We’ve previously looked at the Indian Standards for shaving creams, shaving brushes, safety razors, and razor blades. So it makes perfect sense to have a standard for hones too, since not everyone uses safety razors and replaceable blades. Hence why IS 11026 exists, and why I just had to show it of once I spotted it.

IS 11026 is a pretty short document, just five pages. And two of them are blank, just to make it even shorter. And the front page is, well, the front page. Which in effect makes IS 11026 just two pages long. And easy to read as well.

The standard defines a razor hone as “usually used by barbers for sharpening razors”. Although the hone, as described, would be useful for sharpening all sorts of knives.

To conform to the standard, a hone should be 50 mm wide, 200 mm long, and a total of 25 mm thick (2″ by 8″ by 1″, for those that prefer those units). Half the thickness should be wood, the other half an emery abrasive containing at least 60% aluminium oxide.

As with the other standards we’ve looked at, the IS 11026 also specifies how to test the hones. A standard hone should be able to withstand 60°C for four hours without getting soft, and 0°C for for four hours without cracking.

A hone should also be able to give a razor a sharp edge. Which is a good thing to point out, as a hone that don’t sharpen a razor is kind of pointless.

IS 11026 also defines how to pack a hone for shipping; each hone in a cardboard carton, and thirty five cartons to a plywood case.

You can read the full text of IS 11026 over at archive.org.