I picked this up at an antique store for $7, and I'm pretty sure it's a bbw/coticule combo, but before I lap it and start using it I just want to have someone verify my assessment.Attachment 100184Attachment 100185
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I picked this up at an antique store for $7, and I'm pretty sure it's a bbw/coticule combo, but before I lap it and start using it I just want to have someone verify my assessment.Attachment 100184Attachment 100185
lap it with a DMT1200 diamond plate..which is also great for bevel setting....lap your coti with the DMT as well..my friend told me a story of when barbers used to resharpen their straights..they never lapped em..no idea why not?
But is it a bbw/coticule combo?
If you lap it the yellow side will make light yellow slurry and be fairly soft, the BBW side will make purple/blue slurry and be fairly soft, if it's slate the slurry will be greyish. If it's man made there's a good chance it will be very hard to lap.
It looks like a coticule to me, it will be easier after lapping to tell for sure
Just lapped the yellow side, and it kicked up a lot of creamy light yellow slurry after a couple passes. Guess I got lucky with a buying a coticule for the price of a super sized big mac meal!
You will like it for sure!
Check the other side as well. It looks like a glue together instead of a natural, but there's a fairly good chance it has a BBW on the back.
Here's mine for comparison
5 7/8" x 1 3/8" X 3/4"
Glued Coticule/BBW combo
Attachment 100186Attachment 100187Attachment 100188
That looks like a "vintage" coticule. If it is, then the likelihood that the dark side is Belgian Blue (and not slate) is fairly high.
It also appears that the dark side is dished in the middle (rather than the light side being dished in the middle).
If it's a vintage coticule, and if the dark side is BBW, and if the dark side is dished, I'm scratching my head.
From what I read, only recently has the BBW been discovered as a useful tool for sharpening. My understanding is that in the "old days" BBW was used as a backing simply because it was mined cheaply from the same hole. They even use[d] BBW as construction material.
My unlearned conclusion: your hone's previous owner was either a sharpening trendsetter who bucked convention, or someone who was lousy at reading directions!
Jimbo, my directions just say lay razor flat on the hone. :p Never said which side! lol. I've come across a passle of dished on both sides coti/bbws. :)
OP: I think it's what you think it is. Congrats!
Looks like a coticule to me. GL with it.
I agree with Jimmy and you have a bit of lapping to do on both sides as both are dished. The BBW
is just more dished than the yellow side. Enjoy.
Although it looks like a Coticule/BBW combo with the picture quality as it is it could also be one of those synthetics made to resemble a Coticule/BBW. It is odd the dark side is worn and the slurry of a Coticule is usually white/milky. BBWs have a very characteristic pattern so look up a couple of BBW pics and compare.
The slurry could definitely be described as milky, but not exactly white. It's a little off-white. Pretty pale. As a dad, I'd say it's the color of (my apologies in advance) breast milk.
Certainly looks and sounds like a coticule. Post some pictures now that it's cleaned, that would clinch it.
Could be, but I question the stark contrast between the dark and the light. I see no transition that I would expect in a natural progression from blue to yellow!
Regards,
Howard
Edit: Not saying its not a coticule, just questioning the natural combo of the BBW/Yellow. Hope it's a great finisher!!
Most likely a vintage yellow coticule glued to a blue Belgian wetstone.
The blue side's slurry should be a creamy purple colour.
Another note, not that you don't have plenty of help already!
A coticule should give off a definite earthy-musty odor as you lap into it (no, not like breast milk!). If it's synthetic it will probably smell synthetic.
Here's the mostly lapped stone and some slurry. If by "earthy" you mean smells like fresh plowed dirt, then it definitely smells earthy. One might say it smells like a rock. I wonder what on earth would make the slurry smell like a rock...
Yeah, I meant earthy as in the definition of earthy, I guess.Quote:
Originally Posted by apvonkanel
Resembling or suggestive of earth or soil: "an earthy smell"
Nice find. Congrats. And I would recommend using something a little coarser than a 1200 DMT to lap coticules, but to each his own.
Looks like a coti, I have found a few like that with the bbw dished like that. It won’t be hard to lap flat with some 60 grit wet & dry or Silicon Carbide powder, finish on a DMT or 220/320 wet/dry.
It probably belonged to a butcher or commercial fisherman, saw one of those commercial fishing shows the other day where the guy was going to clean some fish, he pulled out a big coti/bbw, slapped the coti side down and sharpened his filet knife on his dished bbw side then gutted his fish. That stone is probably older than the dude.
Oh well, it’s just a tool. Good find, they are out there.
Anyone with any experience using the bbw's? Any remarks? I've been using a King combo (1K/6K) and a Norton combo (4K/8K).
Some have used it as a finisher. My progression is Coticule with heavy slurry with a few dilutions, BBW light slurry, BBW water only, Coticule light slurry, coticule water only. This seems to work for me very well.
I always set the bevel with a 1k stone, it would be very slow going with a Coticule/BBW
Quote:
Originally Posted by apvonkanel
Just a note: all BBW generate slurry when used on water only at least a bit. I have used all the blue sides on my coticules (I have four, one with an unusable coticule side) in different progressions similar to Rod as well as finishing and from start to finish (after setting a bevel on something else, dulling it, then re-establishing the bevel on the BBW), with varying succes but mostly very good results. For the finishes: they are nearly identical to coticule finishes.
It handles similarly to a coticule, although not quite and there is some (yet minor) difference between different BBWs.
You can use it next to coticules (or other hones I guess, although I wouldn't know where to insert in a synthetic progression as I have never used one), instead of coticules or as finishers. I personally have found them to be as useful as coticules, although a bit more finicky (as they generate slurry).
However you look at it, I sadly still see it defined as having 4k grit properties on SRP and nothing else, which is a gross misrepresentation of its abilities.
Pithor,
Yes, I agree. BBWs and coticules for that matter are like any Naturals, each
will have its own honing property and ability. Any natural stone cannot be grit rated, except possibly within a range and then, only by those who have compared resulting tool stria to matching known grit synthetic stones. Even then there may exist a stone outside of those boundaries, so why bother. Test it, if it works you have a finisher. I have a few BBWs some finish some don’t.
Hello,
My progression (for now... :) ) is king 1000, king 4000, BBW then coticule. When i hone i find i developed the most of my "sharpness feel" on the BBW with a good slurry. And it seems to work really well after the king 4000. I would say the king 6000 and the BBW, for me at least would be neck and neck in your line up.
Thought id add my 2 cents as you mentioned you have king hones. But every natural is different so you'll have to find your own place for it.
Nathaniel
So far it looks like my Dovos like my C12K more than my coticule. I have a few vintage razors I'll try before it ends up in the the back of my toy closet.
