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  1. #21
    Unique. Like all of you. Oldengaerde's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mitchshrader View Post
    Can someone explain to me why the mines use slate for backing?
    Ardennes Coticule use Portuguese slate tiles. They are relatively cheap and are of consistent size and material quality. Pieces of coticule are glued on top of them, neatly arranged for max surface use and easy cutting lines. The tile is then cut along the coticule edges.

    Here's a vid:
    YouTube - Abbau Belgischer Brocken


    It is easy to see how this circumvents the need to cut irregular BBW pieces to uniform slabs for a similar proces - impossible because there simply aren't many raw pieces of the right whetstone quality in that size - or even more labour intensive processing to small pieces matching the bouts and bench size coticules. Labour cost is high and a major proportion of the total production costs. It simply doesn't pay off.

    Quote Originally Posted by AlanII View Post
    I would think it's because of the Blue's newly established honing ability. Instead of just being regarded as waste and thus suitable as coticule reinforcement, they now have a value of their own. So, another type of 'waste' produced during the mining is used instead.
    The majority of BBW is sold as building and paving material. If it weren't for this, coticule mining would not be economically viable at all.

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  • #22
    Senior Member Kingfish's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mitchshrader View Post
    Can someone explain to me why the mines use slate for backing? With the demand for double stones at a significant premium over 'sets', it seems like throwing away money. I would happily buy glued doubles as an alternative to coticules on slate, and suspect I'm one of many. Can someone relay this into a sympathetic ear?

    Your work makes the perfect arguement.
    Is not the real demand for natural combos simply because of supply? Manmade combos may fetch higher prices from the not well informed consumer or I could be totally wrong.

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