Thread: eschers

Just a quik question to escher users. on the labels it says to develope a lather/slurry with rubbing stone then slide your razor over and this will give a good durable edge.
I no some of you use water only and some fokes use slurry for finishing.

How many of you have tryed both if so which one gives better edge water or slurry or is there no noticable differance?

Originally Posted by gary haywood

Just a quik question to escher users. on the labels it says to develope a lather/slurry with rubbing stone then slide your razor over and this will give a good durable edge.
I no some of you use water only and some fokes use slurry for finishing.

How many of you have tryed both if so which one gives better edge water or slurry or is there no noticable differance?

Hey Gary, it seems to me that doing a bit of slurry and the diluting method as Bart does on the coticule works well for me on an Escher. I've done it with and without and I like to use slurry. I think it does help things along a bit. However I know some guys who are happy using water only. Like a lot of this stuff, all you can do is try it yourself and see how you like it.

When using natural stones with a rubbing stone (such as an Escher,
Nakayama, or Coticule) I like to start with some slurry and then
finish without. I haven't done extensive experimentation, but the
few times I've tried both the water-only finish seemed a bit smoother.

I don't finish razors with these hones usually though, so my sample size
is much too small. If you do some experimentation of your own, let us
know how it goes!

- Scott

escher and coticule slurry i 'm sure are totaly differant. Coticule slurry carries garnets which cut and also dull at the the same time.Thats why its important to dilut on coti.

With an escher i should imagine the slurry won't dull the edge but polish a little quiker.

I will try when i can get hold of one .

When I first started using Coticules and Eschers, I always used them with a light slurry after the 8K for finishing. I have found over time that my results from a finishing standpoint are always better with water only. I also find the results with the Escher more consistent and better than when using the Coticule. That said, there is nothing wrong with the edges off the Coticule. Actually, I have gone to water only with my Jnats and am very pleased with the results as well.

Have fun,

Lynn

I have honed with and without slurry on my two Eschers, and my conclusion is that if I have properly set the bevel and gotten the razor shaving sharp on a Thuringian or Swaty first, that the results with water alone are as good as with slurry in the final honing on an Escher. I stopped using slurry on the Eschers after coming to that conclusion. Just speaking for myself and from my own experience. You can do substantial edge improvement using slurry, but it takes much longer than with the hones I typically use to set bevels.

Ok guys thank you for your knowledge. next question is how many finishing laps after your final hone say 8k or c oti etc are you doing ? i take it you get a much smoother edge. Do you find you get added keeness, or just smoother edge .

I'm a water only Escher guy probably because I don't have an Escher Slurry stone.
I'm not going to take sandpaper to it either to create one. Escher's are too precious to waste..I feel if your at the point in honing where you can use your Escher, A slurry isn't needed anymore. A wise man once told me, if you need a slurry, You need a lower grit hone....

As Lynn metioned, With the Jnats, I too use water only, and I do have slurry stones for them or nagura....

P.S. Gary, I normally do 10-15 on my Escher and test the edge, same for J-nats, Shapton 16k, etc...By the time your blade is ready for those stones, it should be shaving well, and not need much more, just some added keeness

It gets sharper on the Escher, Gary. I can tell the difference by shaving; without the final Escher laps (I do about 20-30 extremely light laps and check on arm hair) I can shave OK, but after the Escher the hairs feel like they simply crumble away from the edge, not just catching and cutting. the result is a closer, more comfortable shave.

I have both types and at the beginning used a slurry stone with the coticule but now just use water with both. As far as number of passes that would depend on the state of your edge when you start. For me I usually do 30 very light passes and test with arm or legg hair shaving. I usually wind up around 60 in the end.