Thread: Blue/grey Escher

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about blue/grey eschers. I haven't been able to dig up much on them. I understand that, generally, the yellow/greens cut faster than the dark blues, with the resulting edge being similar. Where does the blue/grey escher fall into this progression? Thank you for any help you might be able to provide!

I don't know anything about them other than a price schedule I saw the other day. Y/G was twice as expensive as B/G and gray or dark blue (whatever they called it) was a good bit cheaper than B/G yet.

There was probably a pretty good reason for that, because in the days when those were sold originally, people and small businesses weren't flush with cash, and would've been pretty careful about spending what equated to a full day's wage or more for the difference in price between the two for large samples and close to a day's wage for a smaller one.

I'd want any stone that was not in the regular discussion for razor users to have a good bold label so that it had some collector value if it didn't turn out to work well.

(that's presuming you'd buy it over the internet. If you can try it in person, you certainly know right away how good it is).

by classification there is no such thing as blue/gray escher
IIRC they are classified as
dark blue
blue green
light green
yellow green

AFAIK they all finish about the same, may be speed is different.

Having had experience with all of the four colors mentioned I would agree with mainaman that they are all good. Some are faster cutters. Still all finishers. The y/g and the light green had the rep for being the fastest. A few years ago, when I began messing with them, I asked Lynn and razor/knife maker Tim Zowada which they preferred and they liked the blue/green best. Lynn said there were 'subtle nuances' and Tim , AFAIK, only finishes with Eschers.

I have had more than one example of the various colors come and go. I had a really great dark blue. It was slow but sooo fine. Then I had one that was a bit coarser and just not as good as the other. Blue/green have all been good as have the yellow/green I've had. I've only had one light green and it was very good .... faster than all of the others and plenty fine. I've seen a couple of yellow/green that had another end label on the other end, that said "guaranteed soft."

So I guess the softer stones are faster ? I had to learn to get the razor to a shave ready condition before I went to whichever Escher .... or whatever finisher ..... for best results. Going to it too early would lead to frustration in that it became a long slog. In skilled hands I think any of them are very good to super good. That is if you like the edge they give you.

Yes you won't find Eschers labeled as such, however there are grey and blue/grey Eschers. I have a large grey Escher which is fine but not quite as fine nor as fast as my Lightgreen and 2 Yellowgreens. Of course any other grey Escher may give a different result

Originally Posted by Piet

Yes you won't find Eschers labeled as such, however there are grey and blue/grey Eschers. I have a large grey Escher which is fine but not quite as fine nor as fast as my Lightgreen and 2 Yellowgreens. Of course any other grey Escher may give a different result

One of the reasons I stuck with getting labeled stones ..... in the beginning only stones with both end and back labels .... was because they are all gray. The nuanced shades of gray have to be learned to begin to tell them apart. The exception being the dark blue. Those are easy to spot. The y/g and the light green are also easy to discern from the blue/green ... for the experienced eye. The y/g has a nuanced hue. It is not like looking at a yellow coticule or a norton 8k.

Speaking about stones that have been cleaned so that you're not looking at them through decades of patina. I have a labeled blue/green that has a similar yellow hue ... to a y/g ... but only when wet. Here is the edge of a barber's delight end labeled gelb-gruhn (yellow/green) that is a natural combo. You can see the blue/green on the back label side clearly.

My go to Escher is a Blue Green I got off Lynn some time ago. I have all the colors, all with complete labels. Some I have more than one example, including the Barber's Choice. I like the Y/G, and Light Green. I think they are faster, but I prefer the edges I get off my B/G. It may just be because I've been using it so long, I've become accustomed to it. As they say, Some things are worth waiting for....The B/G may be a bit slower? YMMV, but your patience is rewarded.....

Thank you guys for all the information! I have a y/g escher that I love, and have used others, but I don't have the eye to differentiate between the colors. May be a rods and cones thing, but when the colors are so close, I have trouble telling them apart. The one I saw that is greyish in apperance may be a variation of the blue/green, but like I said, I haven't the eye for it. With the exception of one, all the Eschers I have used have given a similar edge, but like many of you have said time and again, the speed varied. Anyhow, thanks again for all the input.

Originally Posted by zib

My go to Escher is a Blue Green I got off Lynn some time ago. I have all the colors, all with complete labels. Some I have more than one example, including the Barber's Choice. I like the Y/G, and Light Green. I think they are faster, but I prefer the edges I get off my B/G. It may just be because I've been using it so long, I've become accustomed to it. As they say, Some things are worth waiting for....The B/G may be a bit slower? YMMV, but your patience is rewarded.....

+1....I agree! IMHO...My B/G 'Barbers Gem' or my B/G 'Rochester' are the best of my bunch. They're always my 'go to Eschers'...I like the size of these stones as well.