Thread: Question about using Escher/Thuringian

I cant speak specifically about the stones that you mention, as I dont have them, but my higher grit stones really dont seem to swarf up that much when I use them.

I have the Shapton stones and the 8k and 16k take ages for the swarf to start showing, and thats on a white stone. So if your's are darker coloured this will also make it harder to see the swarf.

Because these stones are so high grit they dont really remove much material at all. They're really there to add the final polish to an already sharp edge, so they wont take off much metal.

If you used a lot of pressure, or a load of strokes, you would start to see swarf building up, but all a finishing hone is meant to do is smooth off the coarser edge left by the 4k (or whatever) sharpening stone. I only start to see swarf on these hones after I've had a fair few razors on them.

You can shave off a 4k stone, and all of my razors will pass the floating arm hair test off the 4k stone, but the edge would be horrible on your skin. The 8k and 16k are just refining that edge and making it comfortable to shave with, so you dont need a lot of strokes to finish up. I only do a dozen strokes or so on my 8 and 16k stones, literally just enough to smooth the edge off and make it comfortable to use.

I hope thats of some help!

Hopefully someone who has those stones can chime in with their experience as well..!

EDIT: Jimmy beat me to the punch! Man, you're quick..!