Thread: Choosing a good Belgian Coticule stone

First off, Gerald, you have quite the array of hones already to give you a edge that should, by all means, shave you comfortably. However, if you are looking to try out a coticule, then that is up to you. It will most likely not have a drastic effect on your edges, though.

All newly mined coticules come from Ardennes Coticule. So any difference in price you see between similar stones are differences in retailer mark-ups; bearing in mind that there are two aesthetic categories, standard and select, which can make a bit of difference. But these are usually marked as such by retailers.

Also, 8x3" coticules are, in coticule terms, huge. And rare, because they simply do not mine a whole lot of slabs large enough to accomodate for a 8x3" rectangle. As such, coticules of this size are expensive. If you really just want to buy a coticule to try out the edge it provides, I would strongly advise you to get a smaller one. For finishing, a 6" X 1 5/8" should, by all means, be enough. Or, as has been suggested, get a razor honed on a coticule by someone who knows what he is doing and see for yourself. I wouldn't mind doing you a favour at shipping cost, providing you are willing to ship a razor to Finland (I know there are able honers Stateside, but I hate speaking on behalf of other people).

If you are determined on buying your own coticule (I assume you live in the US) my advice would be to contact thesuperiorshave.com (or timbertools.com, but I think The Superior Shave has better prices and knowledge about razor sharpening) for a rectangular bout. Don't worry about veins, in the end they don't matter all that much. They're more for collectors than practical use (and for pricing for hones out of layers that are harder to mine/come by).

Off topic: just to re-iterate a point I've made before: if all you do is finish on a coticule and you don't find the shave satisfactory, you are most likely doing something wrong prior to finishing. This goes for, well, all finishers, really.