Thread: My first Belgian coticule

Hold the box and stone in your hand and take a small hammer tap one end of the box down with the hammer. Chances are it is not glued to the box except by the slurry.

In effect you are tapping the box away from the stone. Once it starts to move, rotate the stone and tap the other end. Keep switching ends until it is free.

I have done many stones this way. It does not take much force. I use a 2 or 4oz peen hammer.

Nice find.

You can probebly get it out,but BBW is not rated as being great Hone material.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

You can probebly get it out,but BBW is not rated as being great Hone material.

Some BBW sharpen great but not all.

Originally Posted by Suile

Some BBW sharpen great but not all.

As I understand it the BBW was meant to be a base to bolster the coti.yes people have honed on it.

I will say the box seems very well aged, no oil gunk, and doesnt stink like a goat, stone lapped easily, not sure how old it is but looks like it has been in that box a long time...if I do get the stone out I may use it for scales....its a very nice looking wood, not sure what it is.

The hone came from Selfkant, Germany also

Wood is red oak.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

As I understand it the BBW was meant to be a base to bolster the coti.yes people have honed on it.

The old barbers I bought coticules from in the 1980s said that the bbw was not usable as a hone. At that time that was the general consensus. Note that 'Old Rock' and 'Deep Rock' labeled hones come with the label glued to the bbw side. From what I understand there are different grades of bbw. Some are used for paving stones, fences and the like. In recent years it was discovered that the bbw , of the finer grade, is usable as a hone. I've messed with it a bit but I prefer the yellow coticule for honing and pretty much pass on the bbw. YMMV.

If that stone is a natural, where the yellow and the bbw were mined in one piece no worries. If it is a glued coticule, with the bbw glued on for support, you have to watch out you don't break the bond loose. Wouldn't be the end of the world if you did, you could always glue it back. IIRC they used a mix of beeswax and whatever to glue them. Heat and/or shock could separate the two if it is a glued joint. The yellow really is fragile or they wouldn't go to the trouble of gluing them. You could try that tapping method Euclid mentioned but go easy. If it is a natural you could put it in the oven and heat it up and then tap it. I wouldn't do that with a glued stone. You'll see the joint if it is glued, if it is a natural it kind of flows together.

A couple of lite taps and you will know if it is coming out or not.

There isnt a glue line and it is definitely a natural stone, also as stated before, I wouldnt mind seeing if there is a label back there. Ive got an old barber that comes in the shop and hangs out that has a very nice belgian labeled hone I keep trying to get him to sell it to me....he had a labeled escher he bought in germany that when he shows me the length of it with his hands it had to be a 12 inch+ stone. He sold it several years ago though sadly but said he got 700 bucks for it....musta been a beastly escher