MST Müller Water Hone - is it thuringian?

Hi All,
I have just come across the above stone and was wondering if anyone had any experience with it.
The blurb states;
Ultra-fine natural blue water hone in high quality for the final hone of straight razors, scalpels, knives, edge tools, butcher knives.

Meanwhile, from nearby in the same Thuringian quarry as the Original Escher Stone comes a new supply of black to grey-blue colored raw material.Like the Original Escher Hone, the new MST Müller material is composed of pure powder-like quartz, embedded in chalk. The extraordinary fineness and hardness of these stones are not met by any other natural stone — 8,000 to 10,000 grit.
stone is supplied with a ‘slurry stone’
lapped on one surface
200 x 75 x 18 mm
approx. 8 x 3 x 5/8 in

Would it be a good finisher?
Any comments/opinions would be welcome.
Geoff

This stone has been discussed many many times
it is not the same as the vintage Thuringians.

Here's a thread: http://straightrazorpalace.com/hone-...huringian.html

The difference is in quality control. The companies that made Thuringian hones famous had much tighter standards for the stones they'd put their labels on. The modern ones are hit and miss. I have a used one that came to me with two good references. It is a good finisher, slightly finer than my Naniwa12k. But as always, these are natural products and are not all alike. The C12ks, or PHIGs, are not all 12k. Not all Charnleys are great finishers. Not all coticules are great hones.

I'd recommend getting a Naniwa12k before you start experimenting with naturals. It does fast work after you're done with your 8k, and gives you a good baseline for comparing other hones' performance. You may find a natural whose scratch pattern is rougher than from your 12k, but it gives a smoother/gentler shave. That's a keeper. You may also find a natural that gives a finer polish than your 12k, but also gives a harsher shave. Hmm. Maybe on a harder steel blade it'll be nicer. You may find one that makes no detectable difference. Send that one back if you can.

That's how I'm approaching hones now, for what it's worth.

Best wishes to you.

I just received one about 30 minutes ago, i will let you know how it hones.

for $50 it looks like a nice stone though...

@ Havachat45 - it is the exact hone your looking at

I have just lapped it and honed a razor on it...

OK, well, If you can get one for $50 i would say its a good stone but i wouldn't pay much more then that...

Compared to my old thuringian it has the same color slurry and the slurry has the same soft feel to it but i would say these are closer to to 8K and not close to 10k at all

It seems to have a lot more crystal in it then my old one, the actual stone is lighter in color and sparkles. my old thuringian is more black, the new stone looks more like graphite.

Its a soft stone and was not hard to lap at all, much the same as my old thuringian.

It doesn't have the same velvety feel when honing as my old thuringian and the stone just isn't as nice to hone on.. my bevel has a lot of scratch marks on it after honing on the new stone.

So, would i get one again.... Maybe for $50 or less but i wouldn't pay more then that. I would just get a C12k.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mainaman

This stone has been discussed many many times
it is not the same as the vintage Thuringians.

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I did a search and only found threads from a few years ago.
Thanks for the info anyway, I appreciate it

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...ling-site.html
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...ural-hone.html

Below is the new thuringian next to my old thuringian - you can see the shine it has compared to it, almost like metallic paint.

Attachment 79101

New thuringian \ Old thuringian
Attachment 79104Attachment 79103
Both photos were taken at the same time so they have the same lighting and same flash. There is no color correction or any alteration in color\tone\brightness

After playing with it some more, i wouldn't get one again. They really shouldn't be called a thuringian because they are nothing like the old thuringian stones

I've seen them advertised for sale as iro 8k grit
Might get one as they're not too pricey, see what it's like.

I guess there are no quality issues anyone has found? Just the increased coarseness vs vintage?

The overall quality of mine is not bad, mine has some small grey/brown pitting in it but it wont effect the honing.

I own one of these, I took a bite on it when it first came out...

It's not as fine as a vintage Thuringian stone and I really doubt it's even one...I would say it's about 5K-6K..but that's just mine?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Disburden

I own one of these, I took a bite on it when it first came out...

It's not as fine as a vintage Thuringian stone and I really doubt it's even one...I would say it's about 5K-6K..but that's just mine?

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I would say mine is 6-8k. I don't think it would be lower then 6k but not above 8k either

I could shave off mine but it wouldn't be a smooth shave.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by roughkype

The difference is in quality control. The companies that made Thuringian hones famous had much tighter standards for the stones they'd put their labels on. The modern ones are hit and miss.

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Actually to add something to this statements its additionally a topic of geological origin, the stones made from MST do come from a different quarry then the vintage thuringian stones....