Thread: Hone of the Day

Originally Posted by sonnythehooligan

Sigh. Here's another rabbit hole for me to go down. I've been looking at picking up a Thuringian to see if I would like it. This post has me looking at these stones now as well.

I found a German site selling these that claims they are a bit harder than a Thuringian. Interesting for sure.

Sonny-I hear ya on the rabbit holes lol! I too have been wanting a nice Thuri for some time. I have a small 1x5" boxed 'Genuine Water Hone" thuri that gives up wonderful smooth edges on the smiling Sheffields I bought it for-and it's dirt simple to use. Of course I'd like a bigger one, though there's no way I can justify a big dark blue Escher to my wife. She bought me a $300 strop for Christmas, but she has her limits. I don't have to tell you how pricey any significant real estate on thuris can be. The Escher collecting craze has really driven them sky-high.

But yeah, the Vermios are a lot of bang for the buck-highly recommended. If I weren't currently so attached to mine, I'd ship it to you to play with (which is how I ended up buying it lol!). I swear I love tinkering with natural hones more than the actual razors sometimes! Speaking of which, I'm loving all the hump-backed rattler grinds you've been posting lately. I have that identical FR you posted in the Workshop; it's probably my favorite grind.

edit: As for hardness, my Vermio definitely has that clear "tink-tink" sound just like my hardest Arkies.

I'll definitely start looking. Griffith is sold out for the time being.

As for Thuris, I would be ok with one that was less wide but longer. I might actually prefer that- when I'm honing usually there is just one small section of edge on the stone at any given time, so a wider stone just doesn't seem as necessary to me as it used to. However, I would prefer a longer stone than some I've seen.

Yeah, I dig my rattlers. I think the hefty spines on them gives them the right amount of weight to just glide over my face when shaving- the razor does all the work, and they feel "safer". I need to watch myself more closely when shaving with smaller razors, I can tend to use too much pressure with them.

Vermio? .....
anyone have a link?

Winter is coming so the bikes will be put up and I will have time for some razor stuff.

Randy-Griffith Shaving goods seemed to be the main supplier in the US for awhile, but they appear to be out of stock now. I didn't see any on Ebay or Etsy, and can't find any via a Google search either. I just sort of lucked into one here. Maybe a few will turn up for sale here and there.

I bought mine (now SHD's) probably 4ish years ago when they first came out. Simply because it was the only natural under the $80 bucks that I was willing to spend (at the time, definitely not anymore!). There was some hype to them and I believe the one I had was one of the last, as they were sold out shortly after. Maybe inquire with Griffith's to see availability, what's on their site might not reflect actual inventory or they just haven't seen the demand to justify shipping a box of rocks from Greece...

There's a few 1" x 6" thuri's that pop up on the bay every once in a while. Most labelled 1" x 5" ones being sold stateside usually have higher starting prices, but recently I have seen some in the UK/Europe ebays going for under $100.

"There was some hype to them."This lol! I keep saying I'm going to "hone in on" 1 do-it-all, holy grail natural finisher, and sell the rest. As I'm still looking, I just keep ending up with more rocks. I haven't done much more than tinker with thuris, cotis, or J-nats, so I'm still very much interested in learning any of them that come my way. And I seriously want one of those Canadian novaculite stones. And if I had the money to spare, I would have bought Phrank's Tam/Water combo, as I've never really messed with the UK naturals. Plus I'm still deciding how I feel about that convex trans ark-it never ends!

Ok. I think it is time for an intervention...

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

"There was some hype to them."This lol! I keep saying I'm going to "hone in on" 1 do-it-all, holy grail natural finisher, and sell the rest. As I'm still looking, I just keep ending up with more rocks. I haven't done much more than tinker with thuris, cotis, or J-nats, so I'm still very much interested in learning any of them that come my way. And I seriously want one of those Canadian novaculite stones. And if I had the money to spare, I would have bought Phrank's Tam/Water combo, as I've never really messed with the UK naturals. Plus I'm still deciding how I feel about that convex trans ark-it never ends!

A friend of mine who is no longer active here at SRP told me that he has spent thousands of dollars buying and selling natural hones searching for the perfect hone that gives a sharp edge but with the buttery smoothness that he desires. The last I knew he hadn't found the 'ONE'.

ME? I'm happy using my Naniwa 1k to set a bevel, my Norton 4 and 8K next and then either my yellow/blue coti (Thanks to a member and friend who lives in Germany that I paid $50 for including shipping for) on Sheffield Steel and my Zulu Grey for all other razors.

I've long maintained that collecting razors, strops, hones etc are a 'Hobby' but using and maintaining straight razors for daily usage is 'A way of life'.

Then i have changed "my way of life". I look forward to the daily straight razor shave.
It is a morning ritual for me.

Originally Posted by Learner

Then i have changed "my way of life". I look forward to the daily straight razor shave.
It is a morning ritual for me.

Atta Boy!