Thread: Timber Tools Thuringian

Hello all I know this question has been debated before but I'm still a little lost as to the main consesus regarding new Thuringian hones. I just recently bought one from Timber Tools and it came today. It feels quite smooth similar to my Chinese 12k and is a uniform dark grey/blue. What is the difference between a vintage Thuringian and a new one besides the date it was mined? And out of the new ones I've become confused about their variations. For insance the one's for sale on the UK's Strop Shop and others from Müeller or are they the same? Sorry to rehash this topic but I bought it in hopes of using it as a high grade finishing stone or mainly a good touch up stone. All of my razor were honed by Lynn and I was looking for a really good stone to use for a few laps every now and then. I do have others to choose from including a 10,000 Nawina Superstone a Chinese 12K, and a Coticule. I even have some diamond pastes and a modular paddle strop but because I am not that experienced with honing I still don't understand the whole agruements behind using pastes and their long term effects on bevels. I do have a couple of practice razors that I hone on but I have been very hesitent to touch my nice 3 razors that all shave wonderfully at the moment. So I guess then that I have two questions, first what is the main consensus on the newer Thuringian hones specifically the ones sold from Timber Tools, and second what is an ideal touch up stone or routine to use for small maintainence on my nice razors out of the various stones that I own listed above? I figure I will use my free honing coupons for the next time my razors need to be honed untill I feel more comfortable doing it myself on my expensive ones. But in the meantime what stones do most people like to use for a couple passes to keep their razors ship shape when the strop is not quite cutting it? (opinions very welcome) I know that there are many different routes but I would love some input and info.

Please disregard this post. Somehow I got unsubscribed from my old post and did not see all the great info that people already posted. Thanks for the info and sorry for the double post

Originally Posted by borebrush

......snip....
understand the whole agruements behind using pastes and their long term effects on bevels.
...snip....

A bevel is the result of consistent geometry between the
razor and the hone.

With modern fine pastes on a strop (CeOx, CrOx, Diamond)
0.5micron or less there should not be a problem as long
as reason is applied.

Pastes on something will interact with the steel in a way that
is determined by the surface. CrOx and Diamond can be applied
in a thin layer on glass and the bevel will be maintained just as flat
and even as any well lapped hone. A hardwood or balsa surface
will likewise maintain the same bevel that the hones developed.

Leather or fabric on wood is slightly flexible and will move the
flat bevel to something slightly rounder. It might be hard
to measure this roundness although it might be easy to feel
on the face.

Abrasives on a hanging strop are less precise and will round
the edge a bit more. Results will depend on the strop, strop tension and
hands doing the stropping. Again fine 0.5 micron or finer
abrasives lightly used will do good things. Lightly used....
On a hanging strop, since steel is hard, the rounding will be slow
with ultra fine abrasives as long the pressure is light and tension
on the strop moderate.

My gut feeling is that CeOx (0.25), CrOx (0.5 micron) or 0.25 micron diamond
are fine on a hanging strop and with a light hand will do no harm. Occasional
use of these make a lot of sense for maintaining a shaver. Fabric including
felt will present the grit to the steel lightly making them act finer than
they would on a solid substrate or even in the matrix of a hone.

Diamond in the 1.0 and 2.0 micron plus range are rather abrasive.
Beyond 2.0 diamond paste will leave scratches on the polish left
by a 12K Super Stone in my experience. Abrasives like these need
a solid base to maintain the geometry of the bevel (leather on
wood, balsa on wood) where they will get after the steel.

Those four sided wood/ leather strop things with three grades of diamond
and some CrOx will make short work of refreshing a razor. It would be
easy to over do... but they work well with a light hand (same can
be said for most all hones). They may also tidy up a blade edge
after a barber hone refresh.

Hmmm... a little long winded but I think the answer is that
a hanging strop pasted with 0.5 micron for finer stuff makes
a lot of sense once a week, once a month depending on whatever..
After that I go to my 12K superstone when the razor tugs.

Thank for the reply. What about a .5 diamond on a felt paddle. I have a SRD modular paddle and I was wondering about a few things. I know you can use the diamond on the felt but what is the rough leather best used for. It appears by itself not to be of any real use because if you strop on it you push the grain down in one direction and cut it off in the other. Is this good for a paste. Also I happen to have the green CrOx paste in a bar form to which surface is this best applied? I can understand it if it were in a paste form it seems like it would be easier to apply but in a bar I can only picture a linen strop but how about on a rough leather or felt?

Originally Posted by borebrush

Thank for the reply. What about a .5 diamond on a felt paddle. I have a SRD modular paddle and I was wondering about a few things. I know you can use the diamond on the felt but what is the rough leather best used for. It appears by itself not to be of any real use because if you strop on it you push the grain down in one direction and cut it off in the other. Is this good for a paste. Also I happen to have the green CrOx paste in a bar form to which surface is this best applied? I can understand it if it were in a paste form it seems like it would be easier to apply but in a bar I can only picture a linen strop but how about on a rough leather or felt?

The nice thing about the modular strop is you can do lots of
things.. A surface can be made more abrasive so start
fine and if you want increase the grit.

If you have 0.5 diamond on a felt paddle now use that in moderation.
If you have virgin felt and a choice of 0.25 and 0.5 start with 0.25
and try it.

Rough leather will not stay rough with use. Use small amounts of
abrasive and it gets down in and coats the little fibers of leather,
over time with use the roughness will vanish. The nap of the
leather will be pushed over by the spine presenting a flat surface
and 'fresh abrasive' for the blade edge. You can also lightly dress it with
a non abrasive strop dressing and just strop on it. Again the nap will be
pushed by the leading spine and the edge will see smooth leather...

I have a rough dry leather on oak strop with very fine loose dry
carborundum on it and use it to polish my kitchen knives. It works fine....
and it sure polishes kitchen knives. Over the last fifteen years
the swarf mixed in with the grit has made a very smooth polishing tool.
Being a snob I have not used it on a razor but there is one warped
problem potato chip razor that will see it this week or next. I have
a small barber hone that rides the warped geometry but I need
something to tidy up the burr that develops.

i have modular paddle and it is awsome piece of kit. rough leather use your crayon crox on it not too much . I have used it and it works brill. I have 0.25 and .5 on felt works brill. as there is not much flex it wont roll or rouind the very tip. for touch up you could use 10 laps on cr.ox If you want to use all your paste like me in a progression i do five on each after honing or for touch ups. if you can just to keep the bevel nice you could do a few laps on your finishers , then go to paste. its realy up to your self. i would start with hone my choice would be coticule or escher or 10k naniwa. i found 10k naniwa with just 10 laps then 30 on coticule with water for nice freindly edge works alone . plus 5 laps on each paste .Then strop. if you want a quik touch up just go cr.ox 10 laps or just 10 laps on .5 spray they will all work it just depends on what your face prefers.
You need to experiment with your practice razors. the lynn honed razors will be finished on .5 diamond spray. he normaly does. if you like the edges of those use .5 spray

I just learned alot by reading this thread . thanks kellyw

I want to thank you guys so much for the help I'm going to sum up my main game plan and maybe you can tell me if I'm getting it. On my modular paddle I have two virgin felt pieces with which I'm going to use a .5 & .25 diamond spray on. I have two virgin rough leather pieces and I think you mentioned it would be ok to use the (SRD CrOx bar the green one) on one of the rough leather pieces. Now I also have three leather pieces. One leather piece I use to practice and has some nicks on it so if I were to use any pastes on smooth leather I think I would use that one instead of my unopened ones. I then have another unopened premium leather as well as bridle leather modules. I know I can get crazy at times buying stuff. So my plan is to do a few laps on my Nawina 10,000 and a few on my coticule, then do a progression on my modular strops either a few on the .5 felt then .25 felt or a few on the .5 felt and then a few on the CrOx rough leather instead of the .25 felt. Testing it along the way in order to get a feel. Don't over due anything on the hones or the strops and I should be golden. I can't thank guys gary and nifty enough for the help. I know this thread probably should have been moved to a different area but again Thank You.

if your coticule is not finer than the Naniwa, use it before the Naniwa.

OK will due I need to play a bit. Thank You.