New stone escher

[buca3152]

Picked this up from Brooksie. very easy worked a couple blades with it. I don't need a coti anymore as I got a nice coti like edge with slurry a sharper coti edge with very light slurry and a very keen edge on water only. I did a few with chosera 1 5 10, suehiro 15k then Escher. This was the EASIEST natural stone I ever worked with. No wonder they are not out there cuz I wouldn't think I would ever sell this stone. Its not Jnat sharp but so easy. Im very happy with the edges on this one.

 

[Gamma]

Nice score. Thuris are great stones, very easy to work with.

 

[buca3152]

This one has the Escher label.

 

[Gamma]

I saw that - looks sealed too. Nice looking stone.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Echoing both of you. Thuri's are almost laughably easy to use. Especially the softer ones just feel... like silk. They also give you a damn fine edge. Keep the label protected, it doubles to quadruples the value of the stone if you ever sell it.

 

[buca3152]

I never sell anything. Saves me the trouble of buying it back again!

 

[Brooksie967]

I said i'd never sell that stone either... I'm glad it went to a good home. Tough times sometimes force you to do things you don't ever want to do.
I can attest to the edges of this stone. I currently have 3 razors with me in the artic (CFS ALERT) that were honed on this before sending it off to it's new home. I have used many thuringian stones but this one is the silkiest and finest stone I've tried so far. I have another 8x2 dark blue with no label that doesn't stack up to this and a 10x2 green/yellow combo that is CLOSE but not quite as fine as this one.

How many razors have you finished on this so far?

Are you getting into a groove with how many laps it takes to finish? My experience was only 20-30 x strokes was enough and found the stone to be incredibly fast for how fine it is.

 

[jpcwon]

Nice score!! I really wanted to pull the trigger on one of those, but alas....Happy to hear it's working out well for you!!

 

[buca3152]

I have honed 5 razors and the sweet spot for me is 30 laps and then 10 real slow light x strokes no slurry as it mellows the edge too much IMO. I dont soak it(obviously for the label sake) but just enough water to cover the top layer of the stone. No visible slurry or slime coming off as Ive heard from some. Its a nice comfy sharp shave. Tonight I shaved off of the 20k suehiro after shaving for almost a week off the escher. The suehiro rocks. Although its a nice changeup. My j nats need some attention, maybe this weekend.

 

[blackhhawk]

Are these synthetic?

 

[Gamma]

Nope - they're vintage natural slate water stones from Germany.

 

[Brooksie967]

As far as 'soaking' the stone goes, I've never done it but Scott mentioned to me that it could be done with as little as 1/4 inch of water and the stone turned upside down as to avoid the label getting wet. I'll be trying that method on the two remaining that I have.

 

[buca3152]

Well as you probably know its not thirsty as the water kind of lays on top. I may try that as well.

 

[buca3152]

My kouzaki Jnat feels the same as the escher. More work though. Just honed one today and test shaved.

 

[Gamma]

Eschers don't usually suck in much liquid, but some do seem to soften up when wet for a while.
Darker Eschers, the dark blue variety especially, seem to be almost impervious to water but you can sense a change when slurrying them with a rubbing stone. The ligher Eschers, like a light or yellow green, seem to soften faster.