Thread: 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:



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



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.

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.