I bought a 7" x 1.5" Thurigian at an Antique store for $.50 I swear I was sweating and my pupils were dilated, it was hard to keep a poker face on that one!!!!! lol
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Something like that did happen once. I was looking at a handful of straight razors and one was a John Shaw FBU. I asked how much and she said it went with this box that had maybe $20 on it. I couldn't get my wallet out fast enough. But then she tried to put it in the box and it wouldn't fit and I could see the question marks in her eyes. She then said she had to call someone to find out what's what. I was thinking ah hell... She came back with a price of $45 which was less than I figured she'd come back with. I wound up getting it for $40. $20 would've been better but I can't complain too much. :) Still worth a $40 gamble I reckon.
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You know it's funny you mention that. I think the BBW is actually all it was being used for. The yellow side was super nasty, chippy, and wasn't chamfered at all but the BBW was chamfered and nice and smooth. Who knows how thick it might have started out as.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was watching one of those fishing shows on TV once, and the guy had to cut some bait. He reached into a box and pulls out a big old Coticle, looked like a natural 8X3 at least, You could see the wavy joint line on a close up.
He slaps the stone on a motor cover, BBW up and sharpens a knife as he’s talking and hones the knife on the BBW side, then tosses the stone into a tool box, like it was an old pipe wrench.
Made me cringe.
Nice score, love the old Natural combo stones. Check the “Blue” side. Yours looks like a Rouge de Salam and not the garden variety BBW. You bottom larger bottom two stones, also look like “Rouge” and they may be finisher in their own right.
There is much written here on SRP on them, most in the last few years, where some have deduced they are a different stone from the BBW.
Search (Lorraine Rouge/ Rouge de Salm and or Brown Thurigen. Here is an excellent long running thread. (French Hones )(Lorraine Rouge / Rouge Du Salm / BBW / Goldfisch Wetzstein)
Also look at Henk Bos’ , (Grinding and Honing, part 4).
And Razor Loves Stone for excellent photographs, and Razor and Stone sites.
Bottom line lap them fine, and try with thick and thin slurry, plain water and under running water after a solid 8k finishing edge.
I have had the best edges on both the Yellow Coticule (vintage) and the Lorraine Rouge/Rouge de Salm, under running water.
Smoking edges.