Thread: Getting the Most out of an Escher

Contrary to others, water only on my Thuringer hones has rarely worked for my preferred type of finishing.

I use mine with a dilution method, same as with my Coticules. I guess I have my own way of using these type of hones, but when I get that "sticky" feel on my Thuringer stones after dilutions, I know I'm getting close to my preferred finish (same for that sticky feel on a Coticule hone). Granted I use my Thuringer with quite a lot of slurry at first. To each his own though.
I do as many dilutions as I must to get that certain feel. It's a pretty slow stone, but the slurry to plain water progression was my eureka moment. YMMV

Good luck!

In terms of getting the most out of my eschers ..... I waited until ebay prices were very high in completed listings and then put mine up for very high buy it now prices. Worked very well at that time.

In my limited experience I dont like finishing on water with the Escher. I dilute it to thin slurry and end there. I make sure the razor is super sharp prior to switching to Escher.

And I finish to water only.

Humor aside, though that previous post was no joke, when I used to hone a lot more than I do now I used Eschers quite a bit. Still have one I'm hanging on to. Sham told me years ago that honing a razor that isn't already shave ready is a waste of good stone on an Escher. Get it up to speed on your stone of choice and then finish on your Escher.

I've done it like the label says, with a thin slurry and dilute to water only, and I've done it water only. Gary Haywood bought a yellow green from me. A Barber's Delight. He was mostly a coticule honer at that time and said he thought the edges were 'too crisp' compared with the coticule edge. I know what he meant. Still, IME an Escher finished edge is not as 'crisp' as a synthetic finished edge. So it might depend on what the end user is expecting out of the hone. IMHO.

I am a very big fan of the JNat edges I have been getting from both Kiita and Asagi stones. My preferred edge is the bit smoother one I get from the Kiita I have. However tonight I'm doing a bit of an experiment and taking what I would consider a finished JNat edge from that Kiita and putting it on a dark blue Escher. I also have a light green and yellow green so if you gentlemen think I should be selecting a different Escher for this please let me know.

I am interested to see the results. I'm thinking it will enhance the smoothness of the edge while retaining the keenness. But I could be totally off.

Originally Posted by Matt1222

I am a very big fan of the JNat edges I have been getting from both Kiita and Asagi stones. My preferred edge is the bit smoother one I get from the Kiita I have. However tonight I'm doing a bit of an experiment and taking what I would consider a finished JNat edge from that Kiita and putting it on a dark blue Escher. I also have a light green and yellow green so if you gentlemen think I should be selecting a different Escher for this please let me know.

I am interested to see the results. I'm thinking it will enhance the smoothness of the edge while retaining the keenness. But I could be totally off.

I had a really good dark blue years ago. Sold it to a fellow in Switzerland, so I guess you could say it went home. IME the dark blue was a slow stone. It would get there, but not quickly. About 10 years ago I asked Tim Zowada, who had a herd of Eschers in all colors, which he liked best and he said the Blue/Green. Lynn said the same when I asked him. Neither one used slurry with it at that time.

Tony Miller, the strop man used to sell Thuringans and the occasional vintage Escher when he ran up on one. He told me that the Jewish Rabbis and kosher butchers were only interested in Yellow/Green Eschers. On the old price lists the Y/G was the most expensive. I have had a couple come and go that were not only labelled gelb grun, or yellow green, on the end, but labelled 'Guaranteed Soft' on the other end. Seems softer made for faster, yet still fine with the Y/G. At one time Sham claimed that he had a Light Green (labelled) that was the best Escher he ever had.

That was years ago and he may have found another that beat it, but I haven't been in touch with him in years, so I don't know. Since you have all of those to try just keep experimenting with them. TBH I don't know if following a really good j-nat edge with an Escher, whatever the color, is going make it better. It will make it different, and you might like the difference better. Depends on what you like in an edge. Sometimes the sharpest edge isn't the one I like the best, but everybody is different when it comes to this sport.

Eschers usually should be very consistent, you can get the odd one out that is an underperformer.

The biggest problem I've heard about and experienced with one I got rid of awhile ago, was a stone that had been contaminated with oil or some other substance. The stone may look fine, but if its been loaded with a heavy oil, its essentially dead. The one I had was terrible, gave it to Val to try out, and he said it produced a terrible edge.

I've had the best results using water only, after a solid refresh on the Nani 12k or some other stone that produces a great finish.

Personally, I've also got some great edges going from a Coticule and then to an Escher....Wolfpack, an SRP member here, did some razors for me that he had honed from a Coti to an Escher and they were stellar.

As always, comes down to lots of practice with a stone....I've stuck to one finishing method for 3 years now and still learn something every time....I've dabbled trying a few others on occasion, but focus on learning one stone is key I figure, once you get the maximum from one, you'll have learned how to approach other stones I figure.....

To tell you the truth I've pretty much hung up my natural stones (a coticule and an Escher and a Thuringian) and use the Super Stone and a 20K Gokumyo as my finishers.

It's not that my naturals were bad or anything. I have a blue/green Escher and it works great but it's more barber stone size and can be tedious to use. Pretty much it was to refine the edge to the final degree and it gave a uniquely smooth edge. If the razor didn't shave pretty darn good before the Escher it simply wasn't Escher material yet.

The synthetics are big and very consistent and give a great edge and that's the story.

Originally Posted by Phrank

Eschers usually should be very consistent, you can get the odd one out that is an underperformer.

The biggest problem I've heard about and experienced with one I got rid of awhile ago, was a stone that had been contaminated with oil or some other substance. The stone may look fine, but if its been loaded with a heavy oil, its essentially dead. The one I had was terrible, gave it to Val to try out, and he said it produced a terrible edge.

I used to clean my Arkies when the pores were clogged up in a dishwasher. May seem less attractive if your Escher still has its label on. You can also soak it in a solution of bicarbonate of sodium, label facing up and kept dry. Another option might be sanding the toplayer off. Or soaking it in gasoline or paint thinner.