Thread: Barber Hone Lapping

Originally Posted by Zorro

Yes, great point. I tried that a little bit last night but didn't want to overdo it. I didn't want to damage my 325. I'll pick up some wet/dry sandpaper as mentioned before.

Actually, the DMT will work just fine for that. You only need to slightly round over the edge. It takes very little to "take the edge off." You don't need to pick up the sandpaper just for that.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Actually, the DMT will work just fine for that. You only need to slightly round over the edge. It takes very little to "take the edge off." You don't need to pick up the sandpaper just for that.

Ok, I'll go for it.

+1 on clear water or perhaps a bit of lather.

Since barber hones do not develop a slurry (unless abused) I stumbled
on using a white fluoride toothpaste to "wake up the surface". Toothpaste
abrasives are mostly softer than steel so they mostly clean the surface
of the hone.

Having said this one of the ideal conditions of many barber hones is glazed
and shining. As the barber hone glazes over it hones finer and finer which
is often a good thing (up to the point where it no longer hones).

If you do sand or DMT flatten a barber hone know that the surface will need
some time or work to calm down. The surface will pick up a texture that reflects
the coarse material last used to lap it. It will take finer papers and perhaps time
to calm it down.

Different hones are made in different ways. Since they were made in vast numbers
some but not all have a middle of more common brick mud and have a thin slip surface
of carefully classified fine material. Only the carefully classified fine material is
razor hone quality so caution with an aggressive DMT is in oder.

And yes if the surface has a divot that causes a razor to jump or catch it
needs to be relieved. As for divots some barber hones are made with
dimples to hold water or whatever. So a divot that the blade glides over
is a do not care.

i appreciate niftys comments about surface texture.. my swaty became smoother after lapping on a worn 325.

yep; destroyed a couple of diamond plates also......ignorance is a bad excuse; a 600 and a 1000 <grrrrr>
Lou

Originally Posted by randydance062449

When you lap it develops a slurry composed of the binder & abrasives in the hone. That is called "swarf". If the swarf becomes to thick it starts to abrade the soft Nickel that the diamonds are embedded into. Then the diamonds fall out. Moral of the story is to keep the swarf from building up.
As a bunch of us have found out and as DMT states do not use any DMT finer than 325 for lapping for just that reason. Thats why I suggested sandpaper to finish the job. Years ago I destroyed 2 diamond plates, a 400 grit & a 1200 grit, by lapping with them and not flushing out the swarf very frequently. IMHO the process should be done under running water at a minimum.

Hope this helps,

Originally Posted by Zorro

Yes, I can feel the scratch when honing. It's not much but noticeable.

Can you feel it if you take a bit of 500 to 1000 grit 3M wet dry
and worry the area of the scratch and relieve the edges of
the scratch.

Some but not all barber hones have a very different
center with a fine honing slip on the surface. Lapping
with a coarse DMT might quickly wash the good bits
down the drain. The problem is that you are good to
go up to the point that the good bits are gone -- there
is no warning... you have a good barber hone, lap it and the
inside is exposed and you have a bit of brick full of sand
and generally not razor friendly stuff.

Which side has the scratch, becomes the next question.
You can hone on the opposite side in most cases.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Can you feel it if you take a bit of 500 to 1000 grit 3M wet dry
and worry the area of the scratch and relieve the edges of
the scratch.


Which side has the scratch, becomes the next question.
You can hone on the opposite side in most cases.

Good idea, that can work.

Ok, I think nobody mentioned it, so I'll put it in here. You can lap a barber hone on another barber hone. Been an approved method since at least 1895, when some guy with thirty years experience put it in a book. Yours is already done now, but just an FYI. I did it myself, and while I can't comment on its efficacy as compared to a DMT, it's much faster and more effective than using sandpaper IMHO.

Glad to see this thread.

I am looking to buy a hone off ebay and am anticipating the need to dress the surface as I see chips and so forth out of nearly all the hone edges. I had assumed it was standard practice to "clean them up" a bit.