Thread: what sort of hone is this

Very probably it is a natural Belgian yellow cuticle/BBW combo - a very respectable, versatile, and high quality hone.

Regards,
AG

Thank you. Was a gift of the "I think this is far razors" variety and that is what I was thinking and hoping it was. Do these need flattening before use? Believe some knives have been sharpened on it and has a couple of small gouges.

Flatten it out, but I myself don't usually feel it necessary to remove every little groove. As long as the edge and spine travel along the scratch, (like cross roads) and not the same direction, I have seldom had a problem honing over them. (exception being when doing "circles")

I wish people would drop by and give me a nice coticule like that!

very nice coticule !!

The vanilla side is the side you want to finish on. Nice coticule.

Very nice gift.

Been reading up on this hone, apparently should be all I need while learning for restoring edges. Thanks for all the replies and help from everyone. Also what is recommended as eaiest lapping/flattening method and how do I tell when it needs flattening?

Depends how much flattening it needs. Wet/dry sandpaper works pretty well, as does many diamond-coated knife hones. If you go the sandpaper route, make sure it's on something flat, like thick glass.

Most coticules lap quickly, relatively speaking, so don't overdo it and remove more of that precious material than necessary.

Edit: As for how to tell if it needs lapping, I'd first lay a flat edge (ruler, etc.) on the hone and check for light leaks between them. If it passes this inspection, I'd go to the "Sharpie test" next. Gently run a Sharpie or other permanent marker along the length of a straight razor's bevel, then do a couple of very light passes on your hone. If the ink(?) wears away relatively evenly, you're good to go. If not, you've either got an uneven hone or a warped blade, so you might as well lap the one that can be lapped!