Ebay Hone Win

Ok, I just won this off ebay:

Vintage Shaving 2 Sharpening Razor Stones Belgium in Box Barbers Razor Hone | eBay

First off sorry if I out bid you ;).

Secondly, I've only used a set of nortons, the infamous C12k and pasted strops.

I believe the two tone stone is a Belgian Coticule I have no idea what the other is, and if it will be of any use.
Any advice on how to prep these hones before using?
I'm sure there is plenty of help with how to use a Coticule in the library. Just wondering if there is anything I should do to get it, and the other as well, set up properly before use.

Thanks!

That coti is nice. All it will need is a good lapping and chamfer the edges and you should be good to go. Congrats on a nice stone

cool! I have a Norton flattening stone but that made a mess of the C12k, I assume would do the same to this. Lapping with 1000 grit W/D paper work okay? Also, do I need a slurry stone for a coticule?

I would lap it with the W/D. A slurry stone isn't mandatory, but it would give the stone more range.

That is a better quality coticule. It will serve you well. The other is a barber hone in rough shape. I could not make out the imprint but it appears that the binder has degraded. I'm not a fan of lapping barber hones but it looks like this one needs it. Lap it with the same wet dry sandpaper and see what happens. Once both are flat, you may be able to use the barber hone to create slurry on the coticule, though you also can use your Chinese hone for that purpose.

Utopian, awesome advice thanks. I'll give it a go on the hone and if it is useful after lapping, awesome. If not, no big deal. I only care about the coticule.
I didn't realize I could use a different stone to create a slurry. I currently use a small piece of C12k, (whipped dog 2"x4" barber hone) to make a slurry. I'll do the same on the Coti. -- thanks much!

very nice coticule with box too. It should work well. Once you receive it and have it flat take some pictures to share so we can see your new toy in it's glory

Nice looking coticule there. I suggest lapping it with something around 320 grit W/D, if you use 1000 grit you'll be lapping for quite a while. Lap it wet, it will work faster and the slurry generated by lapping will smooth out the surface of the stone.

Looking good and congrats on the great purchase.

Thanks, paid a little more than I planned to, but excited to give it a try.
Btw: can anyone tell from the picture if the blue part is just a slate backing or an actual stone too?

It LOOKS like its backed with Belgian blue. Test it. make a slurry with it. If it slurries purple, its a blue. If its grey or whitish, its a slate. you can use a slate to hone with, but the types of slate vary wildly, so if you are not experienced with them, you will want to skip that.

It should, by all means, be a Belgian blue whetstone. No harm in trying to slurry, though, just to be sure.

The blue stone was (and still is) found in the same mines as the yellow coticule, in abundance. It was most likely already extracted to get to the yellow (as it is now), so it makes sense that they used it as backing.

Received the Coticule and barber hone today. Quick shipper :). The Barber hone was in pretty bad shape dished on both sides and filthy. Coticule is a lot smaller than I imagined. Shouldn't have been surprised, the dimensions were in the ad. But, It is in great shape and lapped super easy. Here are some pictures after going at both with 220 grit W/D paper.

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Surprisingly the Hone cleaned up well and I was able to lap out the dish on both sides. Took about 45 minutes on the 220 grit. I then spent a little time on 400 and then 800 grit. Both came out really nice and seem to work well.
The hone seems a bit generic. The writing says, "Barber's Razor Hone" and nothing else. During lapping it built a really thick slurry about the consistency of Mississippi mud. Looked like reddish brown clay mixed with water.
Also, it is definitely a Belgian Blue Water Stone backing. It built a milky purple slurry when lapped.

That coticule looks like it has some interesting features. I'd love to see a closeup of it. If you add some water too it can bring out the colors and patterns of the stone. Looks great.

The yellow side is pretty consistent. The blue side is really interesting. Lots of color variations and streaking patterns.
I honed a griffon Carbo magnetic on it today also. Love the feel of the coticule. Lots of feedback and drag with a slurry, buttery smooth with just water.
Will post more picks and impressions of the shave tomorrow.

Just got a shave in with the Carbo magnetic after a little honing on the coticule. The stone left a very fine and uniform scratch pattern. Not as clean looking as edges I've honed on other stones and stopped on paste. After 20 on linen and 60 on leather I gave it a shave. The Griffon is usually my keenest razor, it is also the thinnest ground razor I have. The Coticule tamed it a bit. Got a nice comfortable shave even though it doesn't seem as sharp, or aggressive, as after honing on my Nortons, c12k or pasted strops ...etc. Think I'll run it on CrOx next time it comes up in the rotation, but can definitely get a nice shave straight of the Coticule.

As promised here are some close ups :

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Funny, you can't really see all the little speckles that show up in the picture.

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The blue side isn't as interesting today. After lapping it had streaks and speckles of all different shades of blue and purple. After drying overnight they are gone, don't even show up when it is wet. I guess the stone soaked up a little water during lapping?
Also, I'm really happy with how I was able to smooth out the chip seen in the original, ebay, picture. The bottom left corner in this picture.

Next time try some more laps on your linen. Coti edges seem to really improve from a good linen stropping.

I'll give the linen a try before I hit it with the CrOx. BTW: Less keen isn't a bad thing with this particular razor. The Carbo Magnetic is extra, extra hollow ground and the edge can be a bit too much. I have to be very careful with that particular razor, it bites. I actually liked the shave off the Coticule better than other methods. Much smoother and more forgiving.

One last set of pictures for the thread. I treated the "Barbers Razor Hone" with Vaseline. I really like the looks of it now. I covered the hone with heated Vaseline and set it in the sun in a plastic baggy for a few hours. It really soaked the Vaseline up. Can't feel it on the surface now.

Any guesses on what this is and how it would be best used?

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The Barber's Hone is actually a reddish brown color. Not grey as it looks in the picture.