Thread: Fox Razor Hone - Goldfisch Wetzstein take your pick

Originally Posted by Kees

Or the fabled brown Thuringian?

+ 1 ..... Looks very like the one I got from Sham. Nice detective work picking up on the other label Chris.

This arrived in the mail today: Très ancienne pierre à affûter pour rasoir boîte bois en vente sur eBay.fr (fin le 28-févr.-10 19:22:28 Paris)

I just lapped it and gave my Goldedge a touch-up with it. I'll post some more pix tomorrow.

Added advantage is that I now know that a nameless I have had for ages appears to be a brown Thuringian as well!
I'll post pics of the lapped hone tomorrow.

fantastic stuff. how do those fox / goldfisch perform? I've been noticing all these antique dealers who sell stones in old wooden boxes - seemingly more for the boxes than the stones. what sorts of hones tend to be in those? fine ones?

The one I got performs really well. I think it is finer than many vintage grey Thuringen hones.

Originally Posted by Mijbil

fantastic stuff. how do those fox / goldfisch perform? I've been noticing all these antique dealers who sell stones in old wooden boxes - seemingly more for the boxes than the stones. what sorts of hones tend to be in those? fine ones?

Thuringian and Coticule stones were indeed boxed in wooden boxes. However, you must be cautious when bidding on old grimy looking wooden boxed sharpening stones. Most I've seen are close to worthless coarse oilstones.

Originally Posted by Kees

The one I got performs really well. I think it is finer than many vintage grey Thuringen hones.

People seemed to almost laugh at Sham some time ago when he stated that there was a "brown Escher". OK, maybe they didn't, but I recall skepticism. He's right. and you're right as you know, that you have a brown Thuringian. IIRC Sham also said, like you Kees, that the brown Thuringian put a better edge on a razor than the gray ones.

The one I had that started this post was very small. I sold it to Sham. I knew it would have a good home.

Chris L

Mine isn't much bigger: 30x125 mm
But I have got used to smaller hones and like them for blades with a less than perfect blade geometry. My Goldedge has a slight frown probably due to minimal warpage. I got a great edge on this Goldfisch, so I will keep it.

@ ChrisL: you seem to sell all your good hones: a Goldfisch to Sham, your Hohenzollern to me. I wonder: what super hone(s) have you got?

Originally Posted by Kees

Mine isn't much bigger: 30x125 mm
But I have got used to smaller hones and like them for blades with a less than perfect blade geometry. My Goldedge has a slight frown probably due to minimal warpage. I got a great edge on this Goldfisch, so I will keep it.

@ ChrisL: you seem to sell all your good hones: a Goldfisch to Sham, your Hohenzollern to me. I wonder: what super hone(s) have you got?

I like to share the joy, Kees! I have a handful of Thuringians that I like.

I do have my favorites that I don't think I'd ever sell:

I'd never sell this gem:





And, my Nakayama Asagi from So:



I'm just trying to pare things down and simplify a bit. It's not working too well though!

Chris L

I just got one of these on ebay and it's a bbw I knew it the moment I brought up my grape slurry. I have total of five bbw. 4 of which are natural combo's one is a man made combo. I guess I see now where it is that the seller latched on to the idea that he had a "Escher like" hone. Dollars to donuts it was this very thread.
Although if he felt it was a fabled brown Thuri why did he sell it so quick. How does the saying go "ignorance is bliss" I'll post pics as soon as my phone is charged up I'll place six hones all together, running the gambit between new and vintage(coloration is different) then I'll pull up a light slurry with a fine diamond so there will be no cross contamination.
Another truism is "the proof is in the pudding" the GRAPE pudding.

If it was listed as an Escher-like hone and has purple slurry, then just return it, get your money back, and give him negative feedback.

Although not impossible I don't think it's likely the original user replaced his purple Goldfisch Wetzstein with a BBW which in that time was not used for sharpening. The Ebay seller could have put a BBW in it's place but then this person would have had to know there used to be a purple stone in before and would probably have mentioned the rarity of the stone to collect a higher price.

Slurry color can be used to tell the difference between BBW and slate backing, but a purple slurry doesn't necessarily mean the stone is a BBW.

The question you should be asking is how you can tell the difference between a Goldfisch Wetzstein and a BBW before you return a stone that might be very valuable.