Thread: Does $17 sound too cheap for a real coticule stone?

It's perfectly possible to do a good job on a narrow hone. It's even a benefit if the blade has issues, such as warping. It does take a greater degree of skill to keep the blade flat though.
BBW's are not the fastest hone, & i would recommend something a little larger, or it'll take an age!
You can pick up a BBW far cheaper than a Coticule, so see what the vendors are offering 1st.

We should really put a huge warning in the Newbies forum that reads

"DON"T Buy on E-Bay for 6 Months"

And of course it should flash

Not saying that deals can't be found there but the problem is when you are new the percentages of getting those "Deals" are very low and the chances of getting taken are very high...

The best place to find stones off e-bay are the Antique stores, keep in mind I really live in the middle of nowhere in fact there is only one little bitty store I stop at and I have taken tons of barbers hones out of there and a few better stones....

There are two barbers hones sitting there now that I didn't buy, because I never pay more than $10, and these are marked at $20... One looks never used.... I will be back up there on Sunday to shoot Trap PM me if you want me to snag them for you....

If you really want that size, Howard sells the wider 4 x 2 BBW for $7 more, less since he's not likely to charge $12 to ship that small stone. At least you are sure you are getting a quality stone. He'll probably even lap and chamfer it for you. And tell you some good stories.

My advice is if your looking for a final honeing stone to brush up the edge of the blade then go for the chinese blue stone on ebay i own and have used it far more than any other stone i own, be warned it is a very slow cutting stone but do it right and the edge will shine as its so smooth.

It is a small BBW from Belgischer Brocken, the German retailer of Belgian hones. The BBW has a 4-6K grit size. Though you can get a razor shave-ready with that grit size most would want to finish on a coticule.

BBW are dirt cheap anyway as there's less demand for them.

Originally Posted by Utopian

NOT everyone is of the same mind. See this video for an example of how honing can be done on a coticule bout. Wide razor hones are a recent trend. Nearly all older hones were significantly narrower than the width of the blade so it certainly is possible to hone on a smaller stone.

Thanks for that link
as for my comment, what I meant was that everyone is saying roughly the same things about that ad