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

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You arrived late to the party -

Sorry but it is the truth..

When many of the opinions and ratings of Razors and Hones took place you have to understand things were different

Norton 4/8 were $65 and the 4k was made in the US and way better then it is now
Eschers were running about $100-$125 depending on size and grades
8x3 Select Grade Coticules, there were no fancy names, they were Standard or Select ie: No black inclusions or with black inclusions were about $75-$100
Stamped Nakayma with Nagura sets you could get for $150

SRP had about 2000 members

#14 Filarmonica were going for $100 NOS
Dubl Ducks were $25 for most to $125 for a Wonderedge
Wade & Butcher were $25 all day long
Other giant Sheffielders were even less


So yes if I had it to do over again I would spend the $100 I spent on my Blue/Green Escher that was sent with a 8x3 Thuringen also


Would I tell you to spend $500 + on one ???? Are you smoking crack ????

....

Yea, $100 for a finisher isn't so bad. $500? You can keep that one, I'll stick with the PHIG. Same can be said for an 8 x 3 coticule.

On the bright side, there are still rocks in the hands of people that don't know what they've gotten hold of. Maybe one of these days I'll get lucky and find one in an antique store or way under priced on Ebay (like I seem to find everything else).

But what they go for these days just doesn't seem worth it to me. No way I'd spend $500 on a piece of rock for sharpening blades.

Edit: Where I really feel I missed out is the American made Norton 4Ks. The one I have is pretty good, which makes me curious why the US made ones were better (aside from the Obvious - Made in the USA)

No Eschers here but I have 2 Thuringens, a Celebrated Water Hone and a Hohenzollern Abziehsteine. Both are smaller hones and they work great!

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Heck, nobody wanted giant rusty Sheffields...

I remember you guys joking about that, "giant rusty Sheffields", members saying they paid maybe $25.00 for them and they were everywhere...I remember taking a fair bit of good hearted ribbing about being obsessed with the W&B's and pretty much stalking them on eBay for quite awhile.

Remember one guy showing bags of Sheffield razors and other assorted hard to find razors only (all projects), one bag with about 30-40 W&B, Celebrated, FBU's in them (very glad now I managed to score 10 of those beauties), all perfect, and getting ribbed about what I was paying then for various razors.

It's staggering to think how much prices have increased, selection and quality has declined in the last 3 years, and I certainly wasn't in when it was as inexpensive as you're...lots of fun.

My first memories from when I joined was, let's call them, "The Duck Wars", I had to have one, and the Ducks were blowing upwards of $300-$500, it was war on eBay, you saw a few more Reapers then, and they always went for around $1,200 +...

Good times....

Originally Posted by AljuwaiedAK

They worth every penny, never see better edge and consistent performer for the same price.

Good to see you posting my friend, I still have that NOS B/G Escher intact and untouched carefully stored in my storage chest...probably will never touch it.

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

Grazor, I've got an Escher Barber's Delight, but never heard of one by Boker. Any chance you could post a pic of that?

Same as this one here

Slurry stone missing, box damaged, but the stone is pretty much mint barely used. I won't wear it out. Someone had used it with oil, but a couple of runs through the dishwasher seems to have removed it.

Every Escher Thuringian was worth it in my point of view. Still my beloved stones...actually it really depends a bit what you have to pay for it. Actually the biggest amount was 250 USD for a huge stone....

Many of my stones were bought much much less. So i think everybody can come over an Escher, he just has to search extensively to find one for cheap...

sometimes you only have to be lucky:

Originally Posted by doorsch

Every Escher Thuringian was worth it in my point of view. ...snip...
Many of my stones were bought much much less. So i think everybody can come over an Escher, he just has to search extensively to find one for cheap...sometimes you only have to be lucky:

I found all mine in the wild. At garage sales ask a geezer sitting in the back of a garage if he has any, in a tools section of an antique store, in trade for a blade, in a tackle box, sometimes at a local online auction house, they are out there!
The search is the fun the edge is the result!
~Richard
Garage sale:

I picked up an Escher on Ebay for $280 in the original box with slurry stone. The stone is 2.5" x 5.5" I experimented and read a lot on this web page but couldn't get the thing to give me a quality edge. An old barber friend of mine, who is in his late 70's explained when and how to use the stone correctly and now I wouldn't sell it. He told me to use it to fine tune the edge as the last step in my honing or refreshing process. Lap the blade on the Escher under running water and use 10 to 15 weight only X strokes and try it. He said it won't sharpen the blade but will make it much smoother. He also said don't worry about sharp when I get to the Escher, worry about smooth. He told me he always preferred stones to chromium oxide. The 2 he has used since his teens are the Escher and I was surprised to hear the Ark translucent.

Originally Posted by Phrank

Good to see you posting my friend, I still have that NOS B/G Escher intact and untouched carefully stored in my storage chest...probably will never touch it.

Thank for your concern, actually I have been very busy lately, I am planning to post some threads soon. Oh man that Escher, started to believe that it is cursed n some way.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You arrived late to the party -

Sorry but it is the truth..

When many of the opinions and ratings of Razors and Hones took place you have to understand things were different

Norton 4/8 were $65 and the 4k was made in the US and way better then it is now
Eschers were running about $100-$125 depending on size and grades
8x3 Select Grade Coticules, there were no fancy names, they were Standard or Select ie: No black inclusions or with black inclusions were about $75-$100
Stamped Nakayma with Nagura sets you could get for $150

SRP had about 2000 members

#14 Filarmonica were going for $100 NOS
Dubl Ducks were $25 for most to $125 for a Wonderedge
Wade & Butcher were $25 all day long
Other giant Sheffielders were even less


So yes if I had it to do over again I would spend the $100 I spent on my Blue/Green Escher that was sent with a 8x3 Thuringen also


Would I tell you to spend $500 + on one ???? Are you smoking crack ????

I like rocks, yes.

Holy moly 100 for filly.