Thread: Stone you use with a Belgian Coticule

Originally Posted by zib

Guys, That is a Coticule No 1 Bout, not a combo bout. The gray side is unusable. It just supports the Coticule. It is Schist. The combo stones have a bbw side, it makes purple slurry when rubbed....

Yes, I mentioned it was slate in the post, but Schist is probably correct. Either way it is simpy a base. I was referring that the Coticule stone side "itself" could probably be used for touch ups. It is not very big that is certain.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

coticule slurry on granite - I don't think I saw that method in the wiki if your razor is shaving well then I don't think you can complain

Just thought I'd give it a try. Are not these slurry stones for creating a slurry on some hard flat surface? Seemed like a granite headstone sample might fit that bill. If one creates a slurry on a stone with the bout, then what kind of stone is normally used and has anyone made up a slurry on much finer harder stones?

I've used coticule slurry on a 1k Naniwa. I had two older razors, a Sheffield and a French one that I just couldn't get a bevel on without producing chips. Whether or not the method worked I'm not really sure, not a big enough sample and I can't be sure as to whether I'd just reached a point where the good metal was going to be exposed anyway. I'm inclined to think that it did though as, on the second I did, I reproduced the chipping using a little pressure without the slurry and then removed it again by reintroducing the slurry. Like I say, I'm not sure if it really worked but it seemed to.

Originally Posted by Gibbs

Just thought I'd give it a try. Are not these slurry stones for creating a slurry on some hard flat surface? Seemed like a granite headstone sample might fit that bill. If one creates a slurry on a stone with the bout, then what kind of stone is normally used and has anyone made up a slurry on much finer harder stones?

Yes. if you search out Stefan/Mainaman's vid of his Nagura progression on a Japanese natural I believe that is the technique you are after...
But he is using a Hard Finishing stone as the base, not a piece of Polished Granite...
There has also been some experimentation in using a Spyderco UF as a base for Nagura and for Diamond and CrOx particles/pastes/sprays, again a hard finishing stone..

The Granite as a base is not unknown for lapping other stones..You are going to have to give it a try and let us know how it works for razors..

I happen to look up micron and grit sizes and these are really minute particles. a micron is 1 millionth of a meter or 1,000 of a millimeter and a 14,000 grit translates into 1 micron, in which there are 25.5 microns in one thousandths of an inch. Once you get up to 50,000 grit that is used for polishing emeralds, it is really small particles, about 1/2 micron. So on a 12,000 grit stone, such as the Chinese 12K or some of the Coticules, we are talking stuff that can pass though most membrane filters. At the winery we filter down to 0.45 micron, for bottling but we also filter into tanks at around 1 microns at times. Red blood cells are about 8 microns and many bacteria are 2 microns.

source: Just Ask Jeff: How are grit/mesh/micron related and what is what?

Definition of 'Micron'

So with the Belgian Coticule, it's slurry is what would be important more so "probably" than the actual stone it is used on, as long as it is at least 8,000 grit or above.

I will have to check it out with that piece of granite and report back here. I'm afraid simple dial or digital calipers ain't gonna cut it here. Only the smoothness of the blade against the skin might tell. Volunteers???

Gibbs,
You may have hit on something entirely new - at least in my experience! Rubbing a coticule slurry stone (cotigura) on a piece of granite will give you a relatively flat surface with honing slurry on it. It just may work. People use all kinds of slurries on pieces of glass or steel in order to hone some edge. My suggestion is to take a look at an edge under magnification, note the dark or oxidized level of the bevel and then hone on the granite with the slurry. Do about 20 strokes and take a look under magnification again to see what has happened. That's one way to know for sure!

I took a good razor that is quality and it woud not pass the HHT. So, I just used the granite piece with just the Coticule slurry stone, made a slurry, honed the razor, and then stropped the razor. It now passes the HHT at least.