Carborundum Brand Razor Hone No. 103
This Carborundum 103 Razor hone is ink-stamped on the stone, instead of having a foil label on the side– I would suppose this indicates a later manufacturing date. The box is similar to the older stones and the end is marked with the identifying number 103.
Not all Carborundum hones are razor hones - it’s important to make sure that the box says ‘Razor Hone’; otherwise it may be a ‘sharpening stone’ intended for use with cutlery and tools and not for razors
These are fast stones – 4-8 passes will bring a failing edge back into the shave. A lot of stropping after the touch-up and before the shave is highly recommended. Too many passes can bring up a wire edge, so care must be taken to limit the stroke count. 3-6 passes is usually enough to get the job done well.
These hones can be used dry, or wet. I prefer to put lather or a soap/water mix on them though. The extra cushion does help and it also seems to allow more passes.
I think barber hones are nice to have around, they look cool and work great. They’re simple inexpensive maintenance hones; great for travel and keeping in the shave den for a quick tune up.
While some people might say these hones are 8k or finer than, there are others that claim these hones are sub-8k. What I can say for certainty is that I’ve used them when traveling and they get me a shaving edge on a tugging razor. They look cool, work well, don’t take up much space and for the price they’re hard to beat.
Questions and comments about Carborundum Razor Hones can be sent to me here.
Approx. Dimensions: 3.9 x 1.9 x 0.4” / 102 x 51 x 11
Weight: 4.2 oz / 119 g