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

I was wondering if this finisher could be used dry like a barber's hone.

I know that some people have used escher stones with oil but I don't know if it hinders the performance or not. I personally wouldn't use it with anything other than water.

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Sure you can use it without water. Or you can use water or better yet slurry diluted down with water when finishing. Don't deprive yourself or your edge.
MIke

Originally Posted by aaron1234

I know that some people have used escher stones with oil but I don't know if it hinders the performance or not. I personally wouldn't use it with anything other than water.

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Printed on all Escher, and Thuringan stone labels is to "keep free of oil or grease." Never use oil on a Thuringan or an Escher (same thing really) Coticules are fine for oil or water, Charnely stones, Arkansas, some others.

The purpose, as I understand it, of water on the stone, or oil on those that are appropriate, is as a vehicle to carry bits of steel that are cut off of the blade. While a few strokes at the end of the finishing, when the water/oil is dried about up won't matter, if an Escher, or whatever is used dry for extended honing you risk loading the stone with swarf (bits of metal) and glazing it over, making it useless.

A barber hone is made to be used either way. The binder, and the construction of the hone will make it go longer before it needs to be cleaned, but even a barber hone will be affected by continual dry honing. That stuff has to go somewhere. IMHO.

Thanks for the information, I got my first Escher a few days ago and I'm learning to use this powerful stone as a final finisher.

If you want to see what it would be like to hone with oil, get some Smith's honing solution. It works like oil but is water soluble so easily is removed from the hone. Also, by diluting it with water you can vary its viscosity.

Originally Posted by Bomac42777

Thanks for the information, I got my first Escher a few days ago and I'm learning to use this powerful stone as a final finisher.

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.

There are stones which profitate from the usage of oil or other solutions to buffer the contact to the stone (Smiths, Water Glyzerine, other oil types)....

Iam sure there is no real profit using a thuringian Stone with oil or even any other solution, so why doing it ?

I agree. I just wanted to give him a way to try it without harming the stone.

I thought it may work ok dry only making 20 passes and cleaning with water immeadiatly after. I dont feel comfortable lapping this stone with the possibility of it lossing its silky smoothness and becomming coarse. As far as oil goes, I only use it on a white translucent arkansas and it works well with that stone. Most of my stones are water stones and they work well with water only and lapping them has been achieved with a atoma 400 diamond plate