Thread: Choosing a good Belgian Coticule stone

Originally Posted by Gerald Davis

Hello everyone,
I'm looking into purchasing a Belgian Coticule stone. In the process of researching, I've got myselfa little overwhelmed with all of the information that's out on the internet indetermining where and from whom to purchase the stone. I know it's best to geta natural stone as compared to purchasing a stone that was made of chips andpieces off the saw mill and glued together to make a honing stone.
The purpose I'll use the stone is not so much of trying tomake it my one for start to finish honing or trying to set a bevel, it's morefor the later stages of honing in trying to get a sharper and more polished edgeon the razor. I've got the 400/1000, 4000/8000 grit Norton stone and a 12000grit Naniwa stone. I can a decent sharpness to the razor with these stones however,I've heard that Belgian Coticule stonesgives a better edge and polish. I understand that I would have to get a slurrystone with this.
So what I'm asking everyone is recommendations where to finda good quality Belgian Coticule stone. I've seen the stone for sale at Best SharpeningStones and Timber Tools websites. One question is, does paying the extra priceat the Timber Tools compared to the same size stone from the Best SharpeningStones mean I'm getting a better quality honing stone? Or should I get a stonedirectly from Ardennes Cuticule? I'm looking into a 8x3 stone.
Any advice and recommendations would greatly be appreciated.

I've never bought (straight) from ardennes, but I would consider anything that originates at ardennes to be the same across dealers. The reality that I've seen with ardennes stones (and some vintage stones) is that many are just not very fine, and are better suited to use with a linen where the coti never removes the entire edge of a razor already in shaving condition.

That creates a situation where you as the shaver have some time to work the edge up from the coti using a linen, but being careful not to remove the edge itself as you're doing it.

I've had exactly one coticule (out of, maybe 7?) that was a true finisher in the class of other finishers, and I will admit I did sell it because it still was doing what other finishers do. The rest of the cotis I bought, I sold at at a loss. That was a new stone and not ardennes.

Long and short of it, I'd agree with the advice above, if you're looking to buy one stone and you don't want to buy a bunch and keep the best (which is an expensive thing to do), buy something else for now and watch flea markets, etc, for old cotis that show up for a song. If you get an old coti for $10, you don't have to be afraid of oiling it (which can help a coarse coti a little).

Personally, I don't know if ardennes charges more than their retailers do, maybe someone here can confirm. There is or was a belgian blue on ebay that someone claimed ardennes sold to them for $225 because it was "selected". That kind of stuff is a bit spurious to me, but a retailer can charge what a customer will pay.

I haven't seen anything from timbertools (or about them) that would make me want to purchase anything for razors from them.