Thread: Escher

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.

Originally Posted by ArdennesCoticule

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.

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.

Originally Posted by Ockham

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.

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!

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.