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Of interest you can audition the hone with the razor.

He can mark the spine and the edge with a black magic marker and
give it one or two gentle smooth strokes. If the entire edge is touched...

Exactly... and worth repeating.
If necessary you can always lap it later

Also you can worry the roughness out of small chips with
a common nail so they do not catch the razor.

How bad is your barber hone? Which one is it?

Lapping barber hones is often unnecessary
or ill advised so proceed with caution.

I would first scrub it with soap, water and a green "scotch...