Thread: New natural.

Originally Posted by Scipio

As everyone thinks it's a coticule, my mind has warmed to the idea. I never thought it was one as the texture looks so different to my coticule. This is more of a glassy finish with a slight shine to it which increases the more I use it. It is very thin with no sign of BBW anywhere, again a reason I dismissed the possibility of it being a coticule. I tried to raise slurry again on it and it is in fact harder than other coticules, the slurry only turning a hint of grey after numerous circles with a razor. I therefore believe it to be a slow cutter and a fine finisher than other coticules, but later testing will be conclusive.

Les Latneuses, aka 'hybrid' coticules don't really have a BBW layer - they consist of a 'hybrid' layer sandwiched between two coticule layers. The 'hybrid' layer is not simply a mixture of coticule and bbw: sometimes there are blueish veins and even black manganese dots, but in appearance it is glassy, browns/greys/muddy yellows predominate and it is very hard taking on - as you noted - a sheen or shine.

One such has been found with quartz inclusions and the owner likens it to novaculite. Mine is an exceptionally good finisher - it is slow, but gives a very crisp, shiny edge. I haven't got a full coticule/hybrid/coticule sandwich as one of the coticule layers is missing, but the coticule layer that remains is streaked with red bands and cuts very fast with slurry, although it slow with water and gives a fairly decent edge - not as good as the glassy hybrid layer, though.

Here is a slip of hybrid layer from a posting on another forum:



Mine is very similar in appearance, but luckily is of a decent size.

Regards,
Neil