inspection with a loop revealed little gold colored inclusions.

I do however have a few "practice" razors, so I tried one on it and the inclusions seemed to come loose.

It still works as a finish hone for me

I am seeing the little gold colored flecs in my hone as well. I do not think that they were there when I received it or before I tried lapping it. I have another coming from Tilly and am going to try what some others mentioned. Lapping with another Lithide Hone. Will let you know of outcome.

hell, I might have to call email her cause I've just been using it and figured they were all like that.
Sweet.

Ok. I just check mine and I'm seeing them too. I did a quick scrub with a scotch brite and they didn't come out. I've only lapped using the black wet dry sandpaper, so I doubt it is something I've introduced while lapping.

I've no clue if this is a defect or by design as I've only the one hone and have only seen pictures of lithide. That said, it doesn't seem to make a difference in how well the hone works that I've noticed. All the same, I'm curious now.

Gentlemen I to have encountered this issue with my Lithide. After some wasted time with some 1200 grit sandpaper I saw no visible improvments. I had a rough surface hone with little gold dots on it. I researhed this websites archives using the key words " Lithide hone" and I came up with my course of action. I lapped my Norton 4/8 combo flat and I lapped the lithide on that. First on the 4k side and then finally finishing on the 8k side. The result was a very flat silky feeling barber hone. It also sharpens my razors as I hopd it would. The hone still does appear to have the afore mentioned gold colored inclusions but I was able to regain the glossy finish by using the high grit norton combo hones to lap. The gold inclusions do not appear to have any negative effect on my razors. At first i thought i had contaminated the hone while lapping but know I feel that the gold flecks are part of the hone and become visible after a good lapping. Be sure to clean your stones good afterward. I use a pumice stone I bought from classic shaving running them under cold running water. You can also lap the Norton combo over again. The pumice works great for cleaning the lithide. In my opinion I think the Lithide needs more that 1000 grit sandpaper to get that smooth surface finish a high grit hone needs. If i had any 2500 grit sandpaper from Hand American I would have liked to have experimented and tried that. If anyone else has had similar experiences with their barber hones and knows a better way to lap please chime in and let us know.