dkeester
"TSC's Master of Bourbon"
This seemed like this is the proper forum to post about my collection of DE blade hones. Please move it if it belongs somewhere else.
Sorry for the upside-down pics.
This one appears to be NOS and in decent shape, but the box is not complete. It includes the documentation. I have several sets of documentation that also came with this hone.
In case you wanted to learn how one works. Here is a shot of the documentation.
This next one is not a stone, but is made of Bakelite. The red side is supposed to hone the blade. The black side is supposed to strop the blade. It does seem like the two sides have different textures but I am not sure if this one actually works or not.
It looks like this company changed hands over a few years. These both are very similar. Notice the price change. The yellow box is probably the older of the two.
Most of these stones are most likely made of carborundum (a.k.a. Silicon Carbide), like many synthetic stones. Most that I have seen are just a bland gray-black. This next one is red, however. Unfortunately the box has seen better days.
I think this is the only one that I have which mentions straight razors on the packaging. The flat side of the hone could be used to hone a straight. I may give this a try some day, but I would have to lap the back of one of the stones first.
This one is a half sized stone, made to fit easily in the palm of the hand. This one was apparently meant to be used dry. The instructions that I have for some of the other ones state that they should be used like water stones. Either wet them before use, and wipe them off after, or use a bit of lather on the hone while sharpening. Apparently this Glover hone is different.
Why do you have a picture of a drinking glass in your post?
Because DE hones could also be made of glass. Also a smooth drinking glass was often used to refresh a DE blade. Notice that the stones pictured above, and the Bakelite hone also, have some sort of concave surface. This was meant to make it easier to find the bevel on the DE blade and keep it true. This is the same reason why drinking glasses were a popular, and cheap, way to refresh a blade. The inside of the glass makes a great surface for honing a blade. There were even several makers of glass hones. If you are curious lookup "Lillicrap's Hone" on the Interwebz. Another was the McKee Glass Safety Razor Hone.
So, here is the group pic. My modest collection of safety razor hones. I think they are really cool.
Apparently, they actually work well when used right. I imagine that modern DE blades with lots of platinum, ceramic, chrome, Teflon, and other coatings would not fare well when used with one of the stone hones pictured here. It would remove the coatings and possibly make the blade more harsh. The Bakelite and the Glass might be usable to strop a modern stainless blade, but denim is really good for that. Any carbon steel blades that are floating around should certainly be able to be improved by one of these devices.
They are just a great piece of shaving history and show that wet shavers have always wanted to get greater longevity out of their blades, even the disposable ones.
Sorry for the upside-down pics.
This one appears to be NOS and in decent shape, but the box is not complete. It includes the documentation. I have several sets of documentation that also came with this hone.
In case you wanted to learn how one works. Here is a shot of the documentation.
This next one is not a stone, but is made of Bakelite. The red side is supposed to hone the blade. The black side is supposed to strop the blade. It does seem like the two sides have different textures but I am not sure if this one actually works or not.
It looks like this company changed hands over a few years. These both are very similar. Notice the price change. The yellow box is probably the older of the two.
Most of these stones are most likely made of carborundum (a.k.a. Silicon Carbide), like many synthetic stones. Most that I have seen are just a bland gray-black. This next one is red, however. Unfortunately the box has seen better days.
I think this is the only one that I have which mentions straight razors on the packaging. The flat side of the hone could be used to hone a straight. I may give this a try some day, but I would have to lap the back of one of the stones first.
This one is a half sized stone, made to fit easily in the palm of the hand. This one was apparently meant to be used dry. The instructions that I have for some of the other ones state that they should be used like water stones. Either wet them before use, and wipe them off after, or use a bit of lather on the hone while sharpening. Apparently this Glover hone is different.
Why do you have a picture of a drinking glass in your post?
Because DE hones could also be made of glass. Also a smooth drinking glass was often used to refresh a DE blade. Notice that the stones pictured above, and the Bakelite hone also, have some sort of concave surface. This was meant to make it easier to find the bevel on the DE blade and keep it true. This is the same reason why drinking glasses were a popular, and cheap, way to refresh a blade. The inside of the glass makes a great surface for honing a blade. There were even several makers of glass hones. If you are curious lookup "Lillicrap's Hone" on the Interwebz. Another was the McKee Glass Safety Razor Hone.
So, here is the group pic. My modest collection of safety razor hones. I think they are really cool.
Apparently, they actually work well when used right. I imagine that modern DE blades with lots of platinum, ceramic, chrome, Teflon, and other coatings would not fare well when used with one of the stone hones pictured here. It would remove the coatings and possibly make the blade more harsh. The Bakelite and the Glass might be usable to strop a modern stainless blade, but denim is really good for that. Any carbon steel blades that are floating around should certainly be able to be improved by one of these devices.
They are just a great piece of shaving history and show that wet shavers have always wanted to get greater longevity out of their blades, even the disposable ones.
