Thread: Time to upgrade: Thuringian or Zulu?

Time to upgrade: Thuringian or Zulu?

I am interested in buying a finishing stone for my routine touchups on razors.

I regularly use my Nortons for honing up to 8k and then the Chinese stone which was proved to be a very nice finishing option and I am very happy with it.

I think now it is time to upgrade my finisher. My new stone will be used mainly for touching-up the razors after 8-10 shavings.

I have read many posts on the hones’ section and I am between choosing the Thuringian or the Zulu grey.
Which one of these would you recommend for fast and quality touchup?

Thank you in advance for helping.

I'd say both could work, providing you got the right specimen.
The Thuringians/Eschers that I have or have had are/were all great finishers.
The Zulu I tested for a few weeks did not impress me all that much.
It wasn't bad, but it sure was no Escher!

So based on my tiny amount of experience on these two types of hones, I'd say go with the Thuringian/Escher.

+1 on what Bjoerner says.

I would only add that your chinese hone is probably in the 10k+ region, and a good, unbranded thuringian is not a lot more than that - 11 - 12k maybe (12k and 12k+ is getting into branded Escher, etc, territory - extremely pricey). It might not be much of a jump, but the edges left by thuringians are noted for being smooth and friendly, also its faster and a bit more user-friendly than the chinese hone.

Regards,
Neil

Thank you very much Birnando!

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

I would only add that your chinese hone is probably in the 10k+ region, and a good, unbranded thuringian is not a lot more than that - 11 - 12k maybe (12k and 12k+ is getting into branded Escher, etc, territory - extremely pricey).

And what about the Zulu Neil? Is this around 12K or less?

It is certainly in that range, but I have had a number of samples that have been a bit, well lets say 'iffy' and on account of that I rarely use the Zulu these days. Mainly that means a slight grittiness present in two that made them unpleasant to use. Apart from that, they seem 'metal specific' and not so much an all-rounder as a good thuringian. I also found the Zulu painfully slow - but that is probably just me - as you know I hone commercially so I need something that doesn't take 100s of laps!

Regards,
Neil

Thank you Neil for the answer. Very useful to me.

Originally Posted by Birnando

So based on my tiny amount of experience on these two types of hones, I'd say go with the Thuringian/Escher.

I think I will Birnando.

I have heard the Gokumyo 20K is a very popular option and might end up costing you a bit less.

Thank you Siguy! But I cannot understand why the price varies so much.

Here you can buy it for about 260$ and here for about 460$.
Is this the same quality stone?

Yes, they are the same stone! That Gucomoyo is like the Big Green Egg of the BBQ's, it will make you instantly a better honer, that's how I feel since I got it.

I now have 2 Zulus and 4 +1 one the way Turingian/Escher. I would say that the Turingian has a better consistency, as far as getting sharp and smooth than my latest Zulu. I still think that the Zulu has value ( more stone for much less money), but if money is not a problem, then a turi/ Escher would be my choice.

Double O