Thread: Hone of the Day

Originally Posted by Steel

Thanks TC. I got it special order from Dan's Whetstone. Their production manager kept an eye out and after a few tries he came across this one. It came flat and has enough real estate to get a bit of a work out while hand honing :-).

I,ll have to keep an eye out for something like that and have a talk with Dans son, I've said it before they got a boulder out there f translucent that I'd really like to have! Thank you I still love your rock. Tc

Spent some time taking an SRD #81 and a bellied-hollow Thistle through the full Super Stone progression and finishing on my blue-green Escher. Shave test coming up this evening with both razors to see how they perform.

Originally Posted by Phrank

Nice...been taking quite a few razors to the Y/G Escher Barber's Delight, getting the feel for it, Peter found me a perfect Barber's Delight two sides slurry stone, arrived from Germany last week.

What's your routine using the Y/G to finish / refresh a razor...would very much appreciate the info.

Thanks

Sorry for the delayed response Phrank, congratulations on your Barber Delight Escher. They were the most select yellow green Thuringian stones mined for Escher Co. The accompanying slurry stone was usually cut from the same base stone. This helped assure consistent performance. A depleted diamond plate also works well to raise a slurry.



Here is the way I was taught. To final finish on a Escher or high quality thuringian the edge needs to be at a maximum level of keenness. A slurry is raised to aid in cutting to speed the process of refining the edge. If water alone is used at the final finish phase it will take much longer to refine the edge (300+ laps).

Once the slurry mud is raised make 50 to 75 - X strokes with the blade. Spray or dab water on the surface to keep the slurry from drying out. Continue to add water to the slurry mud to reduce viscosity. Do another 50 to 75 - X strokes. Finally finish with water alone and do another 30 to 50 laps. To refresh an edge, do 50 laps w/ light slurry.


There are other strokes to use for final finishing. All require practice and patience. The method described is not new and has worked for many years. Many vintage stones found in the "wild" still had the dried slurry on them. There is a reason for this.

Fun fact: Many natural stones have a layering effect present. Pictured below is a stamped Kato Maruka Nakayama Mizu Asagi with a Barbers Delight Escher. Both stones have been tested extensively. It would be interesting to know how natural stones they were graded in the past.
Mike

A question for those who may know.
A found some stones in the wild yesterday, amongst other things.
I thought I had three Coticules, but after cleaning and lapping I'm only positive about two of them now. It acted the same as the others two when lapping, and feels the same to the touch. So my question is, after looking at countless pics of different Coties, what the H@## do I have.!? (Bottom stone)

My other is what I thought. Washita!

And after a lot of looking at some of your guys stones, and a gazillion other pics, plus side by side comparison's of my two Thuri's, I've come to the conclusion that I've found my holy grail of stones, from the wilds. B/G Escher..!!

So what's your thoughts, I greatly appreciate your opinions and help.

Those cleaned up great Mike. Only way I can determine the stone is by strokes and loupe, counting the resulting scratch pattern.
Looks like you have some fun ahead. That last one sure looks like a B/G, but the proof is in the edge..
Good luck buddy. Hope they all fit into your progressions.

Yup, looks like a blue/green to me too. Great finds

Originally Posted by MODINE

Sorry for the delayed response Phrank, congratulations on your Barber Delight Escher. They were the most select yellow green Thuringian stones mined for Escher Co. The accompanying slurry stone was usually cut from the same base stone. This helped assure consistent performance. A depleted diamond plate also works well to raise a slurry.



Here is the way I was taught. To final finish on a Escher or high quality thuringian the edge needs to be at a maximum level of keenness. A slurry is raised to aid in cutting to speed the process of refining the edge. If water alone is used at the final finish phase it will take much longer to refine the edge (300+ laps).

Once the slurry mud is raised make 50 to 75 - X strokes with the blade. Spray or dab water on the surface to keep the slurry from drying out. Continue to add water to the slurry mud to reduce viscosity. Do another 50 to 75 - X strokes. Finally finish with water alone and do another 30 to 50 laps. To refresh an edge, do 50 laps w/ light slurry.


There are other strokes to use for final finishing. All require practice and patience. The method described is not new and has worked for many years. Many vintage stones found in the "wild" still had the dried slurry on them. There is a reason for this.

Fun fact: Many natural stones have a layering effect present. Pictured below is a stamped Kato Maruka Nakayama Mizu Asagi with a Barbers Delight Escher. Both stones have been tested extensively. It would be interesting to know how natural stones they were graded in the past.
Mike

Thank-you very much Mike...just goes to show you....I'm obviously NOT taking my Eschers even close to where I should be taking them.

I was doing maybe 50-60 laps water only after the Nani 12k, never really raised a slurry aside from a few times to try it, and would dilute down to just water usually within 20 laps.

So, going to take a nice Sheffield and follow your advice...300 laps without a slurry, I've never even come close and the edges are still superb....one thing I've read about these stones is that it is very difficult to over hone on them, so I can't wait to see what the results will be using the method you've described.

Mucho appreciated.....

Originally Posted by outback

A question for those who may know.
A found some stones in the wild yesterday, amongst other things.
I thought I had three Coticules, but after cleaning and lapping I'm only positive about two of them now. It acted the same as the others two when lapping, and feels the same to the touch. So my question is, after looking at countless pics of different Coties, what the H@## do I have.!? (Bottom stone)

My other is what I thought. Washita!

And after a lot of looking at some of your guys stones, and a gazillion other pics, plus side by side comparison's of my two Thuri's, I've come to the conclusion that I've found my holy grail of stones, from the wilds. B/G Escher..!!

So what's your thoughts, I greatly appreciate your opinions and help.

JimmyHAD points out one way to narrow down the stone to determine if it's an Escher type stone...what are the actual measurements of the stone...there's a thread (easy search) that basically says Escher's come in certain sizes depending on what type...if your stone fits into that spec, might help narrow down.

Does look like an Escher to me though, looks about the right size to.

Pics are very difficult to colour grade Eschers from my point of view, I look at one of mine, take a pic and the colour is usually much different...they all look grey to me in pics....

At least 300,Phrank.
Its a velvety shave , IMHO.

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Those cleaned up great Mike. Only way I can determine the stone is by strokes and loupe, counting the resulting scratch pattern.
Looks like you have some fun ahead. That last one sure looks like a B/G, but the proof is in the edge..
Good luck buddy. Hope they all fit into your progressions.

What really caught my eye to the Escher, was the reflective quality it has.
This is before cleaning and lapping.