Thread: Wood Box Escher with blue label

Are the wooden boxes different from different makers / resellers?
Could an unmarked box be used to ID a stone?

I have one of those small, boxed E&Co stones. I'm sure it's a great stone in its own right, but I never really got used to using such a small stone. The biggest issue for me was it being glued into the box, so I put mine in the oven on about 200 degrees for 10 minutes which was just enough time for the glue to release enough to allow me to pop the stone out. That made it easier to use, but the feedback wasn't great since the stone was so small. I eventually found a good deal on a larger dark blue E&Co stone, and I now just use the smaller one as a slurry stone.

As for color, mine is very dark blue. In fact, it's a lot darker blue than my larger E&Co (which is labeled as being dark blue). I'll take a pic of them side-by-side at lunch today and post so you can compare once you receive yours.

Originally Posted by Lemur

Are the wooden boxes different from different makers / resellers?
Could an unmarked box be used to ID a stone?

Yeah, that would be great if we could identify the unlabeled stones this way. Great idea! I have not yet compared the single boxes. There are indeed some distinguishing parts like the locking device of the boxes, the wood itself or the way it is assembled, thickness of walls, etc.

I have read in the literature that some companies produced the boxes by themselfs. But of course also boxes were produced by local cabinet makers in the thuringian area, especially Sonneberg and Steinach for different companies.

So I think this would be really difficult to distinguish. But maybe there is a special identifying feature for a company. I will have a look on this in the future!

Thanks for the idea.

Originally Posted by Lemur

Are the wooden boxes different from different makers / resellers?
Could an unmarked box be used to ID a stone?

From the pictures I have seen they all look really similar

Originally Posted by hatzicho

There are indeed some distinguishing parts like the locking device of the boxes, the wood itself or the way it is assembled, thickness of walls, etc.

I have read in the literature that some companies produced the boxes by themselfs. But of course also boxes were produced by local cabinet makers in the thuringian area, especially Sonneberg and Steinach for different companies.

I think that may be the case more often than not, that they were made by similar sources.

I know only one specific hone which had it's own purpose made boxes and that is TOS. Those who have one of those hones in their boxes could find that the box itself (named as Mauchlinware or something like that) significantly increases cost of the hone.

Escher's are probably my favorite finishing hone, the edge it imparts is smooth and sharp. Here's a pic of two examples of boxed Eschers. One with dk blue, like yours with the grail with E&Co in it, and one with the proper Escher label. I believe it's a Y/G. The dk blue is 5x1, and the other is 6x1 1/4. I got both from Germany...

The box is nice for traveling or even shipping. It offers protection, where most Escher have none. I have several and I'm very careful everytime I handle one. Of course, with a smaller hone, you'd need to do more laps. They're great for touching up an already sharp blade, much like a barber hone. The 5x1 travels well, and fits in any carry on luggage.

All Eschers are Thuringian hones, and were sold by different vendors, like Droescher for example. Here's a pic of a Droescher and my Escher Barber's choice.
The B.Choice is 6x2, and the Droescher is 5x2.5 The B.D has all the labels, and both have complete boxes.

Enjoy

Well it came in. It is currently under repair. Nothing big just the wood around the hinge broke. Dab of wood glue and it should be as good as new. Can't wait to try it out! Pics soon to come.

Here are the pictures. Also I am figuring out tap a talk at the same time.

Damn I was gonna go for that one but when I'd decided to buy it it was already gone heheh. well I ended up scoring a Thuringian for a nice 40 bucks or so so I guess we both are happy now ey =]

let us know how you go in using it. It's gonna be my first attempt at honing on a thuringian stone when mine arrives, I hope their not too difficult to use being so thin and stuff

This are my vintage turi's 1X5. At first it was awkward to hone on it. After many many tries, I got them to work consistently well now. One bad stroke and it can send a razor back to the 4k. Perfect practice makes perfection. I don't think I'm close but that's the goal! All three, the dark blue, grey and light grey ( yellow green slury) all give a good edge after the 8k. If I had to pick one, the light green would have to be it. Enjoy! When a razor hits on the turi, it's hard to beat the smoothness! Double O