Thread: thuringian

I've just got my thuringian 5x1 vintage razor hone and lapped it up and it look brand new now. i have several coticules which latly i have been finshing bbw slurry then coticule water and it is realy good i just wanted to try the thuringian as i have heard its a little better than coti. My question is can i use this hone with water to touch up my razors or refresh and could i use this as my finishing hone after 8k norton and how many laps would be needed, aprox i normaly do max 50 on coti.

Originally Posted by gary haywood

I've just got my thuringian 5x1 vintage razor hone and lapped it up and it look brand new now. i have several coticules which latly i have been finshing bbw slurry then coticule water and it is realy good i just wanted to try the thuringian as i have heard its a little better than coti. My question is can i use this hone with water to touch up my razors or refresh and could i use this as my finishing hone after 8k norton and how many laps would be needed, aprox i normaly do max 50 on coti.

Yes, you can use your thuringian after the coticule or after the norton 8k. The usual advice for figuring out a natural hone is to do 10 lap sets at a time and inspect the edge or shave with it, and then repeat as necesssary. I like to do roughly 30 strokes on my vintage thuringians. Sometimes more depending on the particular razor. With my particular 5x1 I usually do a little more than that, actually.

You should also be able to use the stone for touching up your razors as well, assuming they are just dulling and are not "too bad." The number of strokes will be highly dependent on the state of the edge, so you'll have to experiment.

I don't think you can overhone on these stones though, at least, I've never heard of it, so go to town if you want..

I have a little 5"x1" vintage thuringian also (The Celebrated Water Razor Hone) and it's a nice little stone. pjrage's advice about the 30 laps in a good benchmark, but I've found more are somtimes needed on the little 5"x1" to see a noticeable improvement. I've done MANY laps on it with no ill-effect what-so-ever just to experiment. So I also agree that I don't think it's possible to overhone on this stone.

I would just take a razor that you've finished on a coticule and give it 30 laps on your new stone. Then strop and shave! Hopefully you'll be able to see a slight improvement, if not then just try 10 more, then another 10 more if necessary....repeat as necessary.

Do you have a microscope or eye-loup to look at the bevel close up? Maybe if you inspect the scratch pattern off the coticule and see how it progresses using the thuringian afterwards, doing 10 laps at a time, it can give you a better idea of how many laps you may need.

EDIT: I couldn't last 20 minutes after writing that post to use my little thuringian stone....It really is a beauty, you've made a great choise by getting one.

I do use eye loop and have inspected the scratch pattern on coticule i've used the thuringian after with so many strokes its hard toi tell the differance but should i be looking for a even finer scratch pattern. I have a new ti silver wing that was finished on 10 k naniwa by vendor i have just done 10 strokes only and i would say a tiny bit smoother all thought the razor isfine any way. If i use a slurry will this limit sharpness like the coti does i find with slurry on coti the level of sharpness is not enough for me for example i took a shave ready razor to my coti slurry 50 laps and it did not shave as well would this be the case with thuringian? Finishing on coti with water i realize can improve but not always and find it inconsistant.

Originally Posted by gary haywood

I do use eye loop and have inspected the scratch pattern on coticule i've used the thuringian after with so many strokes its hard toi tell the differance but should i be looking for a even finer scratch pattern. I have a new ti silver wing that was finished on 10 k naniwa by vendor i have just done 10 strokes only and i would say a tiny bit smoother all thought the razor isfine any way. If i use a slurry will this limit sharpness like the coti does i find with slurry on coti the level of sharpness is not enough for me for example i took a shave ready razor to my coti slurry 50 laps and it did not shave as well would this be the case with thuringian? Finishing on coti with water i realize can improve but not always and find it inconsistant.

I've never raised a slurry on my vintage thuringians, so I have no idea how it affects the edge as far as limiting the sharpness/dulling/etc? I really don't see the need for a slurry with these stones.

I would try another 30 or 40 strokes on that silverwing and then shave with it. Let us know what you think. The 10 strokes at a time is generally speaking how to evaluate a new hone, but if your 5x1 is anything like mine and Dave's, it's going to be at least 30 strokes I would say. Probably closer to 50. Like I said, I haven't noticed more strokes hurting, so I would probably just do 50 and be done with it. You can dial in a closer number over time.

As far as scratch patterns go, I'd look for a little bit smoother pattern than the coticule. Not a night/day difference, but definitely significant enough that you should be able to discern the difference between the two. I use a microscope at ~80x usually, so I'm not sure what you would see at 30x in a loupe? My loupe is 20x and it's a cheap POS. I can't really make out much more detail than I can with the blade close to my eyes, but also, I've not experimented much with it.

Gary,
Are you using magnification to check your progress on your edge? That's the best way I've found to gauge what you've done with whatever stone.

Originally Posted by Howard

Gary,
Are you using magnification to check your progress on your edge? That's the best way I've found to gauge what you've done with whatever stone.

+1...................

Originally Posted by Howard

Gary,
Are you using magnification to check your progress on your edge? That's the best way I've found to gauge what you've done with whatever stone.

Originally Posted by gratewhitehuntr

+1...................

In his above post he did mention using an eye loupe.

Yes i do use magnification especialy when going from 1200 dmt with 30 k loop i can see a differance going to 4k 8k and then bbw coticule i find scrach patern does get finer and then a shiny bevel towards the end but the silverwing its realy hard to see bevel as its as shiny as the blade and very thin bevel i think i could do with a microscope for the realy fine stuff Can any one recomend a decent one for the job.