Wood Box Escher with blue label

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Image Courtesy of Piet.

I just recently bought this little baby from Piet. I can't wait to take it for a spin. I think I may have my final stone. From what I have been reading Thuris are really good. I am glad I found an Escher at a nice price. I have been spending my time reading up on Escher. The label is blue so I assume it is a Dark Blue Escher. The dimensions are a little small at 5"x1" but I really liked the wood box and I can get used to it. I am just glad I got it for a reasonable price.

Any input would be nice.

Nice stone, it does take a little getting use to use smaller hones, but in the end you just cant go wrong with an Escher!

A very handy size if you have a slightly warped spine. Nice with radical smiling blades too. Enjoy it !

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

A very handy size if you have a slightly warped spine. Nice with radical smiling blades too. Enjoy it !

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I do actually have one with a warped spine.

Nice stone. I actually prefer to hone on smaller sized hones. Seems easier to me.

It's already in the mail so I can't check but I think it's dark grey. I also don't think there's a correlation between the colour of an Escher or Thuringian and the colour of the label. Some of the little Thuringians even have pink labels :D

It is a fine stone so I think you will enjoy it :)

Hey Piet, that looks like the PHIG I sold you last month,,,,,,Whats up ??? :shrug:






;)

You'll love that little hone. I am regretful that I sold mine!! :(

I have one of those little suckers,just forgot where I put it:(

Just want to confirm what Piet already said. There is no correlation between colour of the label and colour of the stone. If Escher stated the colour on the stones they always did it with a special label at the end of the stones. You can find a lot of examples for this here at SRP. Normally there is no information about colour on the main label.

The only Thuringian company that -according to my present knowledge- stated the coulor of the stones as a quality sign directly on the main label, was C.F. Luthardt. Here is one example for a "blue" stated quality:

Attachment 125041

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.

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Originally Posted by Lemur

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

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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.

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Originally Posted by Lemur

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

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From the pictures I have seen they all look really similar

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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.

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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

Attachment 126544
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

im gonna have to get my hands on one of these stones as soon as i get out of this coticule kick im on .. :)

I find that honing on a narrow stone really focuses the attention--even more than honing at all. It is a little slower, since you have less steel-hone contact than on a wider hone, but I'm very happy with my 3/4" x 5" natural combo coti. Plays very well with Dovo blades. Pyrateknight, enjoy that nice little Escher. I remember when you were new here, but don't remember if you came in expecting to save money over disposables... like so many of us did.

And now I must go tilt at a windmill.

I tried it out on my Mappin&Webb Celebrated Hollow. I went slow and steady as I was nervous. Had to hone in hand instead of on a table as the lid and the base are not the same dimension. It increased the smoothness of the shave drastically but I am not saying I am good with the stone yet. It will definitely be my finisher after feeling the increase off the coticule and welsh purple. I just need to continue learning the stone. Looks like learning this will be fun.

For what it's worth, I always hone in my hand, even with the big 4/8k. I like the second level of control it
gives to the hone/blade contact. With the little hones I find it even more important.

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Originally Posted by roughkype

For what it's worth, I always hone in my hand, even with the big 4/8k. I like the second level of control it
gives to the hone/blade contact. With the little hones I find it even more important.

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Small hones I always do in hand too.
Big hones usually not but it happens.
Whatever that seems to work best!

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Originally Posted by roughkype

For what it's worth, I always hone in my hand, even with the big 4/8k. I like the second level of control it
gives to the hone/blade contact. With the little hones I find it even more important.

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i have never tried that but i think i may have to and see what happens , i usually sit infront of a portable tray/table so i always just lay everything flat on it ..