Thread: Belgium Blue : Amazing Stones !

The BBW does a fine edge, as the recent study showed. I've done the uniblue (tape) but tat2ralphy gave a good method for no tape, using normal x-strokes, rather than the uniblue backstroke. I've only done one each with the method, but the uniblue was a bit crispy for me - 'toned it back down w/ the coti on water. The Dilublue from Ralphy was coti smooth - very satisfying.

I've resorted to backstrokes on the BBW if I have any trouble bringing the keenness up on a blade.

I used to think BBWs left a great edge after shaving with cartridge razors then only experiencing the edges of BBWs and cotis. Im sure they'd still leave what I'd consider a respectable edge, but I prefer an Escher's edge.

Im not surprised many people believe a BBWs edge to be satisfactory, considering 90% of sharpness comes off a 1K, and 95% of 4k, 99.5% of 8K etc...4-6K is fine....especially when many of the secrets of honing are in the hand. Neither would I be surprised if some honers amongst us can achieve a superior edge of a BBW than others can of 8Ks and above.

Bottom line: My edges are far more comfortable off Thuringians.

I posted a while ago about this BBW that I have that leaves godly edges. Finer than the coticule side... IDK... The thing is, I did this little experiment where I polished a piece of metal with the slurry and the scratches from the BBW are definitely bigger. The coticule side though seems to work faster??????? I decided to drop that before I went crazy and just decided that the BBW leaves a hell of a good edge. The feel of the blade on the face though is different, the coticule seems to be smoother but doesn't cut as comfortable as the BBW side, but! the BBW leaves the skin a bit red and is harsher.
Anyway I decided to drop that experiment, the edge of a Jnat is best to my liking. Puma plus Jnat= hair squeegee and I just don't mess around with all that anymore. My sanity has no price.

Originally Posted by pinklather

The BBW does a fine edge, as the recent study showed. I've done the uniblue (tape) but tat2ralphy gave a good method for no tape, using normal x-strokes, rather than the uniblue backstroke. I've only done one each with the method, but the uniblue was a bit crispy for me - 'toned it back down w/ the coti on water. The Dilublue from Ralphy was coti smooth - very satisfying.

I've resorted to backstrokes on the BBW if I have any trouble bringing the keenness up on a blade.

I have been using the Dilucot method, which I like the results very much, so I will use the same method with the BBW... Dilublue. I'll use my white scaled gnome on the coti, and the black scaled gnome on the BBW. I bought them both at the same time, so I'll look for serried differences, wear differences, etc.

I'm going to try a couple test razors on the BBW to get a feel of the stone before comparing the BBW to the Coti this weekend.

I am afraid we are once again focussing too much on grit size here. It is the shave test that counts at the end of the day.

We all know that edges of say 10K diamond hone behave totally different from edges off 10K aluminium oxide. Grit size is particle size. Diamond particles are spikey, coticule and BBW particles are almost spherical.

I honed my TI Super Gnomes this past weekend, using my white one on my coti and my black one on my BBW. I followed the Dilucot and 'Dilublue' method.

I went right to the shave without stropping. They both shaved okay, with the coti the more comfortable of the two. Using a magnifying lens it does seem the markings on the blade are more visible on the black than the white, so it seems the BBW is a bit more coarse than the coti.

After the initial shaves, I used my felt strop with 0.5 diamond spray to clean up the job a little. 20 laps on the BBW black, 10 laps on the Coti white. I tried the black this morning and the 20 laps on felt made it better, but still needed a little more, I did 10 more laps on felt. I'll test the white with only 10 laps on treated felt tomorrow.

Basically, I feel I could 'get by' with just a BBW and a pasted strop, if I had to. But Why??? There is always a 'better' way

quick question: does it matter if i make my slurry on my belgian blue with a nagura stone, or should i use a bbw/coti slurry stone?

I would think you are honing with the nagura slurry instead of bbw slurry.

Originally Posted by Kees

I am afraid we are once again focussing too much on grit size here. It is the shave test that counts at the end of the day.

We all know that edges of say 10K diamond hone behave totally different from edges off 10K aluminium oxide. Grit size is particle size. Diamond particles are spikey, coticule and BBW particles are almost spherical.

I totally agree. There are a lot of examples showing that you can get a good shaving edge off of many hones, you just need to know how. Some are easier, some are faster, but in the end, the skill does only matter. (almost)