Thread: Frankonian

LOL - well isn't this is just like me - I ask a question, confuse myself even more, and will then ultimately choose to do nothing lol. You know... for a month or two anyway : ).

I have Naniwa 10K, a Chinese 12K, and a couple of Coti's I use as finishers - before the Dovo pastes anyway (I can't figure out my Ark). You know - I don't "need" another, it's a sickness is all lol. I just like rubbing my blades over rock. : )

There will be no big difference. With a couple of coticules and a C12k, no matter the stone you buy, after stropping, you will get the same results. That's my opinion anyway. There are no definitive answers on those questions. Especially for naturals. You can't be sure what you bought or what it is until you try it.

I own a Frankonian stone.

It is a very very hard stone. I have found that if I take a shave ready straight and do 30-50 laps with slurry,then dilute down to water I get a nice sharp and smooth edge.

Been a few years but the way I recall it .... Olivia's brother found some hones over there and she dubbed them "Frankonian." She reached out to me and asked if I would assess the quality of one of them. She sent it to me and I did. I found it to be something like an 8K IIRC. I think I sent the one I got to both Sham and Lynn and if I'm remembering this correctly, they drew the same conclusion I did on that particular hone. So that one certainly wasn't comparable to an Escher. Shortly after that she began marketing them and I guess they improved in quality?

Originally Posted by Vasilis

There will be no big difference. With a couple of coticules and a C12k, no matter the stone you buy, after stropping, you will get the same results. That's my opinion anyway. There are no definitive answers on those questions. Especially for naturals. You can't be sure what you bought or what it is until you try it.

FWIW...I agree with Vasilis. More often than not the proof is in the person doing the honing, not in the stone! I just picked up a natural for a song ( http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...s-origins.html ) ...I have no idea what it is. But after using it from start to finish with a series of slurry stones, I find that it puts as fine an edge on a razor as any stone in my arsenal. At least my face can't tell a difference...

Wouldn't it be easier to just contact Olivia and ask her about the Frankonians she has for sale? If she fails to respond don't buy and if she does you can see if she has a stone to your liking. I assume she should be able to tell whether a stone is a pre-finisher/finisher/fine finisher considering her hone collection and honing experience.

I've only seen them in pics.

Originally Posted by Piet

Wouldn't it be easier to just contact Olivia and ask her about the Frankonians she has for sale? If she fails to respond don't buy and if she does you can see if she has a stone to your liking. I assume she should be able to tell whether a stone is a pre-finisher/finisher/fine finisher considering her hone collection and honing experience.

I've only seen them in pics.

Well that's an idea - a rather good one. Thanks.

Judging from what I have read about these stones, there is a big variation among them. Looking at the description, she puts it around 16k in grit, and there isn't any mentioning about variability, I think for a good reason. For about 150$, it is a very expensive gamble, so I wouldn't buy one. If you wan't some new hones, buy a few C12k stones, they vary too, but they are much cheaper, and bigger too. If you want a Frankonian, and you have the money to spare, than buy one, maybe you will get lucky, just don't think that it will make too much of a difference to your existing stones, if any.

the franke between Escher and Shapton ... very, very hard. no slurry. really like a Charnley. purchase rather have a ozuku and put $ 100 on it.

here is a threath with testing from the German Forum. Is is a best stone....but you must going from 1000-3000-5000-8000-10000-Naniwa and escher and Prefinish Franke......It is a interess Honing.....a Ozuku a level 5 + + + costs more