Thread: Where to find Thuringians and Eschers hones?

I have been looking around for some Thuringians and Eschers whetstones, but I can’t seem to find any. Does anybody know if they still sell these stones.

I was looking at these but I’m just not sure if they are the real McCoy’s.


Thanks SRP

Those from timbertools are not the same quality as the vintage ones.
Your chances for finding quality Escher/Thuringian are classifieds, e-bay , antique malls/estate sales/antique auctions etc.

If you are going on e-bay be ready to shell out big bucks especially for Escher labeled stones.

Neil Miller has a few for sale Vintage Hone Stones & Abrasives for Sale

His prices are fair in my opinion, and he is a pleasure to do business with.

Yep, eBay is worth keeping an eye on but I do agree about the prices. They can get pretty steep as they are popular stones, especially if they have labels in good nick.

They do occasionally come up in the classifieds but they tend to go fast for the same reason; Popularity!

If you can get one they are worth it IMO. They leave a lovely edge on a blade either with or without slurry.

Antique shops and estate sales. Many are wising up to what some will pay for razors now, but the stones are still plentiful on the cheap. I can't tell you how many times I've heard about Eschers and coti's being snatched up at antique shops for $10 and under.

Or go to ebay, but get ready to drain your bank account.

There is a boxed thurry on the badger and blade site for $75. If you are a member there you could purchase it. It may be pricey and a bit of a wait until you find what you want. I dropped almost 1k for two eschers and a charnley forest. I'm very impatient and impulsive. If you are patient a look around you may find what you are looking for at a reasonable price.

Great stones imo. I keep one out as a touch up hone on my counter by my razors. I can't speak intelligently about timber tools stones. I did buy one of his Escher slurry stones, and it worked out great...but it's just a slurry. It's Y/G in color...If I remember correctly, All Escher's are Thuringians...All Thuringians are not Escher...Escher was a name brand. So, I don't understand how Timber Tools can claim he has "Escher". The company doesn't exist anymore...

Ebay, The Classifieds, and if your lucky, you may find one of the 10.00 Antique store or Flea market or Estate sale stones. It does happen....

An Escher is definitely worth having imo. Probably my favorite finisher. Happy Hunting.....

You can visit them on the antique market in Germany for 10 €. just about 5-6 units in the year.

You'll see them more often on Ebay and wet shaving classifieds, but you will pay the price for them. A Rarer solution is to search antique shops and Estate sales, you can find them cheap, but it's RARE to get them that way...

I have yet to find a good hone at an Estate Sale or Antique shop...razors and strops, yes....ESchers, coticules or Thuringians, nope.

As far as I'm aware those on Timbertools are imported from Germany, mined in the Thüringer area, and I've heard that they are good finishers. They are, effectively, the only source for 'new' Thüringian hones. However, as mentioned here, Escher was a company name. Marketing them as Eschers is either ignorant or deceitful.

Being natural stones and all that, I don't quite understand why these get disqualified as easily as they seem to and are deemed inferior to 'vintage' Thüringer stones, which are from the same area, same type of slate and probably formed around the same time. Not to mention that, if there is a variation between thüringer hones, the vintage ones wouldn't be uniform either.

It might even be possible that these MST thüringians are from the same mine/rock as some 'vintage' ones.