Thread: Natural Stones

Originally Posted by Speedster

Droescher Razor Hone Similar to Escher German Whetstone Hohenzollern | eBay

Fat-fingered that one, Jimmy. $285 and still a fantastic deal. So long as they aren't genuine Eschers, the prices aren't too crazy. Last month an Escher went for north of $1200. Insanity.

That's the one. If I was still into RAD I would have been in the running. Nice hone for razors. Yeah, Eschers are bringing crazy $ now. Wonder if it is collectors or honers ? Probably a mix of the two. Glad I got mine years ago when I did.

Edit; Here's a pic of the lovely thing for when the listing is no longer available ;

Originally Posted by Speedster

Droescher Razor Hone Similar to Escher German Whetstone Hohenzollern | eBay

Fat-fingered that one, Jimmy. $285 and still a fantastic deal. So long as they aren't genuine Eschers, the prices aren't too crazy. Last month an Escher went for north of $1200. Insanity.

Fat-fingered to a new home...
Nice win.

I can get a new Thuringian for $199 That is 3" wide.

Originally Posted by jte87

I can get a new Thuringian for $199 That is 3" wide.

From what I've heard, they are uneven in performance. You may get a good one, you may not. Just from what I've heard ....... If it was me, I'd go vintage and keep a lookout for something like the Honhenzollern that is mentioned above. Just IMHO.

Ok. Thanks!

Originally Posted by jte87

I can get a new Thuringian for $199 That is 3" wide.

Sorry there are no "new thuringians" around, if these are labelled, named or described as "New Thuringians or " Water Grind stones" they come from another region in germany but not from the quarries around Sonneberg where the vintage thuringians were mined...so i can only say keep away from these overpriced stones, check back the Faso Thread posted by Hatzicho...

To be clear these newer stones in general are not really that bad as you can see on the comparison sheet Hatzicho did, but paying 199 USD for these is just crazy and will only help the seller to make a lot of money with those having not that knowledge of these stones...


German FASO wtaer hone test

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=109899

Originally Posted by jte87

I'm thinking something that will give the same edge but not $300. I'm wanting a Thuringian as a finisher and can get like a 3x8 or something like that for $199. I'm just curious why a Thuringian costs less than a coticule.

Yes a Nanawia 12K super stone and a Chrome Ox strop.

Euclid is right I guess. ( although I don't realy want to admit it...)

As for the Coticule, get a small one

Ok, I did a bit of digging and the Thuringian at Timber Tools, apparently, is not a true Thuringian. How they get away with this, I don't know. I would expect there to be a lot of complaints on them. Oh well. I'm working on getting a good stone. We shall see what I find.

Thuringia is a pretty large region, and technically any rock from that place is 'thuringian' (even though when we use it here we mean a very specific slate). The issue is that very few rocks make a good finishing hone, so you need not only the location, but also the selection.
Some years ago there were 8"x3" hones by Mueller that were OK, but the people who sold them in bulk reported inconsistency and lack of uniformity on many of them. As with anything the rarer and more desirable something is, or more selection is involved the higher the cost.

Pre-WW2 there were a number of companies who mined rocks in Thuringia, cut them to hone shape, sorted them out and weeded out anything that wasn't very good. The most famous of those companies is Escher, but there are others whose hones are just as good, sometimes better.
The consistency of their product is what makes them fetch big bucks - you eliminate a lot of the gamble inherent in natural stones.
You could also get something without any label that would be good, but if you want to be sure it's good you need somebody with expertise to evaluate it. Often the seller could do that, but then that would likely cost money - (1) for the evaluation itself and (2) for the product being in certain quality level.
I mean if I have 10 rocks I want to sell, I could spend 1 hour with each and find out where it stands and I would want to be paid for those 10 hours. But once I know that rock1 is better than rock2, which is better than rock3, etc. it is no longer fair to sell them for the exact same price either. Every buyer wants to pay the price for the worst rock and get the best one and nobody wants to pay the price for the best rock and get the worst one.

And that is why it is important to understand what you are buying, and how easy it is to make a mistake. If you are interested in a natural razor hone your first concern should be to ensure you get one suitable for the exact honing task you have in mind. You either need to be able to evaluate it yourself (if you don't have the expertise to do it you probably shouldn't be shopping), or have somebody you have confidence in do it for you (escher label is sought after because people trust the evaluation of the company even though they no longer exist).