Originally Posted by
DaveW
The black trans wouldn't happen to be one of the black trans stones from natural whestone would it? As someone with a super sensitive face, I've been impressed with just how much improvement an ark honed edge will take in sharpness, but they will razorburn me a lot easier than this escher edge would.
I bought one of the black trans stones from natural whetstone, and figured that it would be like a piece of coal with some translucence (anyone who has ever seen the shiny side of coal knows what I'm talking about), but it's a bizzarre combination of aggressive cutting, tiny pores (more like a black stone) and super density (like a translucent stone). I haven't used it enough on razors to come up with a final opinion about it, and put it in the classifieds to offset the escher purchase (that reminds me, I can go take it out of the classifieds now.
At any rate, were I to keep the escher stone, or if the buyer finds it unsatisfactory and I take it back, that's what I'd do with it, too. It makes a remarkably soft edge.