A Hone From the Past

I was sitting here thinking the other day, about knife sharpening experiences from my youth. I remembered having a whetstone that my father gave me, which I disliked very much. It was too smooth, and to a youngster in a hurry, took far too long to sharpen my hunting knife. Now, I was thinking, this might be something for a razor. So off I went, rummaging through some of the flotsam and jetsam of my past, and produced this beat up and dingy little stone:

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After lapping with a DMT 325, it looks and feels like something that might be a winner:

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Now, I am a complete novice at serious honing, and razor honing in general, but I am thinking that this might be a coticule. The dark stone is almost purple in color, while the light-colored stone is a creamy white. The light layer is quite thin on one side.

What are your thoughts? Is this something that I should try out with a razor? Is this a Belgian whetstone?

(Amazing how something of no value from the past can re-present itself as a highly desirable item!)

- Rod

Yes, that is a Coticule.
Good catch, give it a go with a razor and see what it does to it:)

That is kryptonite. The rock the almost killed Superman. Very dangerous. Send me a PM and out of the goodness of my heart I'll risk life and limb in properly disposing of it for you. :deal:

Before you hone on it make sure you round the edges a bit. Won't do the bevel any good if it bunks into a chip on the edge of the stone ..... nice coticule.

Actually a natural combination coticule and BBW ( belgian blue whetstone). personally i would lap it some more till at the grooves are gone and hone away!

It does look like a Coticule natural combo. Create a slurry on the blue side, If it's purple, it's Belgian Blue Whetstone...Nice find.

Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm going to do just that -- lap a bit more, bevel the edges, and give it a go.