Thread: If you had to do it all over again — would you still have gotten an Escher?

Originally Posted by kelbro

That was several years ago. Thankfully, the market moved up during the time that I owned it. Had I held it until today, I could have doubled!

Plenty of hones (over 20). Multiple strops. Plenty of experience/skill (over 35 yrs). I get fantastic edges from many different combinations and enjoy experimenting with different progressions. Nothing wrong with the Escher edges. They were great. I have just been able to duplicate or better them with hones that were much less expensive.

Maybe I'm getting to be more of a minimalist in my old age. I traded in my twin turbo V8 BMW 550i in on a new 3.5L Nissan Altima SL and have no regrets. OK, maybe a little regret

Twin Turbo V8 BMW 550i...Lord Thunderin' Jesus I'd die in that car....I almost traded in my 325i for the turbo 335i (the poor man's M3) and changed my mind because I figured I'd just get busted for speeding and pay a lot for gas to go slow.

I can't imagine the torque and horsepower on that 550i....wow...what a machine...I can just imagine what an experience to drive that would have been.

Lol, now he's having a little more regret! I miss my old M3. We have a 335i now... It's OK.

And yeah, I would totally get my Escher stones again, got really good deals on a couple of mine by buying unidentified stones on eBay then finding the Escher labels after getting them out of the box they were stuck in. Got a really cherry one from a local flea market seller for next to nothing too.

This is all personal preference. There are different eschers color/hardness. Price wise I would say no for those prices. You can get a unlabeled or boxed labeled thuri that works just the same without the name if you know what to look for at a 5th of the price or less. Now if you are a collector, or don't know what to look for maybe.

Originally Posted by Phrank

Twin Turbo V8 BMW 550i...Lord Thunderin' Jesus I'd die in that car....I almost traded in my 325i for the turbo 335i (the poor man's M3) and changed my mind because I figured I'd just get busted for speeding and pay a lot for gas to go slow.

I can't imagine the torque and horsepower on that 550i....wow...what a machine...I can just imagine what an experience to drive that would have been.

Yes, indeed. Scary fast and mucho torque. I had a lot of fun in it in the 4yrs and 52K miles that I owned it. My wife and the Nissan dealer asked WTF?? Warranty runs out next January and things like $900 headlights and twin turbos scare me worse LOL.

Yes, if I had my time over I'd buy lots of Eschers. Lots and lots. They never cease to amaze me, you can buy one in the green box, the blue box, the red box... Some have two barbers on them, others 4... Fantastic.
And on top of all this they leave a nice edge on the razor!
The only problem is I think they're all a bit too consistent. Where's the fun in that? With a coti it's like playing the lottery/Russian roulette. You never know what's gonna happen. And the worse the result, the more honing you can do! lol. With an Escher, a bit of slurry, a few strokes and you've got a very precise and clinical edge.

Knowing what I know now I would buy one or two, but not six or eight, as I did years ago. The up side is, of those I sold, I either got my money out of them, or practically doubled it. The down side is that I sold a couple of stones that I would have kept knowing what I know now.

I ended up with a gelb-grun (yellow green) and a blau-grun (blue-green) and those are keepers. IME finishing on an Escher leaves a characteristic edge. IOW the feel on the face is an 'Escher feel', the way a good coticule has its own feel. Dollar for dollar I probably would have been as well off sticking with the Norton 4/8 combo I started with instead of ending up with a ton of various stones (most gone to good homes). But it was a lot of fun, and helped make life interesting for awhile.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Knowing what I know now I would buy one or two, but not six or eight, as I did years ago. The up side is, of those I sold, I either got my money out of them, or practically doubled it. The down side is that I sold a couple of stones that I would have kept knowing what I know now.

I ended up with a gelb-grun (yellow green) and a blau-grun (blue-green) and those are keepers. IME finishing on an Escher leaves a characteristic edge. IOW the feel on the face is an 'Escher feel', the way a good coticule has its own feel. Dollar for dollar I probably would have been as well off sticking with the Norton 4/8 combo I started with instead of ending up with a ton of various stones (most gone to good homes). But it was a lot of fun, and helped make life interesting for awhile.

Thanks guys, you all helped me figure this one out.

I'm going to stick with my coticules just a little bit longer, refining what's allready proven to work for me. Why not?

In the meantime, well, I guess I'll start saving for an escher!

I have an Adoration Deluxe razor arriving soon. I want to hone it up of course, but maybe send it out to see what an escher edge can do to a coti's touch. I'll know then I'm saving for the right stone.

I just bought a 6x1.5 inch labeled Escher for $75 on ebay. So they are out there. Just have to be persistent.

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I had a half thickness 10x2 Y/G. I wouldn't buy it again. It was nothing special compared to any other good finisher (of course it sharpened a razor fine, and of course there is little risk knowing it will do so given that it's a y/g escher). In the end, I found it no more capable (and less so) than several small pieces of japanese rock that I have, a hard ark or 7, etc, and all of those are about $50 - $125 each, the hard arks on the high side of that.

If I was at a yard sale and saw an escher for cheap, of course I'd buy it, but I'd sell it quickly, too.

My particular stone was a pain to unload because it was half thick and had some flaking/cracking beginning to occur after I flattened it. I got back less than half of what I paid for it because of that. If it had done something other stones don't do, I'd still have it.

These little boxed thuri water hones are just as good and cheaper if you want to put a thuri edge on your blade. I used one for a while till I got a really good deal on a large Droescher. Which also isn't an escher, but most likely from the same hole in the ground.