Thread: Escher question

Originally Posted by Utopian

Maybe you did not notice, but those were the prices per dozen!

this makes me want to cry...

Originally Posted by Longhaultanker

Interesting the German unit of measurement is Zoll from this old diagram. Same unit as Heibert Wacker uses for his razors. Another subject in a different thread. Still, interesting.

"Zoll" is German for "inch."

Originally Posted by eKretz

"Zoll" is German for "inch."

Zoll many very well translate to inch, but they ain't the same unit of measurement. I've been all up and down this.

Barbers Gem was only a brand name that Escher and others gave to this small sized stones. So why this name and why such small stones?
A gem is a little treasury. Some of the old barbers who did a lot of shaves over the day liked to refresh the razor with a stone from time to time or even before every shave (sometimes instead of stropping). They did this just in front of the client. Therfore they had a small hone in their trouser pocket.
From our point of view today, this might be nonsense. But keep in mind that these small refreshing of the blade might have been the only honing that the razor ever saw. There often was no general complete progression honing, staring with bevel setting, progression, finishing. Just short refreshing between the shaves - for the whole lifetime of the razor maybe. Then this would indeed have been necessary to keep the razor sharp somehow....
And it was of corse also a bit of show for the clients " ...see you get a fresh honed razor - only for you...."

So I ran a razor on the stone last night. The razor was shave ready so I just wanted to see how it would improve on the edge.

The stone is soft and a fast cutter. It auto-slurried quite a bit. It left a very keen and smooth edge. It improved on the razor's edge, which IIRC was finished on a light green Escher.

A very nice stone. The additional width is an awesome feature. I think it's the widest of all the Escher stones.

I have to do some more work with it but I think it's going to be a fantastic addition to my hone collection

BTW -- I have seen two different card boxes/ slieves in which the Barbers Gem had been sold in the past (ebay pictures):

Originally Posted by hatzicho

BTW -- I have seen two different card boxes/ slieves in which the Barbers Gem had been sold in the past (ebay pictures):

Ahh I see. Thanks for the pictures! I used the name Barbers Gem purely based on the dimensions. I am not sure if there was a name for the stone I have or if it's just another Escher

Originally Posted by hatzicho

BTW -- I have seen two different card boxes/ slieves in which the Barbers Gem had been sold in the past (ebay pictures):

This seems to that it could be explained quite easy. When Escher started businesss in New York with Charles Quastenberg in the late 19th Century he was the only representative for Escher Hones, also he had the Family Connection to the Escher family as you already mentioned somewhere Peter. Quastenberg died on the 14th December 1893, then Charles Healy took over the Business in 1894 probably of a period of time....in 1897 the Cooperation with the Pike Manufcturing started, the whole business and Good will was taken over from Pike and they have been officially granted the rights to open the whole business communication.

So in this case my guess would be that the Escher & Co. Barbers Gem would be the Earlier Version where Escher & Co had its business in 107 Duane Street, the Hone from Pike Manufacturing seems to be the one later brought to market when the business was at 151 Chambers Street in NY.

Well i actually think that the Barbers Gem is directly mentioned in one Quote:
"The branch house here have been lately begun the importation of a new form of water Hone, put up especially for fine trade. The stone is 5 X 2,5 x 1 inches in Dimensions, and with a rubber of the same stone, one inch quare and 2,5inches in lenght, it put in a handsome pastebord case similiar to those used for razors."

Originally Posted by Longhaultanker

Zoll many very well translate to inch, but they ain't the same unit of measurement. I've been all up and down this.

You've been all up and down it where and with whom? The numbers from the Zoll/inch column convert pretty much exactly to those in the mm column. "Engl zoll" would be English inch.

Originally Posted by eKretz

You've been all up and down it where and with whom? The numbers from the Zoll/inch column convert pretty much exactly to those in the mm column. "Engl zoll" would be English inch.

Think the conversion is:

1 Zoll is 1.03700787402 inches, the last seven decimal points escape me right now.....