Thread: La Luna stone?

I don't understand 'the people interested in them' being 'a problem.' Can you elaborate?
For the record I would have liked very much to use the two natural hones you mentioned above, especially the Escher. But they are above my pay grade and I now have an excellent series of synthetic hones with the SG 20k my finisher. I have no intention of acquiring more hones, probably no more razors either. This is not some proclamation it is simple math and something called fixed income.

Originally Posted by Vasilis

If we are talking about this big "for special razors only" or something like that, stone, I don't think there is some serious flaw with it from what I saw. But the people interested in them... That's a problem. So, let's all assume that it isn't worth even the shipping because of it's condition.

Originally Posted by WW243

I don't understand 'the people interested in them' being 'a problem.' Can you elaborate?
For the record I would have liked very much to use the two natural hones you mentioned above, especially the Escher. But they are above my pay grade and I now have an excellent series of synthetic hones with the SG 20k my finisher. I have no intention of acquiring more hones, probably no more razors either. This is not some proclamation it is simple math and something called fixed income.

Indeed the way I wrote it was wrong. People interested in them pose no problem at all. On the contrary, we know about them because people were interested in them. And in letting us know about them and their characteristics, I'm grateful in each and every one who shared his or her experience with me/us.
But the fact that demand exceeds their availability decreases the chances for us getting one. And, every second, our chances decrease of getting one, as stones get thinner every time someone uses or abuses them. I can't help but feel a little jealous of not having one. Of course, no hard feelings for anyone who has one or two. But for any of you that have more than ten of a type with the status "extinct in the wild", I will find you! Unless it's for scientific purposes, on which you have to treat them in a humane way, or he intends to open a museum.

I have a little bitty one, 100mm x 50mm about 4" x 2" - not exceeding my quota!

Originally Posted by WW243

For the record I would have liked very much to use the two natural hones you mentioned above, especially the Escher. But they are above my pay grade and I now have an excellent series of synthetic hones with the SG 20k my finisher. I have no intention of acquiring more hones, probably no more razors either. This is not some proclamation it is simple math and something called fixed income.

I will never understand the Discussion on Thuringians and Eschers. Actually the thing with the "pay grade" is depending on size....

Shure you wont get a 8/10inch Stone for cheap, but actually smaller and narrow sizes (up to 15cm) are in a normal range comparable to other stones...you can get some nice small stones or Bouts for around 60USD....so Feel free to sent me a PM...

Somethin like this is even cheaper...

I bought an unlabeled La luna from a french guy who was selling coticules on Ebay. He had pictures of himself holding the cotis in front of his stone collection and I noticed 2 or 3 labeled La Lunas in the back round so I go his email address an asked him if he wanted to sell one. He replied saying that the labeled ones were not for sale but he had an unlabeled extra fine one which he said was about a 12000 grit.he would sell for $100. He sent me pictures of the one that was for sale along with pictures of labeled ones to demonstrate that they were the same - same saw marks and same glittery honing surface. I sent him the 100 buck then I did not hear from several him due to the huge storm in France which cut power to a large part of the country but yesterday the stone showed up. I put a Filamonica 13 that was coticule sharp on the stone for about 6 to 8 laps with water and the razor got way sharper. When I shaved with it I got an incredibly close but rather harsh shave. I read the post about using it with oil so today I dispatched my wife to the sewing machine store she uses to pick up some oil. As with most things there seems to be a learning curve with a La Luna. I attempted to upload the pictures but the JPEG files are to big and I don't know how to work around that.

Originally Posted by dan656

I bought an unlabeled La luna from a french guy who was selling coticules on Ebay. He had pictures of himself holding the cotis in front of his stone collection and I noticed 2 or 3 labeled La Lunas in the back round so I go his email address an asked him if he wanted to sell one. He replied saying that the labeled ones were not for sale but he had an unlabeled extra fine one which he said was about a 12000 grit.he would sell for $100. He sent me pictures of the one that was for sale along with pictures of labeled ones to demonstrate that they were the same - same saw marks and same glittery honing surface. I sent him the 100 buck then I did not hear from several him due to the huge storm in France which cut power to a large part of the country but yesterday the stone showed up. I put a Filamonica 13 that was coticule sharp on the stone for about 6 to 8 laps with water and the razor got way sharper. When I shaved with it I got an incredibly close but rather harsh shave. I read the post about using it with oil so today I dispatched my wife to the sewing machine store she uses to pick up some oil. As with most things there seems to be a learning curve with a La Luna. I attempted to upload the pictures but the JPEG files are to big and I don't know how to work around that.

There are differences between the two variants, the blue metallic ones, or the one you bought are interesting and very fast and effective cutting stones. I also find them scary sharp resulting in a harsh feeling...

The purple ones are those i mostly would recommend, just because the results and the feeling of the shave is much better in my point of view. They give a close and quite smooth shave, a very balanced shaving result in the end.

Originally Posted by doorsch

There are differences between the two variants, the blue metallic ones, or the one you bought are interesting and very fast and effective cutting stones. I also find them scary sharp resulting in a harsh feeling...

The purple ones are those i mostly would recommend, just because the results and the feeling of the shave is much better in my point of view. They give a close and quite smooth shave, a very balanced shaving result in the end.

Question though, are these like most other stones that are able to create that scary sharp/harsh edge though? That is, after a few shaves and some really good stropping, does the edge become more comfortable to shave with?

Originally Posted by Marshal

Question though, are these like most other stones that are able to create that scary sharp/harsh edge though? That is, after a few shaves and some really good stropping, does the edge become more comfortable to shave with?

My experience is that surely the edge changes after stropping....so yeah it kinds gets a bit more comfy to shave then. But if you like that kind of feeling? in the end is a type of personal preferation, so in this case the edge gets never to the stage where i personally would love to see it....thats different with the purple stones which in the end reach more that point i like and create the shaving result i normally prefer....

Gotcha. Actually I dislike it too. I have a few stones that can leave a harsh and somewhat unforgiving edge. But that feeling only lasts 2 to 3 shaves at most from those stones, and then it mellows out and they become OK to shave with. If they were as you described and just stayed harsh I would likely not use them at all for razors.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Gotcha. Actually I dislike it too. I have a few stones that can leave a harsh and somewhat unforgiving edge. But that feeling only lasts 2 to 3 shaves at most from those stones, and then it mellows out and they become OK to shave with. If they were as you described and just stayed harsh I would likely not use them at all for razors.

Well they were sold to be used with razors and i wouldnt say there not usable for that. You know there are a good amount of guys around loving ultra sharp edges experimenting with CBN, Diamondspray, Nano Cloth and all the other stuff....so iam sure there people around who like the shaving sensation of those...

I never liked any result of synthethic stones (8k King, 10k or 12k Naniwa), so i mostly prefer naturals. Even if the shave was very good and close...i just didnt like the extreme sharp/harsh esges.