Thread: Can an Escher be used without water or dry?

I know that with a Thuringer stone, they will glaze eventually and lose effectiveness.

But aside that,

Has anyone actually honed on a thuringer/escher dry and if so what were the shave results?

Originally Posted by TristanLudlow

I know that with a Thuringer stone, they will glaze eventually and lose effectiveness.

But aside that,

Has anyone actually honed on a thuringer/escher dry and if so what were the shave results?

I was told from two guys i know that this works.

but i believe even if this might be a way to go the results are better when water is used.

[QUOTE=Euclid440;1631620]I have a couple of old S.R Droesher, yellow/green fine, Thüringen hones glued to a wood base with a leather strop on the bottom side. Like the one below.

Using a lot of water would wet the strop, so I suspect they were intended to be used dry, with shaving cream or just enough water to wet the face.

S.R Droesher was a distributor for Escher stones and some SRD stones had both names on the label.


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HAHA, that is funny stuff, you are the one who purchased my SRD I sold several years ago. That is my photo even, and my thumb ring. Seems like it only sold for about $40 on Ebay. I should have sold it for more. No big deal, I only paid $5 for it. If I had half the vintage stones I sold over the years I could brick my house with them.

I am curious why anyone would hone on a dry stone. The Eschers are hard enough to find and when you do they are expensive. Honing dry would put a lot of wear on both the stone and the razor. When particles come off the stone there is no way it can be good for the blade. I don't dry hone on my Jnat or water stones for just this reason.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Welcome to SRP. I've fooled with a lot of Eschers over the years. Still have two that I use not infrequently. When I got my first one I asked a couple of the big guns if they used slurry and they said they didn't. One said he saw no advantage in 'dragging the razor through mud.' I figured that if the label said to 'use the rubber till you create a lather' there was a reason for it. So that is what I began to do. I also adhered to the admonition to avoid oil or grease.

Attachment 236505

I remember seeing that and for about two weeks couldn't figure out what the heck the "rubber" was??? Figured there must be some "rubber" component I was missing....searched eBay for hours for an Escher "rubber"...no joy.

Until it finally dawned on me, the little "slurry stone", was in fact the "rubber"....

Figured the translation to English must have suffered...really!?!

Calling the small slurry stone, "the rubber", like, "...the little rock you rub the big stone with to create slurry...you know...the rubber thingy!!"

"What rubber thingy? Nothing here is made of "rubber", WTF are you talking about!?!"

"The little slurry stone....that rubber thingy!"

"Oh yeah...OK....that rubber!!!"

Ohhh...and I always use water on mine...and use the rubber thingy sometimes to create a bit of light slurry.

Originally Posted by jkatzman

I am curious why anyone would hone on a dry stone. The Eschers are hard enough to find and when you do they are expensive. Honing dry would put a lot of wear on both the stone and the razor. When particles come off the stone there is no way it can be good for the blade. I don't dry hone on my Jnat or water stones for just this reason.

I do and prefer it on my Coticules however

I've been experimenting with Cotis for a long time now, and contrary to what everybody says and what I read everywhere I get the best results with dry honing on my Coticules.
It's what I do and which gives ME the best results. What anybody says about it doesn't concern me, since to each their own, trial and error have led me to dry honing and I will continue to do so.
The 'extreme' smoothness of a Coticule is there but the sharpness is significantly higher when I hone dry versus on water. Just sayin' since you were curious

Also, after doing over a thousand laps or so the coti's surface became pretty darkened, a rub up and down on the coti with the slurry stone immediately cleaned it entirely

Originally Posted by jkatzman

I am curious why anyone would hone on a dry stone. The Eschers are hard enough to find and when you do they are expensive. Honing dry would put a lot of wear on both the stone and the razor. When particles come off the stone there is no way it can be good for the blade. I don't dry hone on my Jnat or water stones for just this reason.

Whatever you use it with dry or wet, in modern times i can assure you its nearly impossible today to get one of those stones that used that nothing is left from it...sure this depends on usage but if youre not a well visited Barber still using straights today or one whos honing razors for others the stone will hold a lifetime...

Originally Posted by doorsch

Whatever you use it with dry or wet, in modern times i can assure you its nearly impossible today to get one of those stones that used that nothing is left from it...sure this depends on usage but if youre not a well visited Barber still using straights today or one whos honing razors for others the stone will hold a lifetime...

Wouldn't lapping take care of most if not all particles that had been imbedded? Afterall, not using much pressure, one good lapping session to ensure the stone is flat would remove most of the layer that had been used and you would be on to fresh rock I would think....

Yes, there is that, lapping I am sure was not the obsession it is today.

Now, razors are finished to a much higher degree than they were then, prior to “finishing” on Eschers and Coticules, I would think. You don’t really need the rubber or the slurry.

Heck most are probably pre-finished higher than the natural itself.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Yes, there is that, lapping I am sure was not the obsession it is today.

Now, razors are finished to a much higher degree than they were then, prior to “finishing” on Eschers and Coticules, I would think. You don’t really need the rubber or the slurry.

Heck most are probably pre-finished higher than the natural itself.

Interesting, I find for me, refreshing first on the Nani 12k, then going to the Escher for the final edge is probably going backwards, but for me, that natural stone finish is just superb, nothing like it - especially on an old Sheffield....