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Thread: My adventures with a pike strop/ hone

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    Pasted Man Castel33's Avatar
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    Default My adventures with a pike strop/ hone

    One of the first items I bought when starting to straight shave was a pike strop/ hone. At the time I bought it I really only bought it for the barber hone side as the leather on it was beyond repair. I lapped it to get rid of some cracks and to clean the stone up and kept it around till my razor started going dull.

    Once my razor started pulling badly I did a couple really light strokes and test shaved with it and the razor was much worse. I took the razor back to bevel set and all the way back to shave ready. Shaved with it awhile. It then started pulling and I decided to use the barber hone again and again the edge was worse afterwards.

    I then put the stone away and just used what I knew worked. Every so often though I would pull it out and give it a try as my skills progressed and always ended up with bad edges.

    Until about a year ago I decided I was going to replace the leather on it with a piece from a ruined Illinois strop. To replace the leather I had to first remove the stone from its holder. After removing the stone from the holder I sized the leather and prepped it to go on the backside of the holder. As I was ready to put the stone back in the holder to clamp the leather in place I decided to flip the stone to the side that I had not touched at all. After doing that I used just some soap and water to clean the stone and replaced in the holder. Since then the stone has been working just like you would expect a barber hone to work. ( Word of caution with this hone do not lap. The side I lapped when I hone seems to slurry on its own. The side I did nothing to you can see the metal come off and build up on the hone)

    With the leather replaced I used it for about a week as my everyday strop. It does work just using the leather side but takes a lot of laps. So it went away again.

    Then about three months ago I was getting ready to go on a week long trip. I decide to look up the original instructions for the pike strop hone. I had seen them before but dismissed them as they were so different from everything else I had read. So just to refresh myself I went and found it again. In the instructions it says to do 2 to 4 strokes on the stone dry then strop on the leather some. I decided to give those instructions a try and see how I liked it. First I did it a couple shaves at home no problem great edge so I decided to use it on the trip and since then it is all I have used and found it to be great.

    The stone/strop is 6x2 and I have found that 2-3 laps on the stone and 12-15 laps on the strop is all I need. This has helped shave a two to 4min off my shave in the morning. While I do like the long shaves when i can most the time I need a quick utilitarian shave and this fits in with that great. I also like that I can travel with my full system.

    I know this is not a normal way of doing things and most are probably thinking you should be able to maintain a good shave edge with just a strop. I don't disagree with that and I can. I have used a strop to keep one everyday razor going for over 6 months with just stropping. I have also maintain a 4 razor rotation for more then two years with just a strop. It however took me more time on the strop before and after the shave to keep these razors in tip top shape.

    Now while I highly like this setup I don't think it is something I would recommend to new shavers as it really does need a level of familiarity with honing and stropping to get the most out of this setup. Also as with any hone if you don't know how to hone it would be very easy to damage an edge. Though if you are an experienced honer wanting to try and cut sometime off your shave or you really don't like stropping it may be worth a try for you.
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    Hirlau (05-04-2013)

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    Senior Member blabbermouth Hirlau's Avatar
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    This is the one I have been carrying in my travel bag for 2 years.
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    Castel33 (05-04-2013)

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    Senior Member Wintchase's Avatar
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    Ever try the on pike serup that comes in a tin withna green fine hone backed to a black hone? I have one but haveb't really put it to use.

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    Truth is weirder than any fiction.. Grazor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wintchase View Post
    Ever try the on pike serup that comes in a tin withna green fine hone backed to a black hone? I have one but haveb't really put it to use.
    I have one of them, not in a tin, just a cardboard case.Haven't used mine either. Pike wireless, i think. Castel33, like my father used to say "if all else fails, read the instructions"
    Into this house we're born, into this world we're thrown ~ Jim Morrison

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    Pasted Man Castel33's Avatar
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    Thanks Hirlau didn't even think to include a pic of mine.

    Quote Originally Posted by Wintchase View Post
    Ever try the on pike serup that comes in a tin withna green fine hone backed to a black hone? I have one but haveb't really put it to use.
    I haven't but have seen a few on the bay. Kinda reminds me of a 4k-8k norton. Always wondered if it was pike version before they merged.


    Quote Originally Posted by Grazor View Post
    I have one of them, not in a tin, just a cardboard case.Haven't used mine either. Pike wireless, i think. Castel33, like my father used to say "if all else fails, read the instructions"
    My father use to say the same thing usually 2 hrs into a 1/2 hr job.
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    "Whatever you are, be a good one" dtrain17's Avatar
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    ( Word of caution with this hone do not lap. The side I lapped when I hone seems to slurry on its own. The side I did nothing to you can see the metal come off and build up on the hone)


    I have been looking for another Barber's Hone for a while and just found one exactly like this the PIKE STROP-HONE, pictures soon to come. It does have the original box (instructions still legible) and looks to be in overall good shape. I bought with the intention of swapping out the leather like Castel33.

    My question is regarding the hone and how to clean / prep it. I have lapped other barber hones that I have and they seem to respond well to that and service my razors just fine after. However, the first post of this thread says to not lap this hone but I am wondering how else I can clean up the hone and get a nice flat surface. Maybe some wet/dry sandpaper to soften it up and make it smooth again? I usually use a DMT for lapping.

    Again, I will post some before / after pics once I get the leather swapped out and the hone cleaned up. Thnx
    Last edited by dtrain17; 06-20-2013 at 12:41 PM.

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    "Whatever you are, be a good one" dtrain17's Avatar
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    I may have already found my answer. Probably just going to try some wet/dry 220 grit or possibly flip the hone over like Castel33. Looks like most folks don't use the lapping stones for barber's hones. I have only previously lapped a single barber's hone with my DMT (I believe its a DMT 325) so I may go back and possibly try to "undo" anything the DMT may have done with some 220.

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    Pasted Man Castel33's Avatar
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    I used wet dry paper and I am pretty sure that I broke up the binder on the side I lapped.

    What I would do know the I know more about stones and honing. I would of cleaned it up like the instructions recommend with some kerosene or gasoline on a rag. And not worry about getting it flat a hone doesn't need to be perfectly flat to do its job.

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    Senior Member blabbermouth Hirlau's Avatar
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    I have 3 of these, lapped 2 with DMT, they slurry easy, but there are no problems with them, as I can tell.

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    DJ7
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    Old thread, I know, but does anybody know how easy it is to replace the leather on the Pike Strop Hone? How is the stone attached to the backing with the strop? Is it glued in, or do you have to pry it out? What's the best way to separate them without doing any damage?

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