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

I picked up a 12.5 inch dark blue thuri from ebay for 40 bucks, labels dont mean much to me, its all about its usefulness to me and worrying about ruining a label that adds hundreds of dollars in value to a stone isnt desireable to me, I use my stones.

- Dennis

I use a dark blue Escher (partial label) regularly as a finisher as I love the edge it gives. I've never been disappointed with the results nor have regrets for the price I paid (about $175).
Built a box for it. I love the feel of this stone.

1. I have had personal communications with several senior honers/moderators - both on this site and from youtube videos on honing.
These gentleman have or have had just about every type of hone.
When asked what their finisher of choice was, the answer - without exception - was Escher

2. That being said, a master honer - I believe it was Randy Tuttle - said "hard steel - soft stone - soft steel - hard stone".
Eschers are +/- to the softer side.
It could be useful to also have a harder stone - ex. Charnley Forrest, PHIG, Arkie, etc.

Originally Posted by J743

I've been posting a lot lately, but this was just something I'm curious about:

Going 500 a pop now for a 5x3 labelled on the bay.
Arks made a comeback, Jnats have stolen the obsession of many, naniwa 12ks, coticules, even other thuringians.

Is the Escher still worth it in 2016? What can a thuringian do to a maxed out coti? Is any thuringian any different?

Unless you are a collector I think the high prices are not worth it. Droescher, Boker, all sell for too much now too. Unless you get lucky and find a deal that you think is a comfortable price.
A Thuringian can inhance a nice coticule edge. I really don't know how to describe it. My coticule edges are like a butter knife that melts away whiskers. That being said even though it is smooth and leaves a great shave the keeness off a coti is not the same as a Thuri, but you need to get there first. A Thuri won't get you to that point only past it. A Thuri edge is not crisp, but if I had to compare to a coticule I would say it is crisper.

In the end it is shaving. If it cuts the whiskers and not your face then it did it's job. It depends on your skin and whiskers and each finisher leaves a different feel. I think there are alot of cheaper choices out there that will get you the same as an escher (other Thuris) or even sharper(CF,JNAT). Eschers have a really cool factor though. If it is about having fun to you then it can also be relative to your fun spending money.

This really amuses me talking about if something is worth the price! For all that don't think it's worth it, yet are perusing straight shaving at quite a bit of cost. The 30$ razors today were only selling for 5$ a few years ago, yet we buy them, and not to mention how many are bought yet you only need one.
Some Jnats cost even more than an Escher, and we have multiple hones not just one, but we only need a 4/8 Norton to do the job, so why buy the Coticules that we buy?. If an Escher delivers the shave you want, it's worth every dollar you can afford to spend, just like razors, as to collectors, to each their own, I personally spend what I think is my comfort level on what I want, and whatever stone it is f it works and your happy with it the money spent means nothing. Tc

I've owned four Eschers and I sold them all.
Do I miss them? not really...

I know call me crazy! but I get great edges from the stones I have now and if I need a little more UMPF I can just add some pastes at the ending of my honing and get an amazing shave. Natural stones have a romance to them and sometimes we get caught up in the romance.
Escher is a great stone, no doubt, but IMO there are a lot of synthetic stones out there that can be a dream come true. Shapton glass comes to mind, as well as the new Gukomyo 20000.

Originally Posted by Disburden

I've owned four Eschers and I sold them all. Do I miss them? not really...

Same here. I bought a Coticule (and a barrage of other hones, including Eschers), had someone teach me how to use it. Problem solved.

Diversity is great.

I have never really had a preference. I feel once you hone the edge to shaveable the quality of your stropping takes it to the next level. YMMV and all that. I use natural hones but would never pay what Eschers are going for now. You can get as just a comfortable and keen edge with coticules, JNats, PHIGS, Apaches, Vermont slates etc. followed by a good proper stropping

S**t, and I had a hard enough time scraping up the cash for the Nortons.....I make good money,but the x-wife gets waaaayy too much of it.

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Lots of good stones nowadays, hundred years ago there were many good natural stones too, but not always easily accessible, or even known. At that time, among barbers, it seems these two were the top contenders. This article from Moler's Barber Manual, circa 1926, describes the pros/cons of each of them, along with a couple of early synthetic examples.