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.

what does NOS means?

Originally Posted by jelajemi

what does NOS means?

New Old Stock - Really means in an un-opened un-used condition of an item that is no longer produced

On here it can also mean in "Mint" condition

This stone is from before 1980 and is glued with Colofonium. See last picture under the stamp.
Between 1980 and 1986 there have been no Coticules produced.
From 1986 to 1998, Burton Rox's did glue non-natural combos with Araldite. It was the intention to get a thin bond line. The coticules were glued to Rouge du Salm. This stone is much redder than the BBW.
After 1998 "Ardennes Coticule" glued non-natural combos with epoxy which has been thickened with a filler.

Henk