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

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

What attracted me to eschers to begin with, besides reading about them on the forums, was that they were labeled as being specifically for razors.

I think Jimmy and Sham attracted me to Eschers.

I'd have to say I put more time in on my Escher's than any other finisher, maybe that's why I prefer the edges I get off them. They are silky smooth. It's hard to remember when I first shaved off one, but I'm sure it took some tweaking, I doubt I got it out of the box as they say.

I think Escher has a place in everyone's honing arsenal, like Coticule. Those are two stones that imo, are a right of passage. I also like the Nostalgic aspect of Escher, which is part of the reason I got into this hobby. These old time stones, with the old labels on them are cool, collectable and still functional. I bet E&Co never imagined that people would be paying big bucks for them today.

I've been thinking, how did they get past a razor sharp? but it is simple.....a coticule and a Escher. and this razor is shap. many still do today. Two hundred years...

Originally Posted by zib

I think Jimmy and Sham attracted me to Eschers.

Yup, those two have influenced quite a few, me included

Originally Posted by strawinski

I've been thinking, how did they get past a razor sharp? but it is simple.....a coticule and a Escher. and this razor is shap. many still do today. Two hundred years...

The question actually has a different answer and gets very confusing to us now..

First off "They" didn't get the razor sharp, is was sharp when they bought it, many companies relied on their reputation of having a smooth shaving edge from the box...
Most Barber's and everyday men simply "Maintained the edge of the razor, and as we have re-learned today this can be done quite easily with any of those Stones and Hones.. There are many on this forum that have razors that have been shaving smoothly for years that are Maintained with one stone or a Barber's hone..

There is also a lost profession from the old days called a Cutler, who everyone turned to, for actual "Sharpening" they were the ones that fixed blades, much like we have what we call "Honemiesters" now...

We buy blades today that are in terrible shape, and make them back into shavers, that wasn't the case when straight razors were popular, heck it wasn't even the case on this forum 5 years ago.. There were plenty of NOS razors that simply required a quick touch up to be shave ready available on e-Bay for low money..
Now we are basically scrapping the bottom of the supply barrel and it requires way more work to find razors of that Straight..

Straight razor shaving today has changed quite a bit from the past...

Great posts and very good reading from a lot of guys that really know their stuff.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Rich,
notice I said super fine pastes, such as the 0.125 CBN and I believe may be even lower. I have nothing against 0.5 diamond spray I like the edges off it, but I do not get improvement after my finisher anymore. What I mean by crutches is of one has to go down to 0.1 or 0.05 CBN to get the edge, it just means the razor has to be worked more on the 8k lvl and up, assuming the bevel had been set correctly.

I am curious about your feeling about your fine pastes perspective. I am by no means questioning your statement I am just wondering about the context. I like the edges that I get off my finisher but what I find is that using a light CBN slurry as a final step gives me just the right balance of aggressiveness and smoothness that I really like. It is an almost imperceptible change in the edge.


Just wondering.


Thanks,
Richard

Originally Posted by riooso

I like the edges that I get off my finisher but what I find is that using a light CBN slurry as a final step gives me just the right balance of aggressiveness and smoothness that I really like. It is an almost imperceptible change in the edge.

IMHO "that I really like" is the key to the question. I don't think I would like your favored edge, nor would you like mine. The cool thing is that once we have the tools and most of all, the expertise, we can dial in our edges to suit ourselves. Pastes, powders, compounds, this hone, that hone or stropping system ..... whatever works is fine.

Originally Posted by myersn024

Yes, I purchased it from Natural Whetstones and have been extremely happy with it...... once I got it lapped flat. Talk about a PITA! I wasn't sure what to expect when I purchased it as I had never seen or heard of a translucent black Arkansas stone. What I received appears to be a translucent stone that's gray in color with darker gray splotches throughout; it's definitely one of the most unique looking stones I've ever seen, much less owned. It's edges are very very keen, and while they do mellow quickly enough, they benefit greatly from several passes on my E&Co. I touched up one of my favorite razors earlier this week, and after about ten laps on the 8k I used the trans black Arkie for about 100 passes. Then I did 20 x strokes on my E&Co, and the shave was the best I've had in a while. I'm very happy with my purchases thus far.

FWIW, I did find that despite being a slow cutter that the surface of my trans black glazed over quite quickly and the edges I was getting from it weren't as good as I remembered them being. So, I recently took my credit card sized DMT 1200 and de-glazed the surface, and it made a world of difference in the stone's performance. You definitely want to keep the surface from getting clogged. Also, I only use Smith's honing solution with my stone. I haven't tried actual oil, but given the edges that I'm getting I have no real reason to mess with success.

Here's a pic of my trans black.
Attachment 105136

Can you shine a light through it? I have some thinner black translucent slip stones that the light shines through and causes the stone to "glow". That one looks so thick it would be hard for light to pass from one side to the other, would be cool if it does.. looks like a nice stone..

Now we are basically scrapping the bottom of the supply barrel and it requires way more work to find razors

Sure wish I'd have realized I was late to the party before I bought all this restoration gear. It's funny, because the quality of the beginning product is way lower than what it used to be, while the expectations for the finished product have increased tenfold or more. It's an interesting little fishbowl here in the razor community. All these little fish trying to fit in the same bowl, and some of us just can't seem to make it over the lip. I feel like a trout at Niagara! haha! Sorry I'm totally off topic!

Razors have taken the same twisting and turning as tools have. Ebay has pretty much totaled the ability of a lot of antique dealers to buy tools at swap meets and then clean them up a little bit and sell them to end users. There used to be people who reconditioned hand planes and sold them, because you could find the planes themselves for a few bucks and a lot of users would be willing to pay $50+ for something that was restored by a guy in a garage with some initiative.

Now, a dirty "as found" user will be marked for sale either at $25-50 or sometimes (often) a moon surface price that nobody would pay, because everyone is aware that someone will pay for tools. Most of what I see when I go to flea markets is junky tools made for "gentlemen" woodworkers, and priced like the better grades of tools, and with the market as organized as it has become, if you want to get anything better, you'd better be at the flea market before people even start to set up because the guys who go to the flea to resell will often know regular flea marketers well enough to take good stuff off their hands before it ever gets on the table.

A couple of years ago when I stated shaving, I thought it was odd back then how you could just get a $10 razor, hone and do a light cleanup and sell it for $40. There are still deals to be had from time to time (as a user), but it's not like you can just go out and do it in volume and make it worth your time if you already have a job that pays well.

What also strikes me, and I'm not trying to offend anyone by this, is how antique razors can be buffed and puffed into a big rounded glom of shininess, completely removing crisp lines and patina, and people will pay a lot extra for them. In the world of most antiques, such a move completely ruins any value to all but the most inexperienced buyer. Things are original once, and after they're changed, never again.

Anyway, you can still go to fleas and find straights from time to time, but getting good very clean ones on ebay for $10 on a regular basis..good luck.

Originally Posted by DaveW

Razors have taken the same twisting and turning as tools have. Ebay has pretty much totaled the ability of a lot of antique dealers to buy tools at swap meets and then clean them up a little bit and sell them to end users. There used to be people who reconditioned hand planes and sold them, because you could find the planes themselves for a few bucks and a lot of users would be willing to pay $50+ for something that was restored by a guy in a garage with some initiative.

Now, a dirty "as found" user will be marked for sale either at $25-50 or sometimes (often) a moon surface price that nobody would pay, because everyone is aware that someone will pay for tools. Most of what I see when I go to flea markets is junky tools made for "gentlemen" woodworkers, and priced like the better grades of tools, and with the market as organized as it has become, if you want to get anything better, you'd better be at the flea market before people even start to set up because the guys who go to the flea to resell will often know regular flea marketers well enough to take good stuff off their hands before it ever gets on the table.

A couple of years ago when I stated shaving, I thought it was odd back then how you could just get a $10 razor, hone and do a light cleanup and sell it for $40. There are still deals to be had from time to time (as a user), but it's not like you can just go out and do it in volume and make it worth your time if you already have a job that pays well.

What also strikes me, and I'm not trying to offend anyone by this, is how antique razors can be buffed and puffed into a big rounded glom of shininess, completely removing crisp lines and patina, and people will pay a lot extra for them. In the world of most antiques, such a move completely ruins any value to all but the most inexperienced buyer. Things are original once, and after they're changed, never again.

Anyway, you can still go to fleas and find straights from time to time, but getting good very clean ones on ebay for $10 on a regular basis..good luck.

Just for the sake of conversation i just did a search of completed listing under 10 dollars, and i must say i was quite shocked with the results, many familiar names, even a couple stub-tails! quite a few that i would definately love to own!