Thread: Raising Slurry on Thuringian stone?

Hello all,

I've recently got back into playing with my straight razors after a long break, as I'm doing a light restore for a friend and am wanting to get the best possible edge for his first straight shave experience.

I have a norton 4/8k and a vintage thuringian stone (very small) I bough off Neil Miller several years back which didn't come with a rubbing stone, it is fairly dark in colour. I was wondering what would be the best way to raise a slurry on it? and do I need to? Can I use my DMT 325 or would that be too coarse? would it be better to use another small thuringian stone on it? If so where can I get a rubbing stone, I am based in the UK.

Many thanks

The DMT will do just fine, I think plenty of folks use it that way, so I wouldn't worry about not using a Thuringian slurry stone.

Out of curiosity, do you prefer to finish on plain water or light slurry with the Thuringians?

Good luck mate!

Ok many thanks, I wasn't sure whether the DMT 325 would be too coarse and leave a scratched surface on the stone or leave diamond grit within the slurry on the finishing stone? I have never raised a slurry on it, thought I'd give it a go and gradually dilute to plain water. I've always used with just water so was looking to perhaps refine the edge more with slurry and finish with only water.

Raising a slurry on a thuringian is somehow subject to personal reference. Of course slurry speed up the honing process, but concerning thuringians, this speed-up process is on the light side compared to coticules and other hones. On the other hand it is necessary to refresh the working surface of the thuringian from time to time. Refreshing means to take away crud from the surface (also crud deep in the pores, not visible), open the pores and uncover the abrasive particles in the stone matrix. This is normally also done by a slurry stone.
To raise u a slurry you can of course use a DMT. A DMT 325 is fine enough. For the refreshing effect a thuringian slurry stone shows better performance but of course a DMT also does the thing!
For widely use of slurry on thuringians it could be a good alternative to use a thuringian slurry stone, which is bit softer than the hone itself, i.e. use a yellow-green slurry stone on a light green or blue hone. Than the slurry is mainly produced from te cheaper slurry stone and the hone is preserved.

For widely use of slurry on thuringians it could be a good alternative to use a thuringian slurry stone, which is bit softer than the hone itself, i.e. use a yellow-green slurry stone on a light green or blue hone. Than the slurry is mainly produced from te cheaper slurry stone and the hone is preserved.[/QUOTE]

Many thanks for the suggestion, I'll post a picture of mine stone as someone with more knowledge will be able to let me know what colour type it is..

I gave the lapping a go and got a small amount of milky slurry which gave a nice feedback to the razor on the hone and diluted it out gradually. I've yet to strop and test shave, fingers crossed. However the DMT 325 left light scratch marks on the hone which is a bit annoying, should I use a higher grit sandpaper to remove these say 600-1500 or put up with them. I'll be seeking out a small rubbing stone would I need a thuringian one?

Those scratches shouldn't do any harm, but I'm also not a fan of the visual of them, higher grit wet/dry sandpaper will get rid of 'em; I always use some to get rid of my DMT scratches

The hone is a blue thuringian. The scratches are not harmful, I normally use wet sandpaper of 300 to max. 600 to prepare thuringian hones after planing. Polishing of thuringians to get an absolut scratch free mirror polished surface could be counterproductive for honing.
The scratches are noticeable because the stone is blue, on a yello or light green one you won't recognize sratches with that depth.
Concerning the slurry stone I will send a pm.

Regards Peter