Thread: A bit of show and tell (coticule)

First post on here in a very long time! I just received a second Coticule and though I would share! I have my suspicions on which veins they are from but I'm not an expert (any input would be welcome).

New Coticule is on the left and my first one on the right. Both are 1.5" X 5"


Second Coticule




This one feels fast on slurry (starts to grey after a few half strokes) and fairly slow on water (one or two sets of half strokes before swarf is visible). Slurry is milky white. It is loud as hell when sharpening (and feels a bit grainy) which is why I suspect it is La Dressant upper layer. The side profile also looks a lot like the upper layer of La Dressant. The surface looks more like La Grise.




My first Coticule (natural Belgian blue whetstone combo), which I've had for about 2 years.




This one is slow on slurry (one or two sets of half strokes before it starts to grey) and very slow on water (pressure makes it work faster). When first starting on water the razor seems to stick to the stone, after a while it goes glassy smooth feeling. The stone turns quite yellow when wet and has a fine wood grain pattern (looks like mahogany grain or oak end grain). Slurry is sort of an off white creamy colour. I may be getting my hopes up but I think this one might be (certainly looks and feels like) La Gross Jaune. I've compared it to a few on Coticule.be (no.21 especially). I'm not sure whether La Gross Jaune has ever come as a natural combo so my other thought was La Grise because of the gradual transition to Belgian blue whetstone and wood grain pattern.

I get great edges off of both stones. Both have their quirks and are trickier to use than synthetic stones but the edges are worth the trouble.

Cheers,

Danm

Good looking stones Dan, I'm still learning my first Coticule and chasing that fine shave, thanks for the encouragement.

You'll get there! One thing I found out (by reading forums and my own experience) is don't be afraid to use a bit of pressure while honing, especially when using just water. My edges went from "almost there" to "wow" once I learned that.

Cheers

Very nice Coti's! I have a few myself. As far as guessing the veins...... Unless it was marked from the mine site, good luck. Lots of good guesses, but not 100% accurate. Nice to know, but it doesn't affect the hone's performance. I had to remind myself about that.

Truly beautiful stones

Very nice Coti's! I have a few myself. As far as guessing the veins...... Unless it was marked from the mine site, good luck. Lots of good guesses, but not 100% accurate. Nice to know, but it doesn't affect the hone's performance. I had to remind myself about that.

Indeed. These two were only numbered. Each of the veins have variance in them too (as far as looks and performance). So now a Coticule is just a Coticule to me, learn each one individually. I just can't help but speculate.

Cheers.

Hey Dan, thanks for the pressure suggestion, I used it today and had a breakthrough with my stone and a superb edge on two razors, whats more, in a very short time, I'm a happy camper tonight.

Pressure never hurts, just not enough to flex the blade. Lighten up on the final strokes.