"The Hone-Your-Own Perforated Razor-Hone" ('The Secret of Easy Shaving')

What ho, Chaps.

I'm just back from the local flea-market after roasting good and proper for about...Six hours.

Anyhoo. I purchased a razor hone for straight-razors. I had seen an identical one several months ago but I never bought it. When I saw that another one had popped up, I bought it almost on the spot.

It's in perfect condition and comes with its original box and papers:



Has anyone ever seen one of these? Do they work? How old are they?

The fellow I bought it from is the local knives-dealer at the flea-market (he's also the chap who sold me my two straight-razors in my avatar). He said he used it for several years and that it works fine. As he had TWO of these such hones, he decided to sell the better one and keep the more worn and battered one for his own use. So I bought it, not wanting to miss out again.

More photos:







The inside of the box says:

"Makes old razors shave like new - Makes new razors keen and true".

The Hone-Your-Own Perforated Razor Hone.

Sharpen your razor on this hone just as easily as you would a pocket-knife. Rub it round and round or back and forth over the "holes", keeping it quite flat on the hone. Then strop it lightly and enjoy the finest shaves you ever had. No barber's skill needed. Those patent "holes" make honing easy. They remove "wire-edge" and prevent OVER-honing. Sole Manufacturers.

PERFORATED HONE CO. Walkerville, Canada and Detroit, U.S.A.

I would worry about that causing microchipping. But I'm sure it can create a good shaving edge of sorts. Just not the sort that we modern chaps obsess over chasing - dead straight and smooth.

I own one and my advice is to avoid them. They were a novelty in their day nothing more and they really don't provide any advantage over another hone.

The downside is that whatever material they were made of may have degraded. I have a specimen that crumbles under a blade. Of course, there are probably specimens that survived quite well but unless you just want to play with them or collect them they really don't represent any value over regular hones IMHO.

Hope that helps.

Chris