Thread: Can anyone help with info on this Celebrated Water Razor Hone?

Hi, ive inherited this hone called The Celebrated Water Razor Hone. Can anyone help identify the age, origin, condition, value and anything else interesting?

Thanks from Sydney Australia

Very likely a Thuringian. Good hone... a quick Google on "Thuringian hone" will educate you.

Yeah that is clearly a thuringian waterhone. One of the most discussed hones here and elsewhere, so you can find all infos you wanted. Just a short briefing:
Age: about 360 million years old (labelled and sold maybe 100 years ago)
Origin: Steinach, Thuringia, Germany
Condition: great, no excessive wear out, just some scratches that can easily be smoothed out as far as I see from the photos
Vaule: invaluable for straight razor honing

Best regards Peter

Originally Posted by hatzicho

Yeah that is clearly a thuringian waterhone. One of the most discussed hones here and elsewhere, so you can find all infos you wanted. Just a short briefing:
Age: about 360 million years old (labelled and sold maybe 100 years ago)
Origin: Steinach, Thuringia, Germany
Condition: great, no excessive wear out, just some scratches that can easily be smoothed out as far as I see from the photos
Vaule: invaluable for straight razor honing

Best regards Peter

Great valuable summary

What the guys are getting at is it's a good hone to have. Learn to use it properly and you will have a hone that will work for a razor for many lifetimes. As far as worth... That is against the rules of SRP. It's worth what you or someone will pay for it.

BTW, Welcome to SRP!

Let us know if you're a straight razor user, what experience you have in honing razors. We will be happy to help you learn to clean the Thuri up and put it to good use.

Yup, looks like slate, probably a pretty good one, if marketed as a fine razor hone.

The paddle looks home-made. Likely it is what saved the label.

Seal the sides and bottom with any good water base varnish, (Hobby store), then lap it and see what you have.

Nice find. Enjoy

thanks for the info, very interesting. appreciate it!

Originally Posted by Gasman

What the guys are getting at is it's a good hone to have. Learn to use it properly and you will have a hone that will work for a razor for many lifetimes. As far as worth... That is against the rules of SRP. It's worth what you or someone will pay for it.

BTW, Welcome to SRP!

Let us know if you're a straight razor user, what experience you have in honing razors. We will be happy to help you learn to clean the Thuri up and put it to good use.

I have no experience whatsoever. Dont even own a razor, but considering this info i may just buy one and use the hone. What tips can you give me to "clean it up" ? Any youtube vids you could recommend?

Why?

Tthere are several very nice shave ready razors in the Buy, Sell and Trade.

Here are a few that are very nice from $25 – 40. There are a whole bunch of super nice ones in the $75-100.

Shave ready, from someone that knows what they are doing will prevent you from buying junk on eBay, till you get a little familiar.

5/8 City Razor, shave ready $25
5/8 GEO. WOSTENHOLM I-XL - Shave Ready $35 Very nice

11/16 J. BINGHAMS, Approved Razor - Shave Ready $40

13/16 CARL SCHAAF "Veni Vidi Vici" - Shave Ready $40

If you want to fix one up, there is tons of how-to material in the Library on restoring and honing razors.

Holler if you need more help or advise.

Originally Posted by sphw1

I have no experience whatsoever. Dont even own a razor, but considering this info i may just buy one and use the hone. What tips can you give me to "clean it up" ? Any youtube vids you could recommend?

While honing isn't the hardest thing ever, it's hard to evaluate if you're honing well (and getting a shave ready razor) if you're simultaneously learning how to shave with a straight. You won't know if it's your honing, the razor, your shaving technique, etc.

What I'm getting at... get a well honed razor first, learn how to shave with it, and then when it's time (every few dozen shaves or so) use your hone as the "touch-up" to keep your edge keen. With a decent strop, brush, and vintage razor, and that hone you can shave for the rest of your life and only have to buy the soap...

As far as cleaning up the hone... lots of ways to skin that cat. A good cheap way to test is sketch a quick grid on it with a graphite pencil, get some 1000 grit wet-dry sandpaper, lay the sandpaper flat on a glass plate or polished stone (granite countertop or what have you), and do a little wet sanding with the stone on top. If the grids disappear together you're flat or close to it. If some of the grid remains once the other parts of the stone are clean, that's your low spot and you're not flat... drop a couple hundred grits on the sandpaper (400# or so) until the grid lines disappear together. Once you pass that test, a 1200# Atoma plate (Amazon) is your friend for life.