Thread: NOS Thuringians

Found a guy selling these stones and claims that they are newly cut from vintage pieces of the same stuff vintage thuringians/eschers were cut from. So essentially they are nos, just in a round about way.

they are 8" x 2" x 3/4" or 20cm x 5cm x 2cm, so they are bigger than most all Thuringians I've seen and are less than the ones sold as new stones, with a slurry stone included. So I don't really know what to make of them.

Good or bad?
Worth the price for the size even if they're new?

here's the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Original-Thuri...QQcmdZViewItem

Kees, who is a member here does/has sold these, or similar and is somewhat familiar with what's what. I would wait and see if he chimes in.

Jordan

They are the Mueller Thuringian hones. A less uniform structure than the vintage Thuringers and Eschers, comparable to coticules. Manufactum no longer sell them.

Whoever you buy them from: you should be aware that Mueller does not check the stones before shipping. Some do contain hard unclusions or even veins of a different material that make them unsuitable for honing a razor. Others have large chipps off the edges or corners. So ask whether you can return the hone in case there is an issue. I return about 25% of the hones back to Mueller.

Most want lapping before use.

Used mine tonight....seemed comperable to the yellow couticle.

Need to work with it some more....nice hone.

I got mine to perform surprisingly well when used dry. But as has been noted, they are give and take. Can you give specifics about the way it cuts. Slow? Smooth? Did it give a mirror polish? How about under magnification?

I have been working with my upper grit hones and trying to get a really good sense of how to progress with them. I am not really sure that I need to get this refined, but with plenty of time...why not use each in the honing?

The Thuringian is still hard to peg. I have two japanese naturals that are also in the mix and watching water dry on the "hardest" and on the Thuringian was interesting...I am not so sure that the japanese stones are really in grits beyond the yellow couticle and the Thuringian. My "soft" japanese stone will really smooth the edge produced by any stone. It's a great "drop back" stone if I get wire edges.

Anyway; I have not shaved enough yet with these edges to tell for sure, but I think that the Thuringian does not produce quite as "smooth" an edge as the yellow couticle. I am going to lap it again and fool around some more tomorrow.
All of these produce very nice edges.

Just an update for anyone interested in the discussion we've been having here; I just did a review on my Muller Thuringian in the review section, http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=19510

JGS and I both have stones from Muller and are comparing notes on it's performance, so I'll be udpating the review shortly.

Just my $.02 on those hones:

I have one (with 2 more on the way as backup) and I love it. One German fella had them analyzed and they are 8000 grit stones compared to the Japanese scale. They make some sort of a matte-finish due to their structure but I really like the edges I get from these stones.

He also analyzed the inclusions in the stone that appear from time to time. If I remember correctly, these are abolutely harmless to the razor as the inclusion-material is very soft - softer than steel.

The fact why I love these hones so much is because they can be obtained cheaply. ~22€ (~35$) will get you a 20x5 cm hone with slurry stone. You can find these on various places online, but most of the time they are marketed as stones from "Herbertz" and don't carry the Thuringian name but are marked "Natürlicher Wasser-Abziehstein" (natural whetstone). A random example: http://www.toolshop.de/product_info....oducts_id=2057

Yes, I can concur with the comment on the inclusions. After comparison with a verified vintage thuringian, the newer stones definitely have a more uneven surface (as far as appearance, not texture). But I have yet to feel a difference in their performance, the inclusions obviously aren't hard enough to harm the blade, but they would reduce the amount of effective cutting surface (but not by much).

A good buy for the price but none of the prestige of an original if that's what your after.

Originally Posted by moviemaniac

He also analyzed the inclusions in the stone that appear from time to time. If I remember correctly, these are abolutely harmless to the razor as the inclusion-material is very soft - softer than steel.

If your experience tells you the soft inclusions are fine to the edge, okay.
The soft chalk in my linen was unwanted by myself because it seemed to be messing up my edges (stropping on linen each time, with leather).

The "softer than steel" part doesnt mean much to me, and i dont think it necessarily means it wont have an effect on the edge.