Thread: Fox Razor Hone - Goldfisch Wetzstein take your pick

HADdicts, you'll appreciate this very cool story!!

I got this "Fox" Razor Hone natural awhile back. It's a one of my smallest stones at 30mm x 111 mm x 13.5mm. That's about 4 1/4" x 1 1/4". It comes in a perfectly fitting metal hinged wood box (I just have to find the hinge pin!). Originally it was glued inside the wood box. I easily removed the stone by heating the box and stone gently in a low temp oven and the original heat sensitive glue lost its adhesion. Separated stone with no damage to the stone or to the box (the box pieces separated but will easily be glued back together).

The paper label was fixed to the inside of the wooden box top. I was taking pictures of the stone this evening and I looked closer at the paper label. I happened to notice........it looked as though there was ANOTHER label of some kind hiding under the Fox label. Curiosity overwhelmed me. I figured the glue/paste had to be water soluble. I grabbed a water spray bottle and misted the labels. I used a pointed tweezers and tested. Nope, I needed to wait a minute. I tested again and the two labels were separating easily. I was able to get them apart and virtually intact.

I'll be sending Olivia a PM asking her to translate the German. I can assume the German says "best stone in the world" and I believe "Abzlehstein" means razorhone but aside from that I'll wait for her expertise.

Very cool. A Goldfisch Whetstone don't ya know.











Olivia: If you can't make out any of the words, please let me know and I'll look closer at the label. I was using my camera which is not as good as my wife's camera at taking close up pictures.

Chris L

Here's a better close up of the German description of the Goldfisch Wetzstein.



Chris L

Very cool! I like it.

Well, I'm not Olivia but I can tell you this:
"The Goldfish-whetstone is a natural hone. It can be used with water or oil. With use of the latter, you will obtain a very fine, long lasting and sharp edge. Excellent for all kinds of knives, instruments and tools."

Exactly!
Looks a little like a BBW to me.

Or the fabled brown Thuringian?

Originally Posted by 0livia

Exactly!
Looks a little like a BBW to me.

The color in the photo is off. Rather than the purple cast as you find in a BBW, this stone is more brown. There are no garnets in this stone; when viewed closely it appears it has the same mica schist abrasive found in Thuringians.

Originally Posted by Kees

Or the fabled brown Thuringian?

Sham is convinced that it is. Especially since the German label was revealed underneath the Fox label.

Chris L

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 àaffûter 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.