Thread: Suggestions for next hone - Belgian

In their very essence all hones that are excavated and produced at Ardennes Coticule are *razor* hones. They can be used for other tools as well, but is is not so that only a minor part of the production is fine or pure enough to meet "razor" standards. I have visited "Ardennes" a few times, and all I saw were nothing but top grade razor hones at various stages during production. The rocks are cut in such a way that imperfections and inclusions that would be detrimental for honing, are omitted. This is specialized work that takes a lot of experience. Once the slabs are cut, they need to be trimmed. Again, this is done in such a way that problematic parts are omitted. This is the reason why they not only sell rectangular shaped hones, but also irregular shaped "bouts". Finally the hones are lappped (granted, not as perfect as most of us like it, hence the need to do some final lapping before the first use), and during that process they are once more checked for quality and the absence of inclusions that would render the hones useless for razors. All finished hones work well on razors.

There are differences between them, but those do not affect the final outcome of edges that can be produced, at least not on a level where I can discern between them. That opinion is based on 2 years of working with and thoroughly testing a decent number of different Coticules. The differences that are present affect the way the stone must be used to get optimum results.
If you only are going to use it to polish an already keen edge, then all this is of little consequence for you. Some Coticules might take 30 laps and others 60 to get a good polish but that's also affected by the size of the hone.
On the other hand, if you plan on using the Coticule to really gain keenness on a less than sharp edge, then the unique character of each hone comes more into play.
There's too much to say about that to address in one single post.

There's a very interesting thread going on at the moment, where Hi_bud_gl, which is one of SRP's leading honing experts, reports about a Coticule that only takes some work on slurry followed by about 20 laps on water, to produce an excellent edge. Most Coticules I have used ask for more persuasiveness to yield such results.
There are several techniques worth trying, and only a bit of personal experiment will reveal how you and your future stone will get along best. For me, that is part of the unique charm of Coticules. Yet, at the end of the day, I personally have not found a particular Coticule that surpasses all the others, and I also haven't met one that stayed behind. Some are "easier" to figure out than others, but once you know yours, that becomes completely insignificant.
In a way, using a Coticule for the first time, is like using a traditional wood fired oven. Your first bread will most likely not be the very best you'll ever bake...

I bet few people started out with straight razor shaving to get the easiest, most consistent, error free shave available. The same thing must be taken into account when choosing the Coticule route to honing. It is - both times - an adventurous and rewarding path to follow. Some parts of it are cloaked in mystery and there's always a challenge lying around the next curve.

Best regards,
Bart.