Thread: Vintage Thuringian score--double whammy

Thank you, Hatzicho, for the encouraging words! I will post full size pictures taken outdoors with the darker background later today. I should mention the person I bought them from described the shorter hone as a Thuringian. He did not identify the longer hone except to say that it worked very well as a finisher. He got them both out of a large old collection of razors and other shaving tools.

Originally Posted by Bushdoctor

For what I know, the size for a Barbers Delight is 6 X 2 rubber was extra piece, but I can be wrong, not sure.

Maybe this can help

Attachment 142938

From this thread: http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...alog-page.html Barber's Gem and Barbers Delight came with rubber.

Yes Martin, there was write at the end of attachment that boxed stone have rubber included.

Originally Posted by rexcarolus

Thank you, Hatzicho, for the encouraging words! I will post full size pictures taken outdoors with the darker background later today. I should mention the person I bought them from described the shorter hone as a Thuringian. He did not identify the longer hone except to say that it worked very well as a finisher. He got them both out of a large old collection of razors and other shaving tools.

Can you give us the exact measurements of both stones and the exact weight in addition?

Just took the photos but am unable to upload anything...the error on the upload dialogue box says: 403 IOError Event="ioError bubble=false cancelable=false eventphase=2 text=Error#2038. I tried a bunch of times with different resolution and qualities. The images I uploaded in the earlier posts also won't upload. Very frustrating.

Dimensions are as follows:

Short hone (L x W x D): 149 mm x 53 mm x 20 mm [using calipers]
Slurry stone: 52 mm x 22 mm x 21 mm [calipers]

Long hone: 209 mm x 43 mm x 19 mm [calipers for all but length]

Unfortunately I won't have access to my scale for a number of months.

I uploaded the pictures to imgur. Click the image to enlarge the pictures. Sorry for the inconvenience.

A closeup of both hones "good" sides. Short hone is on the right.

imgur: the simple image sharer

Good side of the short hone with slurry stone:

imgur: the simple image sharer

Side shot of the short hone:

imgur: the simple image sharer

Long hone good side:

imgur: the simple image sharer

Side shot of the long hone:

imgur: the simple image sharer

Back side of long hone:

imgur: the simple image sharer

Closeup end view of long hone:

imgur: the simple image sharer

Thanks for the now really good pictures. Both hones look great and I think you can be sure as much as someone could be - judging by photos- that both stones are thuringians.

Still interesting for me would be the weight of the stones to determine the specific solid matter density which also gives an indication for the type of stone.

Fantastic news, Hatzicho! When I get them on a scale I will post that info.

Do you have any opinion on their color classification? My impression that the texture of the long hone is better was probably influenced by putting the blade on it with the slurry. That impression might change when using only fresh water.

Thank you again for your help!

Originally Posted by rexcarolus

I welcome further thoughts following the pictures. I am truly quite a novice when it comes to hones and am still really puzzled by post #16. Of course it is nearly impossible to prove, but I thought the shorter hone really did look like a Barber's Delight type. And just to clarify, I did not get these at a thrift/antique store. I bought them from an experienced straight razor guy and paid a fairly substantial sum for both--I guess we both felt like we got a good deal out of the bargain.

I would be curious if the slurry pictures might reveal anything useful. I was really surprised that the darker hone felt "nicer."

Anyway here is another picture with some of my favorite razors. I'm not brave enough to hone any of these yet...

Thanks again for the help thus far.

Attachment 143368

Nice razors mate! Give one of em a whirl on the stones....fortune favors the bold!

Originally Posted by rexcarolus

Fantastic news, Hatzicho! When I get them on a scale I will post that info.

Do you have any opinion on their color classification? My impression that the texture of the long hone is better was probably influenced by putting the blade on it with the slurry. That impression might change when using only fresh water.

Thank you again for your help!

Sorry to disappoint you, but it is absolutely impossible to predict the color of a thuringian by photos. It is not even possible having the stone in your hands - if the stone is not labeled. Only while honing or lapping the stone you can draw conclusions on the color and only with a lot of experience.
There might be some misunderstanding about thuringian hone colors. The color of the stones in the past was not defined by an examiner who looked at the stones and decided this might be a yellow-green - the other a blue green one.
The color which is stated at the label only indentifies the layer from which the stone is mined!
Different layers have different colors but also in a layer the color changes. Means also in a yellow-green layer the color could change either more to yellow-white or more to green. Also in different quarries the layers of the same color sometimes have slightly different coloring.

In a whetstone stratum that is typical for thuringian quarries there are sometimes more than 20 different layers with different composition and color. All this layers are only several inches thick and only a few are usable as whetstones. The typical known colors yellow-green, light green, blue green and dark blue identify the most mined stones. Most of the light- to blue green stones are somehow shades of gray.
In composition the yellow and green stones could be clearly separated from the gray to blue stones.
The yellow stones are very homogenous, have only very little amount off quartzite and particle size between 1 to 10 µm. The yellow-green color is caused by chlorite and Leucoxene. The bluish stones are less homogenous, the particle sizes reaches up to 20 µm, partly up to 50 µm. The blue color is evoked by fractions of ore, opaque material and bitumen.