Coticule / Natural hone help

ok, so not too long ago I received a coticule from a member here and have since obtained another.
now the first coticule I know is a La Nouvelle vein coti and is a VERY slow cutter with just water and comparibly fast on slurry, but I know this from the information the previous owner (Disburden) supplied me with. And my second was a VERY lucky grab from the 'bay a Glued cot/BBW.

so my main question is this, with my new coti how do I know what to do? I mean obviously I need to play around with it a little but how? what do you do to figure out how a new coti or any natural stone works? I know the basic two check cutting speed with and without slurry but are there any other plans of attack I can use?

my second is does anyone else have a coti that looks like this (the longer coti), seen another like this, have any idea how old it may be? I love the look and the inclusions that may look like chips have gotten bigger after lapping a 3-5mm dip out of the center.

the short, stout lighter coloured one is the La Novelle. The long skinny one is the new one, it has a slight green tinge to it and deffinately feels (when honing) rougher than the other.

Thank you for reading my long winded question ^_^

Donald

I like to see how fast it removes steel with slurry.

Take a razor that is already shave ready and take it to the coticule with just water. See how the edge changes.

I also like to use the "unicot" method bart talks about(double bevel method) when testing an unknown.

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Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

I like to see how fast it removes steel with slurry.

Take a razor that is already shave ready and take it to the coticule with just water. See how the edge changes.

I also like to use the "unicot" method bart talks about(double bevel method) when testing an unknown.

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What Ben said is all I know to do. Hone some razors, see how fast or slow your water/slurry begins to turn color with swarf. I don't know one vein from another or what the significance of one or another is. I heard the "La Veinette" was a fast cutter but I bought one from Ardennes a few years ago that is so marked and it is slow. I just take them and play around without paying attention to names of veins. The green tinged coticules I've had have tended to be slow with water only and faster with slurry. No surprise there. Pinkish, or yellow/cream with pink bits have been faster. You have to find where each one fits in by honing and trying the edges. No other way I know of to do it. :gl:

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Originally Posted by KalgoorlieBoi

so my main question is this, with my new coti how do I know what to do? I mean obviously I need to play around with it a little but how? what do you do to figure out how a new coti or any natural stone works?

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I have several natural stones, including coti. I advice you to start with lapping. Probably you do not know full story of your stones. Lapping makes a sort of zero point, from which the story of your stones start. It will give you an opportunity to work with these stones right from the beginning.