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Picked up a Box-O-Stuff this morning for $6.00 it had a 5 or six files that I Bought it for. most of the stuff ended up in the trash except for 3 stone that were within (nice surprise) This is the only one that was not covered in oil. the others are soaking in degreaser.
What do you hounds think it is. It is small 1 1/4 X 6 X 1/2.
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Thanks John
Looks like a Coticule to me.
It’s a coticule. Clean it up and give it a go. People generally finish on the light colored side, but the Belgium blue side has been shown to give a good clean edge as well.
Is the darker side BBW or just slate backing?
Mine is just slate which obviously can't be used for honing.
Thanks gents.
Is there any special way I should flatten it? Is a diamond plate OK?
I don't know what to say.
I used a diamond plate to lap mine and then used the slurry stone after to remove the scratches.
It worked for me but I'm not going to stick my neck out and say go for it in case I'm wrong so if I were you I would wait untill someone else chimes in.
No worries Steve. I am not ready to venture forth onto it just yet. I Just don't want to go at it with a 400 DMT. and destroy it.Quote:
Originally Posted by STF
You got to lap the thing. I don't see how a flattening will kill the stone.as was said, get it flat with your atoma, then smooth it out with the slurry stone. And then see what you get. For coticules I usually test them with slurry and without. To see what it's made of water only after a synthetic finisher will give you an idea if it's a gem.
Since I know absolutely nothing about the thing I find it safer to ask. I do not have a slurry stone.(Yet) I have just begun this journey and have only used synthetic's so far. But I am looking forward to trying it out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill31521
Then you can buy fine wet dry sandpaper. I don't think that you need to smooth it more than 600. Get a piece of glass or a natural tile like marble or.granite. wet the sandpaper and the base which will make them stick together. And have at it. Use plenty of water. Continue until the scratches from the 400 are gone. And then try it.
It's a coticule (glued to BBW base) ... I have plenty and I always flattened by using a diamond plate.
Please correct me if I am wrong. Could I use a 1000 DMT after the 400? Since I do have one of those.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill31521
Just out of interest, how can you tell it's a BBW base?Quote:
Originally Posted by bartds
I was told when I bought mine that it was backed with slate, is there any chance it's not slate but actually BBW.
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Sandpaper on a kitchen worktop work very well.
Looks like it is a slate backing, not a Belgian blue: those are darker gray blue.
Dmt makes a 1200. But it isn't made for lapping. You can try it but it may ruin your plate. A piece of wet dry sandpaper is cheap enough and expendable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Audels1
I lapped mine with a 400 plate then smoothed with slurry stone
Nice find. If you got that along with other stuff for $6 then you basically stole that stone. It's always nice to get deals like that.
Yes you might be right... Never realised it could be a slate backing. All mine are vintage ones so BBW. So this means it is probably not very old. In this case the slate side has obviously seen some action . I always thought the only purpose was to give the coticule side a certain reinforcement and wasn't meant for honing but I may be wrong.
I have 2 coticules that are glued to a Rouge de Salm.
I'm pretty sure the slate backing is just to reinforce the coticule and not meant to be used for honing.
Slightly off topic but this morning I took my sharpest synth edge and did 40 laps with just water on my coti, I was going let it auto slurry, but I wasn't using pressure so it didn't.
The idea was to see how much of a finisher my Coti was good for.
The razor was laser sharp before and finished with a 12k Naniwa, 40 x strokes no pressure with the coti, 60 cotton and 100 Buffalo. It treetops, passes the HHT and is as sharp as it was but hopefully smoother, tomorrows shave will tell.
You can hone on slate, at least some of them. Thuringians are slate including Eschers.
Yes, slate is used for honing, I have two Welsh slates but for the purpose of this conversation, no, you cannot hone on the slate backing of a Coticule, It's just there as reinforcement because the actual Coti is quite thin.Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulFLUS
I studied mine carefully yesterday and it's not a hone, just a bit of unusable slate, some coti's do come with BBW on the backside and they obviously are intended to be used but the slate, no.
If any of the experienced guys feels i am wrong please let me know but i was told specifically that i could not use the slate on the back of mine when I bought it.
HA! Poppycock! Yeah, a chunk of chert is not intended to be honed on either but that hasn't stopped me. Hell, I will try any old rock as a hone. You know how people say, "a person who knows how could hone on a brick"? :shrug: It ain't gonna be easy but we'll see.Quote:
Originally Posted by STF
You can rub any piece of metal against any rock. Sometimes, what happens is not so good for the purpose of shaving ; (Quote:
Originally Posted by STF
From Ardennes Coticule:
“A Coticule whetstone consists of 2 layers. The Coticule top layer has a thickness of between 5 and 10 mm, depending on the Coticule seam (not every Coticule seam in our quarry is of the same thickness). This Coticule layer is glued on a substrate of unusable black slate. This substrate is used as a base as Coticule is a rather brittle material.”
Notice their choice of the word “unusable” when referring to the slate.
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In my experience, a bbw will appear a bit mottled. If slate then it will be a solid, darker color.
One thing not mentioned thus far .... pressure while lapping. Do not bear down with a lot of force. That will create deep scratch lines that will be difficult to remove with the next, finer, lapping tool. The 400 grit is fine to start with but it will wear down your diamond plate rather quickly. I would suggest using wet/dry sandpaper instead for both lapping sessions. I usually stop at 1000 grit.
Just my 2˘ :)
I hope everyone realizes that was as much humor as anything. It is true that I look at rocks everywhere I go and see potential hones but to say "any old rock" is not entirely accurate. Some are in fact just a rock. I would however say that I lean toward bravery and find out the hard way sometimes that I was wrong. Still sometimes I am rewarded with a new hone.
I hope I didn't offend anyone. My apologies if I have.
