Thread: Y/G Escher is as fine as...

... fill in the blank.

I got a heavily used big 9x2 y/g escher (escher as in with label, not a green unmarked thuri) yesterday. I paid half a mint for it (it's half used up, seems fair. Some barber somewhere liked it a lot, it wasn't abused, just well used).

I followed a two coticule routine with it last night, and it's a very smooth stone to use, but I have to be honest, I'm not that impressed with the edge it makes.

What am I missing? I have a couple of japanese hones that are much finer, including a much less expensive little barber hone that I got from Alex Gilmore.

The escher self slurries, so I can't really get around that. Even with the lightest pressure, it still will make just a bit of slurry, and I've always liked to run a stone on clear water and bring an edge to a nice polish.

So far, I'd say it seems to be just a touch finer than the purple welsh slate, but I had high expectations. It's a pretty quick stone for a fine stone, but I think I was exposed to too many things before I got it, and that set the expectations too high. My spyderco hasn't been lapped for eons, and the escher cannot come remotely close to what the spyderco does.

Should I be thinking something else? I'd normally say that I need to just use the stone a while and figure it out, but this stone will not run on clear water even with the lightest pressure, and the only way I'm going to get this stone to go much finer is to cut the water off and let it glaze some. Should I do that? It's a fast enough cutter that I think that'll work. Someone liked it enough to use half of it up.

-Down and out (of $400) and not in beverly hills.