Thread: Easy question for the belgian coticule and BBW guru's

Hey guys,

Picked up an apparent NOS belgian coticule\BBW glued combo but i waned to know if gluing the BBW and coticule is a newer thing or is there a long history of this being done.

I guess im asking if this really is NOS or NEW

Below are a few pics, it had a stamp on the coticule side but i lapped it before taking a picture.



Its a shame the coticule side is so thin but its extreamly hard compared to my other coticule's.
The BBW side turns into an awesome purple when wet

Glueing to BBWs was done until X years ago (don't know exact number), when they switched to slate and started selling BBWs as hones rather than reinforcements. Is the BBW slurry purple as well? If it is, I would say this indeed is NOS. If it's white, it's still slate and pretty new.

Yeah, its defenatly a BBW, purple slurry. I have a slate\coticule as well.. I really wish they didnt glue them to slate these days.

So is that the main differance, BBW vs Slate to determin the age?

Perhaps a guru may tell you more about which mine or strata it came from and relate that to a date of mining, but other than that, I don't know.

What did the stamp say

I had one near identical that was ink stamped on the Coticule side "Extra Extra Fine" it was a very nice one

It was an ink stamp, fairly sure it said Belgian extra fine, may have been two extras but I'm not sure.

It's much much finer/harder then my new stone, gives a nice edge! Hairs pop nice and easily without stopping. Can't wait to shave off the blade for the "true" test.

In the '80s I bought a few coticules from a few different old barbers. Two were glued to BBW and one natural. The barbers told me that BBW side was not for honing, but only to reinforce the fragile coticule. So at that time honing on the BBW was not widely practiced, if it was done at all. In Belgium they use BBW for stone fences, paving stones, and the like. So gluing a reinforcement to the coticule goes way back.

The realization that the BBW is effective as a hone only came about in the past decade or so AFAIK. I've also read that there are grades of BBW, some suitable for honing, but some is too coarse. Some guys like it as a hone but I quit using the BBW a long while ago. The coticule is much more effective AFAIC.

I recently broke my routine with my honing. The NOS Puma I recently got had no bevel at all to speak of. I set a bevel with the norton 1k, then norton 4k,,,,took the 8k out of the routine, used the purple side of my coticule, then finished with the yellow side of my coticule,,,,ended up with a great smooth shave.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

I recently broke my routine with my honing. The NOS Puma I recently got had no bevel at all to speak of. I set a bevel with the norton 1k, then norton 4k,,,,took the 8k out of the routine, used the purple side of my coticule, then finished with the yellow side of my coticule,,,,ended up with a great smooth shave.

This is the older way of doing the routine, I also still use it on occasion will the really old Stubtails, it really is a nice gentle progression..

It's not new and probably not nos either. It's just a nice old coticule