Thread: Home I.D. Please (I think I got a bbw/coticule combo for $7)

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.

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

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. 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.