3 Coticules

Here are three Coticules I managed to acquire last week. For the few people that wonder if natural stones can wear out just have a good look at the big one. At one side it's worn out shy of 1mm (rounded up). Here are the sizes:

Big Coticule Combo: 25.5 x 6.3 x 2.3 cm
Natural Coticule Combo: 17.6 x 4 x 2 cm
All Coticule: 18.3 x 4.1-3.6 x 2 cm

The big one feels really smooth but I have no idea what to do with it. The two others I have lapped and tested. The natural combo is the coursest of the three, but really fast and puts all my other stones to shame. The BBW side seems relatively fast as well and smoother than a BBW I already owned. The brownish Coticule is much smoother than the natural but also way slower.

Wow, so many coticules all at once! Congratulations

That big one where the blue is starting to come through the coticule side might be a good candidate for donation to the SRP museum

good stones.
For the big one i would do this.
make a line in the middle lowest location.
then use both sides separately to hone blade on each side. Eventually you will end up even surface. this saves stones life too.

Thats what I'd like to do as well.
Save it and don't cut it. Its a very nice hone!
Use it!

Even prettier on those new pics!

Those blue spots on the big Coticule are not from the BBW side but are in the Coticule.

These pictures were taken after I cleaned the big one ;)

Happens sometimes. Sometimes even really pretty.

Beautiful stones. I've got a couple with the speckled areas in the yellow side. I've read that they are manganese IIRC but they don't hurt the honing. If I had that one that is all yellow I would see if I could get the same size in a blue from Rob at Ardennes and glue a backing on it. The yellow is really fragile by itself IME. (learned the hard way) :)

Adding a backing to the all coticule one may be a good idea. I doesn't seem necessary at the moment but I will regret it later if it happens to crack. I would probably add a regular natural stone not used for honing. I already have BBWs and even with another hone I would have to handle it with care to not scratch the bottom of whichever side is up.

I am careful with all my hones but I already managed to scratch the BBW side of the natural combo within a day after lapping. Fortunately it only took about 20s on 800 grit sandpaper to remove it.

Awesome find Piet...congrats. :-)

Mac

Congrats a great catch.