Thread: Natural Barber Hones ID

Hi All

I found these barber hones at a second hand store, and purchased them thinking they are coticules. One looks like it has been used a lot and is quite dished, and the other is relatively flat and has a lot of stone on it.

I am guessing they are a natural coticule on a nature belgium blue stone, but not sure how to identify the vein?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.



Regards,

Matt

It’s really hard to determine the vein from pictures and even a visual inspection of the actual stone will lead to disagreements about that unless you happen to be at the quarry in Belgium and can consult one of the experienced folks there.

They sure look to be older coticules. I can’t tell if they are natural combinations from the photos. The one on the left in the top picture seems to worn through the coticule layer to the BBW. There is still a lot of use left in the other.

Thuringers usually have scratches like someone sharpened fish hooks on them. Yours appears to be of the common dimensions for a Turingian.
The other one appears to be a nice sized coticule.
JMO, YMMV
~Richard

I have two straights I beveled set on a king 1200 then went to a 4000 Japanese whetstone then onto a black arkansas surgical and could never get a comfortable shave. After purchasing this stone, I did maybe 60 x strokes on the coticule just with a little water and no slurry, and the edges have come up very nicely. Very happy with the finish polish results, which I couldn’t achieve on the black surgical.

Originally Posted by Pougee

I have two straights I beveled set on a king 1200 then went to a 4000 Japanese whetstone then onto a black arkansas surgical and could never get a comfortable shave. After purchasing this stone, I did maybe 60 x strokes on the coticule just with a little water and no slurry, and the edges have come up very nicely. Very happy with the finish polish results, which I couldn’t achieve on the black surgical.

Have you tried shaving off the BBW on the other side?

If both sides of your black are flat, I would lap the unburnished side to 600 grit, going from ~4K to a well burnished black or translucent Arkansas seems like a fair bit of a jump to me. Use the 4K then to the 600 grit finished ark side then burnished side. If you have an 8kish home that would be the ticket then to your black.

Nice looking coticule, btw.

You could always try the black Arkansas after your coticule too or if you have a thuringian stone like Richard suggested, try finishing on that after the coticule. If it were me though, I would play with one stone at a time (like the coticule) until I had the basics of that particular stone down. Then move on to adding others. Write everything down and enjoy the ride. Congrats on some great stones too!

I managed to pick up a Bengall for $40 AUD which was in really good condition, to do some test sharpening. I had a go today, setting the bevel on the Soft Arkansas and then trying the dilute method on the coticule. I managed to get the razor to shave comfortably, but could be a little better. I tried putting it on the surgical Arkansas, but the feedback from it felt like it was a lower grit than the coticule with no slurry and clean water. I am not convinced the surgical Arkansas is higher grit than the coticule?

If your Arkie is burnished it will be much higher than a Coticle. IMO. But a coticule is a cutting stone (Cut and finish) where an Arkie is a polishing stone (Finish only). An old Coticule is a good thing to have. As far as the dished stone, I would check and see if it is a BBW and lap it flat, removing what is left of the yellow side and use it as a BBW. Not much yellow left to be of much use.

But as Steel said, Learn one stone and figure out what it does buy spending a lot of time on it. Trying different things. Then go to another stone and learn it. It's the best way to learn stones. Now if I can just do that.

Originally Posted by Gasman

If your Arkie is burnished it will be much higher than a Coticle. IMO. But a coticule is a cutting stone (Cut and finish) where an Arkie is a polishing stone (Finish only). An old Coticule is a good thing to have. As far as the dished stone, I would check and see if it is a BBW and lap it flat, removing what is left of the yellow side and use it as a BBW. Not much yellow left to be of much use.

But as Steel said, Learn one stone and figure out what it does buy spending a lot of time on it. Trying different things. Then go to another stone and learn it. It's the best way to learn stones. Now if I can just do that.

Thanks for the advice Gasman. I ran the edge of the Bengall over the back of my coticule to try a one stone honing from scratch again. I can get it sharp, and feels nice over the thumb pad test, but the HHT test is difficult. I decided to rub the Surgical Arkansas against the Soft Arkansas to see if I can get that finer grit, as I do not own a flattening DMT. I did a few more strokes over the Surgical Arkansas with the Bengall, and a couple strops over the rough cotton + diamond spray and got it just passing the HHT. However, the HHT has always been hard as us my wife hairs which are quite thin and fine.