Slurry with Thuringian?

Well, just won my first ever vintage Thuri. Let's just say that HAD has struck. I was just too curious to see how the edge compares to my coti's.

Quick question though. Do people use a slurry with Thuringians or just water? I'd assume that slurry may just help cut faster, but will it act like a coti with slurry in that it acts like a lower grit stone whereas just water will be a better finisher?

Thanks all!

Slurry cuts faster yes. I've never done any testing as to what exactly it does to the edge quality. I always just finish with a few strokes on water.

Thanks Ian. I'm excited to test it out versus the coti. I think HAD needs to subside though as the bank account is not liking it!

i have one and i compared to my coticule i don't think you will see much differance . personal preferance for me is coticule over my thury

It was quite common in the 19th century to use slurry with a Thuringian. A couple of old texts have recommended raising a thick slurry, performing 50 or 75 laps, and adding a few drops of water towards the end. I've done a couple of experiments with the idea, with mixed results.

It certainly won't hurt anything to try, and I'd be very curious to hear what results you get. I plan on giving it another go, but I'm having too much fun with my coti lately.

SliceOfLife said:

Slurry cuts faster yes. I've never done any testing as to what exactly it does to the edge quality. I always just finish with a few strokes on water.

Click to expand...

Me too, Ian. I use one of your Thurigians as a finisher and I only use water.

wdwrx said:

It was quite common in the 19th century to use slurry with a Thuringian. A couple of old texts have recommended raising a thick slurry, performing 50 or 75 laps, and adding a few drops of water towards the end. I've done a couple of experiments with the idea, with mixed results.

Click to expand...

That's interesting. If it says a "thick" slurry, was it probably meant to do some lower grit job like refining the edge and then doing the dilocut method just like the coti's?

Leon said:

That's interesting. If it says a "thick" slurry, was it probably meant to do some lower grit job like refining the edge and then doing the dilocut method just like the coti's?

Click to expand...

My read on it was that one finishes on the slurry. Here is the PDF, (pg 15 of the document) though I've come across references to a similar practice elsewhere.
I mis-spoke earlier, the text recommends 75 to 150 strokes FWIW...

I too have an older Thuri, although it is small 1" x 5" and in a little box. I have always used it with just water and never raised a slurry. My thought was that the the slurry would stain up the little wooden box. The barber's text was interesting reading. It is great all the stuff you can see and learn about here

I also love cotis. But I recently aquired a vintage Thurry and did a dilucot on it and got a great shaving edge -- soft like a coti, sharp like a J-nat. YMMV.

pcb01 said:

I also love cotis. But I recently aquired a vintage Thurry and did a dilucot on it and got a great shaving edge -- soft like a coti, sharp like a J-nat. YMMV.

Click to expand...

Did you do a dulicot after your bevel setter or how did you work this in you progression? I was under the impression that a coti is really the only stone that a dulicot will work from bevel setting to finishing.

I just tried a slurry finish on my Thurry again. There is mention of it in JimR's thread on Coti.be and I started a thread about it at WSW some time ago. My first experience showed a bit of promise, but my second attempt lead to a very aggressive edge. Tonight I decided to try it again, but following the suggestion to use a very heavy slurry and 100+ laps. adding a few drops of water and finishing with the degraded slurry. Off the hone I got an easy HHT2, maybe even a 3, stropping shows and easy hht4. AHT, is very keen and smooth. Test shave tomorrow morning, (with a good blade on standby)
My impressions were that it made for quite a nice honing job.... the slurry was kinda nice and slick, buttery feeling after a while, and it was very easy to reach good keenness, though i struggled a bit with the heel on this razor, so there is one section that might not be up to snuff. It seemed to happen really fast.... at least compared to my typical dilucot.

Quick up date for those of you interested:
The shave was OK. While providing a very smooth edge, the proccess left an edge lacking a bit keenness. It compares to my previuos dilucot edges in which I lacked sufficient sharpness.
In all fairness, the honing I did last night was kinda half-assed. There is enough promise there though that it may be worth exploring. Or maybe the men who shaved with this process were real men, with faces as tough as saddle leather

Harvitz81 said:

Did you do a dulicot after your bevel setter or how did you work this in you progression? I was under the impression that a coti is really the only stone that a dulicot will work from bevel setting to finishing.

Click to expand...

The bevel was set. In fact, the blade had been "finished" on a coti. I started with a light slurry and diluted about 8-10 times, 10 X strokes after each dilution.

I have now tried this on several "difficult" blades (finished on other stones -- sometimes several -- with out achieving an optimal edge). In every case, a quick dilucot procedure on the Thurry, followed by 50 strokes on water, has improved the edge markedly. All have been at least HHT4 all along the bevel. Several have been among the best edges I've ever achieved, and one (a Dovo Best) was the "best" edge I've ever experienced.

Don't know if you can set a bevel with a Thurry + slurry, but I'm planning to give it a shot.

I always use slurry on my Escher and then dilute it with a few drops of water for the last five passes or so. I then let the slurry dry on the stone so I can use some the next time.

Nothing beats the creamy Escher/Thuringian (Vintage) slurry smell. mmmmmmmm

Anyone ever try lather instead of water on your Thuringian? Tried it once and it seemed to work pretty good.

I have. It seemed to help refine the edge a little bit. But I worried about the contents of the soap contaminating my stone as the thurry is quite porous. I've quit doing it for that reason.

wdwrx said:

I worried about the contents of the soap contaminating my stone as the thurry is quite porous. I've quit doing it for that reason.

Click to expand...

Very good point I did not think of before. The labels do recommend keeping them away from oils and even the non-tallow soaps have a good chance of containing some form of plant based oil.