Coti sources?

Hey all, I've been trying out some King hones lately, and have found them to be rather slow cutters. With some money coming in next month, I've decided that I'd like to buy a natural hone along the lines of a Coti, something that can both cut fast with a slurry to set a bevel, and then polish without a slurry to get that final shave-ready edge. I'd also like to get a decent sized coti (6 or 7 inches by 2 at least), so I don't end up fiddling around with a 5x 1.5 sliver of stone.
Can people please recommend the best good cheap place to buy large cotis from? Living in NZ, EBay is not an option, and being an impoverished student price is always a factor.
Thanks in advance,
Tom

contact Bart he is in overseas . i think will be better choose.

Here's a source. I have not dealt with them.

http://www.ardennes-coticule.com/index.asp?intro

The link above is the direct site for the stones as the company sells direct and I dont think you can buy the stones for better prices. But if any one has found a source let me know please.

I bought my BBW/Coticule combination stone from Rob at Ardennes Coticule and found him to be a great person to deal with. I'm thoroughly happy with both the stone and the service from them.

New Zealand? Postage will always be an issue, I guess.

The link to Ardennes, in the post above, leads you right to the sole operational Coticule mine/quarry. They won't have a problem referring you to a local reseller (perhaps Australian?), that is, if such place exists. Otherwise, they also sell the hones directly. A not to wide irregular "bout", let's say overall width of 4cm and length of 14 cm minimum, won't cost you that much. (a "bout" is cheaper than a rectangular hone, but works just the same, provided that is has at least one edge long and straight.)

Good luck,
Bart.

Bart, since you're the expert in this field, can you confirm that it is possible to set a bevel on a coti with slurry, then take it to shave-readiness on the same coti by diluting and eventually removing the slurry? I'm after a fast hone that doesn't require a large progression, since I'm a bit impatient and being a student am unable to afford a large progression of stones.
Also, do you have any opinion on (or experience with) this coti I found on EBay? It seems to be significantly cheaper than the Ardennes cotis, but I don't want to spend money on something that turns out to be an expensive paperweight. The auction says it's from the Regne coti mine, but I've heard that the Ardennes mine is the only currently active mine, which makes me wonder if this indeed a true coti.

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Originally Posted by mosley59

Bart, since you're the expert in this field, can you confirm that it is possible to set a bevel on a coti with slurry, then take it to shave-readiness on the same coti by diluting and eventually removing the slurry?

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Well, that is exactly how I do all my razor honing.
It may not be the fastest method available, but I find it very relaxing and the edges are excellent. It takes me about 20 minutes per razor, and I do about half a dozen weekly. Being less experienced, it might take you an hour, but if you're only honing for personal uses, you'll probably find that a relaxing and rewarding hour.

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Originally Posted by mosley59

I'm after a fast hone that doesn't require a large progression, since I'm a bit impatient and being a student am unable to afford a large progression of stones.

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All Coticules I have tried so far, turned out to be fully capable of honing a razor from dull (not shaving any hair at all) to shaveready. There are speed differences between various Coticules, but not more than the speed difference between a short and a long hone, which means that a faster Coticule of 5" length can be as fast as a slower specimen of 10" length. (that approximates the extremes of the speed differences I found in various Coticules)
If you plan to do razor restores and find yourself in need to remove a lot of steel regularly, it might be worth to specifically buy a faster one. BUT. Those faster ones leave the edge less keen, coming off slurry and it will require longer and more precise dilution of slurry to refine the keenness later on in the honing sequence. If you only plan on honing edges in fair condition (that just lost some sharpness from normal use), getting a fast one, might cost you time instead of save it.
Regardless of all that, the end results will be closely the same.

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Originally Posted by mosley59

Also, do you have any opinion on (or experience with) this coti I found on EBay? It seems to be significantly cheaper than the Ardennes cotis, but I don't want to spend money on something that turns out to be an expensive paperweight. The auction says it's from the Regne coti mine, but I've heard that the Ardennes mine is the only currently active mine, which makes me wonder if this indeed a true coti.

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"Best Sharpening Stones" is a well-known reseller of Coticules. They obtain their hones from Ardennes. Ardennes currently extracts Coticule at two places. The first is a quarry located at a place called Ol Preu. The second is a mine, that they have reopened the past year, located at Regné.
They don't sell at bargain prices on their own website. I believe this is because they respect the business of their resellers.

Best regards,
Bart.

Thanks very much for all the info, looks like I'll be buying me one of the 'Best Sharpening Stones' 8x2 cotis when I've scraped the cash together and got an ebay account.

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Originally Posted by Bart

"Best Sharpening Stones" is a well-known reseller of Coticules. They obtain their hones from Ardennes. Ardennes currently extracts Coticule at two places. The first is a quarry located at a place called Ol Preu. The second is a mine, that they have reopened the past year, located at Regné.
They don't sell at bargain prices on their own website. I believe this is because they respect the business of their resellers.

Best regards,
Bart.

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Do you have their link?

I too import directly from Ardennes....and advertise on Bart's site....

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Originally Posted by shooter74743

Do you have their link?

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See my earlier post for a link to one of their stones. Zib - will check your site out tomorrow.