Hi everyone,
Does anyone know if there are any more active thuringian quarries these days that provide hones? Just found out the region is close to my in-laws and might make a nice trip/quest on the next visit to the family.
Thanks,
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Hi everyone,
Does anyone know if there are any more active thuringian quarries these days that provide hones? Just found out the region is close to my in-laws and might make a nice trip/quest on the next visit to the family.
Thanks,
IIRC there are no mines that produce the quality of vintage Thuringian/Escher.
Six or seven years back Muller Thuringans were distributed through Tony Miller. I had one and it wasn't bad. Russell Baldridge did a review of one that was quite good. They were 6x2 in a card stock box with a slurry stone @ about $50-60 USD.
Trouble was that while many were good, many had hard inclusions making them unusable for razors, and Tony discontinued distributing them. Whether Muller is still a viable enterprise is unknown to me.
If you send a PM to Peter ( hatzicho ) he could probably tell you who, what and where. He is over there and is quite knowledgeable as to the genre. :gl:
AFAIK no producing quarries. Thuringian hones were a byproduct of slate quarries in the Sonneberg area in Thuringen.
There is a rockhound in Germany that finds quality hones from time to time. When you see them in the classifieds you should grab one. You could PM him too http://straightrazorpalace.com/members/hatzicho.html
Thanks for the replies. Is it naive for me to think that I might have a better chance of stumbling on a vintage Thuringian hone in visiting Sonneberg than I would in the states or were these stones well dispersed all over the world many years ago?
They were but you never know what you're going to find if you look. An old buddy of mine used to say "If you don't shake the tree, you don't get any fruit." :)Quote:
Originally Posted by trifle
I would think it very likely that a higher than average number of households in the area would have locally mined hones.
That's what Sir Isaac Newton used to say.Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyHAD
Well that's what I did maybe 5 years ago.:gl:Quote:
Originally Posted by trifle
I went in every shop in Sonneberg and the small towns around, knocked on a lot of doors and took out adds on the local newspapers. And I think a lot of other german and also some european thuringian lovers did that too. So you must be very lucky to find a door where nobody has asked. But it is possible of course and always some new-old "stocks" were found by childs or grandchilds or estate sale companies.
The last thuringian whetstone maker stopped mining in 1966. Since that time the old quarries were left open and up to today nature has retrieved the old places.
Flea markets and antique shops here are probably more likely to yield you a stone. Not that you couldn't find one in europe, but how much time do you have to look while you're there?Quote:
Originally Posted by trifle
I have never found one in the wild, but I've never looked, either. Several woodworker acquaintances of mine who frequent flea markets (to get really anything they can think of at dirt cheap) have a bunch of coticules and some thuringians. Someone posted on one of the woodworking boards a "what's this?" post a couple of years ago, turning up a huge escher that was about 10 inches long in a tool box that probably cost a few dollars.
My experience at flea markets is that you can't go looking for anything, you go assuming that if you find something too cheap to resist then you'll take it. If you go looking for something, you look around and don't find it and it seems like wasted time.
if you really want a thuringian, I would buy an escher, and if you can't stomach whatever they cost, buy one that's a bit thin or something and swallow the $200 that it will cost to get a thin one stuck to a paddle or something.
I have bought Thüringen’s in the wild for a couple of dollars, and even some labeled Escher’s.
There are a lot of Escher’s out there without labels, these stones back in the day were not that expensive and for many were just, another sharpening stones. I have found them in tool boxes and barber cases.
You can buy a nice unlabeled Thüringen’s for under a hundred dollars in classifieds and on eBay occasionally. Most perform as nice as labeled Escher’s. Labeled Escher’s are usually larger size and a bit easier for honing razors.
Really if you want a labeled Escher, bite the bullet and buy one now, prices are only going up. They do produce nice 8-10k edges, but there are even better edges available.
It was not that long ago that an 8k synthetic edge was considered minimal, now good 12k synthetic stones are readily affordable. 20 and 30K stone are surfacing and while pricy, produce keen, reproducible edges. And then there is film, and nano grit paste, easy, inexpensive and very tailor able.
Lots of options.
I have a friend in the Northwest part of this country who is always finding Eschers, with labels, for like $8.00-$20.00. He has probably gotten a half dozen like that, not to mention coticules and other rarities. He doesn't sell 'em either.
I knew one guy who picked up a 7 1/2X1 3/4 with back, end, and another end label that said 'guaranteed soft', for $8.00 in a junk store in Wisconsin. They really are out there in flea markets, yard sales, craigslist. I've yet to find one like that but I don't really go looking.
Last real Coti I snagged was 75 cents,Garage sale:)