final polishing hone

Ok so I have been sharpening a lot of razors lately, (practice mostly)
my daily shaver, a thiers-issard, is ready for a new hone.

I have a 4k/8k norton, and would like a 12 or 15k polisher for that perfect edge.

I ordered a 15k ceramic shapton, and was looking at the coticules (sp?) that i saw at lynn's place.

If i remember (been almost a year) it was his final polishing stone. i read an article a few days back mentioning escher stones as well.

can someone link me to a place that sells nice coticule stones and escher stones?
(that aren't cracked like that poor fellow's i was just reading about)

I also sharpen some woodworking tools like plane blades and my japanese kitchen knives, the latter also something i would use a fine polisher on.

thanks in advance. lynn if you see this where did you get your stone :)

ok did a bit more searching, found the perfectedge.com/begian.html

saw the yellow coticule stone 8 x 3 for $175. i think thats the one lynn was using when i watched him...

site says its 8000 grit however... how is it better than a norton 8k?

is it because it uses garnets as a grit? they are stronger and polish better?

if i am using a shapton ceramic 15k, would i see any benefit with this coticule?

just curious..

cannnot seem to get my thiers-issard as sharp as i like - on just a 4k/8k. its sharp and shaves ok, but not like the week i got home from lynn's :)

You really do not need a huge coticule. I spoke to Maurice Celis of Ardennes Coticules last week and he told me that coticules 8x3" are not as good as the smaller ones. Apparently the best quality coticules are found in small tortuous veins. Bigger isn't better when it comes to coticules.

I also got a Thuringer, much cheaper and alsmost as good, Tony Miller is going to sell them in the US of A, ask him.

Garnets of coticules are fairly rounded crystals that give smooth edges.

Here is some info & pics: http://www.belgischerbrocken.com/.

But why would you need a coticule if you already have a 15k Shapton which is a significantly finer stone?

Since you already have the 15k shapton there is no reason to buy any other stone. The next logical purchase would be an abrasive pasted paddle strop with 0.5 and 0.25 micron abrasive pastes.

Try the coticule and escher stones later if you are so inclined.
It is the type of edge they produce that some like better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by randydance062449

Since you already have the 15k shapton there is no reason to buy any other stone. The next logical purchase would be an abrasive pasted paddle strop with 0.5 and 0.25 micron abrasive pastes.

Try the coticule and escher stones later if you are so inclined.
It is the type of edge they produce that some like better.

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Most definitely:tu

so where does one look at escher stones for purchase?

Randy MIGHT be selling off some of his. PM him to confirm.

My first shipment of Thuringen stones will arrive later this week. These are the same composition as the early Eschers. The first batch is only a dozen stones but more will follow every few weeks.

So far tests have shown them to work quite well.

Tony

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tony Miller

My first shipment of Thuringen stones will arrive later this week. These are the same composition as the early Eschers.

Tony

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I saw a tiny vintage Thuringian (5" x 1") go for a fair amount on ebay this morning. How do the old Thuringians compare to the new ones Tony?

They seem to be comparable, no real advanatge one way or the other as somethimes happens with Belgians. I may also have a small supply of the vintage stones available as well that were still in storage at the quarry.


Tony

A German member of Nassrasur compared the vintage Thuringers and the Manufactum Thuringers and found their composition to be identical. Looking at the pictures I do not think they have garnets in them so I wonder whether the vintage Thuringers I refer to are comparable to the ones Tony refers to.

I do have microscopic pictures of the slurry and pictures of the macroscopic aspect of both but cannot attach them to this message. Until now I have never been able to add pictures on SRP. The attachment management feature told me the pictures have too many kB in spite of the fact they seem small picture.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in the pics I will PM them.

Thanks Tony and Kees.

Actually I think the high price commanded was probably influenced by the nice old box the stone came in.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...3057&rd=1&rd=1

Tony, what will your sizes be again? Are you going to sell some narrower ones?

Kees,
Under a microscope at 30 to 60x both do appear to have garnets as the cutting agent. I will confirm with the quarry tomorrow.

The first shipment will be 2x8 and 3x10 stones retailing somwhere around $60 for the smaller, $95 for the larger depending of fees when they land. Yes, Manufactum is Germany is cheaper but shipping on a single stone is the same or higher than the stone price alone. If you are in Europe buying directly from a source they will be advantageous and I can furnish info on how to buy larger stones for customers there. I am their USA distributor so shipping back to Europe again will not be the best idea <g>.

Tony

Tony,

How do you recognize garnets under an ordinary microscope? I have had look with my mike but at 100x magnification all my hones, whether Arkansas, coticule or Thuringer, look pretty similar. They all have little shiny things in them that look to me very similar.

Kees,
The Thuringer (Eschers, Dorescher, etc..) and the Belgians should show the tiny reddish flecks under reasonable magnification. On Belgians they look rather random in some cases but on the German stones they seem to be very numerous.

Tony

I'll have to have a look again!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Kees,
Under a microscope at 30 to 60x both do appear to have garnets as the cutting agent. I will confirm with the quarry tomorrow.

Tony

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Tony,

You're right. I took a look at the slurries of both stones and at 400x magnification I saw the garnets. At 40x I could not see them however.

Kees,
Yep,they are there. It takes the right lighting and magnification but the garnets are in there.


I will make a post about the availability of these in USA in the vendors area later tonight.

Tony