Originally Posted by
Neil Miller
I bought a BBW from Rob at Ardennes Coticule quite some time ago after w had had a discussion about the variations in BBWs. He personally selected for me a very fast cutting one with yellow spots. He said that the presence of the spots placed it somewhere between the usual BBW and the coticule - I estimate it at 5000+ grit. I have had a number of natural BBW/coticule combinations, and during lapping (some needed an inordinate amount of lapping - very, very dished) the yellow spots occur close to the join where one layer has been deposited on the next, so my theory is that the faster cutting BBWs come from very near the overlying (or underlying) coticule layer, and that the more usual blue that is used to make the glued combos is further back in the blue layer with little or no coticule inclusion. Just my opinion though.
Regards,
Neil