Thread: ID of old barber hone

Hello.
Could anyone please help me ID this old stone, I got from my late Grandfather? I think the stone is at least 70 years old. I also think the stone is a barber hone. It look like a slate and is almost black, with deep layers of black in the stone.
When the stone is dry, its grey, bur when its wet it becomes blue/black. The slurry produced by the stone is almost like rubber, and it polls the blade to the surface.
The grid is about 9k, but I need further testing to be sure.
My grandfather lived in Denmark, all his life so the stone could be from Europe. My guess is a german stone, perhaps a Escher stone?
My grandfather died years ago and the stone was hiding in my uncle’s garage. There were another stone as well, a yellow/blue coticule combined. A great stone fore honing!
Does anybody have any ideas for the ID of the stone?

Thanks
Kristian

Welcome to SRP. Could you tell me what the dimensions are ? Eschers more often than not came in a few specific sizes. It does look like a Thuringan and I had a Hohenzollern that was blue gray dry that turned black when wet. Hohenzollern cut their stones larger , at least the three I've had were larger.

Also, we love photos of hones. If you have a chance can you post a photo of your grandfather's coticule ?

The dimensions are 5x18x1,6 cm

And here is some pictures of the Coticule

Originally Posted by Kristian

The dimensions are 5x18x1,6 cm

And here is some pictures of the Coticule

Thanks for the pix. That is a very interesting looking coticule. I do have an Escher that is the same size as yours. That doesn't mean that yours is an escher of course but it doesn't rule it out either. Whatever it is, if it is a good razor hone that is all that matters.

Yes I think its a good finishing stone. Do you think its similar to the Escher, or does it look more like the Hohenzollern? The Coticule is really a great stone. The shape does honing a little tricky, but I think it just a matter of practice. The yellow layer, has been worn off in one end, but i find that the slurry from both the yellow and blue, makes it more easy to control the honing process. I have only honed one razor, and old thiers issard 42 razor, I have been restoring.

Its a very nice blade.