I have a couple of questions. For years I've used a Hard Black Arkansas for polishing my razor. It has worked very well for a long time . . . until it got knocked of the shelf and cracked. I have had a bear of a time locating another one that was good enough to use. All of them that I have found have not had consistent faces. So, does anyone know a good vendor? Or, would it be better to find a Barber Hone or Belgian Coticule? If so, where can they be had? I'll admit I have looked around on the internet and come away befuddled. Any help is appreciated.
Barber hones and yellow belgian coticules are nice for polishing razors to keep them sharp. You can get them both on ebay or keep your eyes open in the B/S/T section, they occasionally show up here. If you are just trying to keep a couple of razors in good shape the barber hone is probably the most economical choice as the coticules can go for an insane amount of money. a chinese 12K is another option. and it can be bought at woodcrafters.com for a very reasonable price. I guess it really depends on what you want to spend and how often you would be using it.
Some of the barber hones with good reputation for fine polishing include-- Swaty Lakeside Lithide Itsapeech This list is definitely not all inclusive. There are so many different makers, names, and honing qualities that it's no wonder that barber hones can be hobby/collecting subset of wetshaving. In comparison to naturals, well, the barber hones aren't "natural." :happy102 Some will be more coarse than a given natural, and some will be finer than a given natural.
Panama is reportedly a good one. Sham really likes it, says so in his video. I have one, its nice. Don't have much use for it though. And yeah, its just like comparing synthetics to naturals.
Good vendors for coticules are Howard at theperfectedge in the US, or Rob Celis from the Ardennes mine in Belgium. He is ArdennesCoticule over at SRP if you want to get in touch with him. Bummer about your Arkansas. Unfortunately I have no idea where you would find one, but I know there are people out there who own them. Good luck! James.
