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I found a site online called www.timbertools.com They sell Escher's. I saw a 5x2.5x3/4 with a slurry stone for $130.00. Seems pretty affordable to me, not that expensive. Does anyone have one of his Eschers, or used this site? Is it the real deal. The site actually has a blurb about finding a quarry hidden in Communist Germany.
I guess what they are selling is in fact only Natural Thuringian Honing Stone, not the vintage Escher hone (which is only a brand name of a Thuringian Stone - a stone coming for the region of Thüringen in Germany); The Escher Company doesn't exist any more.
The advertisement could be understand in a way where Escher is taken synonymously with Thuringian (name of one brand used to qualify the region where it came from) or it is simply not true.
I think a discussion can also be found here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...cher-hone.html
Most people recognize the name of Escher more than they do Thuringian, I see it as more of a clarification than something to confuse or mislead. I havent used one of these stones from timbertools so I cannot compare it to any other Thuringian such as Escher or Bracher etc,
I have four Escher/Thuringians and they are all dark slate colored. The stones shown at that site are light brown, more like a yellow coticule. Has anyone seen an Escher/Thuringian that looked like that?
Gary Richter, the owner of Timbertools, is German. He moved to Canada when he was young (I thought when he was 18 years old ..., I should ask him to be sure) so he has a lot of contacts over here in Europe.
Since we at Ardennes Coticule have good contact with him (he's our importer for Canada) I shall ask him about the Thuringian honing stone next time I speak to him.
That would be much appreciated. I have been waiting to pull the trigger on one of these stones for some time. Considering the cost for a large one, it could be an expensive mistake I am not willing to chance.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArdennesCoticule
Hi joke1176,
I think that the stones advertised by timbertools are the same than those sold by MST, and according to English, they are very good actual Thurigian stones, just not Escher & Co ones. The fact that they were not produced by the Escher company doesn't mean that they are crap, just that they can't hold the label of the company.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ockham
Yeah, I understand that. I was just wondering if they could hold their own with Eschers or other quality old thuringians. I have read other threads stating they have had probs. with inclusions and stuff.
It may be from Thuringia, but it might not be good for my razors. That's why I was waiting. I'm chicken!:rolleyes:
Forum member Blaireau is a very knowledgeable collector of Eschers and hones in general. He has spoken highly of Gary at Timbertools in conversations we have had. The stones are Thuringans. I guess it is sort of like referring to any off brand petroleum jelly as Vasiline. The stones come from the same area where the Eschers were mined so they may be similar. Tony Miller used to stock Thuringans and has posted in the past that he had a certain percentage sent to him that were not usable due to inclusions. If I were going to buy one I would call Timbertools and ask that they hand pick a good razor hone for me.
I spoke to him the other day, seems like a nice enough guy. Has anyone used one his stones? How do they compare to the original Escher's. If you read his website, it sounds to me like it's the same quarry which I thought was gone or extinct.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
Where did you get yours (Escher/Thuringians ) ?
Rob,
Let us know what you find out, thanks...Rich
One from a farm auction. Two from ebay. One from the SRP BST. I didn't buy any of them from a commercial vendor.Quote:
Originally Posted by zib
I haven't had contact with Gary yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by zib
I'll let you know ASAP (but it can take a while!).
If you look at the picture on timbertool.com's site you'll see it is exactly the same as the one on MST's site.
Also the sizes are the same as those of MST's Original-Thuringians.
So my guess is: these are MST Original Thuringians.
Go to: http://www.mst-mueller.de/ and click on neue Produkte
I dont blame you!Quote:
Originally Posted by joke1176
I bought the large thuringian stone from Timber Tools a few months ago. It is a great polishing stone and the large stone comes with a slurry stone.(the box it came in had MST something or other crossed out in black marker)
My opinion might not mean much as it is the only one I have besides a chinese 12k. I have also not been honing very long,(6 mo.) but I have gotten great results using it with my Norton 1k, 4k, 8k, then the Thuringian followed by a CO pasted paddle strop
The stone itself came finished on one side and had no inclusions. It is blue/grey and when wet turns very dark blue.
The only problem I had was that when I bought it they had it advertised as an Esher. They have since changed the ad. I do not regret the purchase because it seems to be the same type of quality that everyone raves about on this site.
Hope this helps!!