escher method / thuringian.

[gary haywood]

I've always wonderd which way best to use the escher and 5x1 thury. escher say make lather and are sold with arubber. The 5x1 thurys are said to just use water with...A method was passed onto me so i tryed it and it works extremly well leaving smoother edge as i ever got from escher or thury with out using water which i think does'nt give as smoother edge as using slurry only. Sham who users escher always says use slurry never water ..I 'm think he is right

If any one wants to try and post results it would be interesting..You can do this method on shave ready razor or one that needs touching up or one that is not coming up to snuff..

its quite simple ..make a rich slurry on escher or your thury 5x1 or what ever size you have ..use circles only going up and down the hone covering the whole edge ..20 one way and 20 the other way ..going away from you go clockwise coming back towards you anti clock wise. use enough pressure to kep the razor flat...Now just hone away untill the slurry becomes real thick but not dry. stop once your there.. Should take 4/5 minutes strop linen/leather andcheck hht etc and have a shave ..

don't use any x strokes at all just pure circles.. give it ago and post back hopefully it works ..i found the edge to be absalutley smooth as butter .... of my escher and thury 5x1 which acatuly i think is basicly as god as the escher with out label..

gary

 

[Wid]

I tried this the other day on a shave ready coticule edge. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong but it dulled the edge.

 

[gary haywood]

try it agin rick . i tryed it after several coticule edges and it worked well, in the past i had the exact same thing happend thats why i kind of gave up on the eschers.... suposingly the the more you work the slurry the finer it gets so i was told stat with medium slurry then let it become real thick.... but not dry. use smal circles

 

[Wid]

I'll give it another shot and report back.

 

[kirk 988]

i have done alot of experimenting on my little Thuringen but its always thick slurry and dilutions until many laps on pure water great edges not quite as forgiving but sharper IMHO.

 

[jkh]

Gary, please define rich slurry. Skim milk, whole milk, cream? You mentioned this method in another thread - I tried it on a shave ready Coticule edge, but had the same results as Rick.

 

[jpcwon]

I've also wondered what the best way to use my little 5x1 Escher is. I tried to use it the other night but ended up putting it away as it was not helping my already Coticulized edges. Finishing w/circles is interesting, and something I may have to try. I do prefer wide, elliptical circles to half strokes when honing on my Coticule; it just seems like it's a much more "fluid" motion. I use my lttle DMT 325 Card to raise slurry on my little Escher, so I'm going to give it a try & will post my results here. I usually just finish on water w/X-Strokes, but finishing with a heavy slurry is somthing I've never tried. I'll give it a go though!!

 

[gary haywood]

Gary, please define rich slurry. Skim milk, whole milk, cream? You mentioned this method in another thread - I tried it on a shave ready Coticule edge, but had the same results as Rick.

star with amilk slurry

 

[gary haywood]

I've also wondered what the best way to use my little 5x1 Escher is. I tried to use it the other night but ended up putting it away as it was not helping my already Coticulized edges. Finishing w/circles is interesting, and something I may have to try. I do prefer wide, elliptical circles to half strokes when honing on my Coticule; it just seems like it's a much more "fluid" motion. I use my lttle DMT 325 Card to raise slurry on my little Escher, so I'm going to give it a try & will post my results here. I usually just finish on water w/X-Strokes, but finishing with a heavy slurry is somthing I've never tried. I'll give it a go though!!

just start out with milk like slurry ad do elliptical circles untill your slurry gets thicker ...

 

[life2short1971]

I have been using the Thuringian behind a coticule for a while and what I have noticed is less more when relating to pressure on the hone. If I consciously make an effort to make the bevel barely touch the stone I get my best edges. I am not coordinated to do circles as light as they would need to be to be effective on the stone. If while doing strokes I vary the pressure I will feel a sweet spot where I feel the bevel carving the hone and this is not torquing the blade to make it happen I get the keenest smoothest edges.
I will try the circles again though to see if things have changed for me and report back. Thank you Gary.

 

[chuckr9]

I tried it and did get a slight improvement in edge (which had been previously finished on 1u & 0.3u film). Edge felt "smoother", not keener. I was wondering if a couple of drops of baby oil in the light slurry with give more "cushion" for the blade?

 

[life2short1971]

I would not use oil on my Thuringians and all the labels also say to keep grease and oil away as well.

 

[jpcwon]

Yeah I'd say ixnay on the oilay. My little Escher says right on the label to not use oil...

 

[sychodelix]

Soapy water should have a similar effect to oil.

 

[gary haywood]

yes no oil the slury will give cushion, don't worry about presures etc just do circles with enough pressure to keep razor on the hone if the hone is narrow go up and down on just heal, then up and down on just toe, then just alternate untill slurry breaks down and becomes thicker it will give smooth edge and retain keeness. just take your time doing nice even circles ..I can acheive great hht after stropping smoothness is very nice medium slurry hone till slurry becomes thicker thats it ... i've done same with j nat and it worksed but edge just felt a little more a gressive escher edge is very smooth like coticule but easier to acheive tha coticule..You can even dull razor hone on slurry untill bevel set keeping escher slurry same consistancy with drop of water , once you can shave arm hair easy just hone from then on untill slurry is much thicker... So basicly you can use it as one stone honing it surprised me how well my escher cuts with slurry.. the shave of escher with slurry is super smooth. it may or may not work for every one but its worth trying athew times ..

gary

 

[life2short1971]

What size circles are you doing Gary? 3"? or smaller?

 

[gary haywood]

you have seen lynns circles? just short small ones moving gradualy down the hone untill you have completed 20 about half inch at atime .

gary

 

[life2short1971]

Ok Thanks Gary. Though I have not shaved with my test blades yet I have HHT similar to my normal method and I have been very content with the shaves. I hope to try them in a couple hours for a comparison.

 

[gary haywood]

great scott .. I always read the lables on escher an it says to use with slurry. i wonder how barbers used there eschers all those years ago?

 

[life2short1971]

I know softer stones like y/g and lg will make their own lather/slurry however light it is if you start with water only and don't use much so the slurry can't rinse off. It looks like soapy water more than anything while wet but is effective. Also the coarser the blade the faster it will raise this slurry. For the unboxed hones the slurry stones were an upsell so they still used them most of time its just they no doubt get lost over the years if not enclosed in the same box. Or at least thats my story. lol