[Russel Baldridge]

Item for review:
A vintage Thuringian, from Kees here on SRP, with a slurry stone that was cut from another similar vintage stone. It measures 1"x4"x0.5" so it's smaller than most other stones, but I kinda like it for that reason. It's only big enough to do the job it was intended to do, polish a straight razor. There's no superfluous material that would only serve as a temptation to over use it, short and sweet so to speak.

Test procedure:
1. Lap stone under warm running water on a DMT Diasharp 325 hone.
2. Smooth off the top surface with a DMT Diasharp 1200 hone.
3. Repeat progression for included slurry stone.
4. Hold stone in hand.
5. Form a light slurry with the slurry stone.
6. Do 5 laps on a razor that has already been honed up to 8k grit, check surface scratching under eye loupe.
7. Repeat until uniform scratch pattern forms down the length of the blade.
8. Test shave a (small) portion of forearm (I do this for all my honings, so I have a good a feel for what translates to smooth on the face).
9. Wipe off slurry and repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 as needed.
10. Allow to dry and repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 as needed.
11. Post review of results.

Results:
The stone performed beautifully! The blade passes over the surface very smoothly, almost no indication that there is any grit in the stone at all, except for the proof of an extremely well polished edge.

The slurry of this stone is really not as harsh as I expected it to be, but it does cut faster than the stone with just water. It seems like it cut slower than the Muller Thuringian, maybe these are slightly finer in grit than the Muller stones.
You probably couldn't do any bevel setting and would be working for a while to do a jump from 4k grit to one of these, but they weren't really meant to do that anyway.

The stone with just water was great! This stone is very smooth. It has been mentioned that Thuringians in general are softer and smoother than Coticules, and I have to say I agree. The Thuringian is every bit as smooth as the Chinese 12k, but it is softer too, so the grit is exposed faster, resulting in a similar polish with less time spent honing.

The stone is even smooth when used dry, and provides an even greater polish this way.

Conclusion:
These little jewels are worth every penny and maybe more since they are vintage and disappearing fast. They cut quickly enough for the polish that they impart, while still being slow enough to give a bit of room before the blade develops a wire edge.

You could shave off of the edge made by any stage in this honing progression and be fairly happy, but going all the way up to dry is my personal favorite. The edges I've been getting off of this stone are superb. I cant say I'd be able to tell the difference between the edge from the Thuringian and that of the Coticule (since there are so many other factors, like blade steel/tempering, stropping and lather inconsistencies, I'd be hesitant to say one is definitely better), but the feel while honing sure feels smoother on the Thuringian.

And fwiw, the stone took a little longer than expected to get through the U.S. customs and when I mentioned to Kees that it hadn't arrived within the amount of time it took for another stone to reach it's destination here in the U.S. he was totally on top of the situation. He immediately got in touch with the shipping company on his end and was prepared to file a formal report of the situation, but it finally arrived safe and sound with out the need to take further action.

I was VERY impressed with his effort to make sure the stone arrived safely. Kees was an absolute pleasure to work with!

[Jimbo]

Thanks for that review.

Very useful and informative, but slightly depressing because now I just know I'll be wanting one, and if one more unmarked package containing a hone arrives in our mail box I have a feeling that I'll be sleeping in the spare bedroom for the rest of my life...

James.

[ProfessorChaos!]

Thanks for the review. Of course, it compels me to want another hone I do not need. Anyone know if these are still available? I seem to recall PMimg Kees...

[Fudas]

I've heard tell that these thuringians are great for stainless steel. I've just bought my first straight, a 9/16 Friodur, which is coming shave-ready from Manyrazor on ebay. Would you reccomend this stone for a beginner?

[Kees]

They are quite small and only 1 inch wide. They do give very nice edges in my not so humble opinion but you do need to be able to balance your razor quite well on this hone.

[Fudas]

Do you offer sale outside of eBay? How much is your normal charge for such a stone?

I am also looking forward to using my razor hone to sharpen my kitchen Wusthofs, but by the size of these thuringians, I don't think I could. I might also have to buy a larger hone.

[Lt.Arclight]

I just received one from Kees. Only took 12 days to safely arrive from the Netherlands. It is absolutely beautiful. It is blue green to my eyes and is a really useful size.

[blaireau]

Kees, correct me if I'm wrong but aren't your stones actually like Blue/Green Eschers with a different label? My understanding is that they come from the same area of Germany as the fabled Eschers and in fact come from the same mines. So I have always thought that your Thuringens are the same stone and so I would have expected the glowing reviews of your stones like the posts we read here. You enrich our community with your efforts to provide members with these wonderful hones!

[Kees]

@ Todd,

I am glad you like the hone. I find it very hard to describe its colour. I would have called them light grey but in a different light you can see blue and green in it as well. The same applies to my yellow green Escher, I would have called it light green or better even: pea green as it has exactly the colour of dried green peas, like the ones used for mushy peas in the UK.

@ Rich,

These are similar to Eschers, they come from the same quarry in Sonneberg, Thueringen. These every now and then turn up on ebay in a wooden box with various labels. I managed to buy 100 of these in Germany. Although they all seem to be cut from the same raw material they have different labels. It's 8.45 p.m. now, I'll try and take some better pictures tomorrow in daylight and post them. I have never put my fingers on a blue green Escher so I wouldn't know whether these are or are not the same colour as blue green Eschers.