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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.