Mastro Livi - coticule maintenance

Very interesting, new content from Mastro Livi. How to take care of your coticule stone? Good information, albeit costly: you need a pair of stones
https://youtu.be/FJHrYKOJJvE
If you did not see this gentleman's videos, you should.

I have immense respect for the man, but Livi needs to invest in a diamond plate. :gaah:

Using a pair of stones is how it was done before diamond plates existed. Gets the job done. :shrug:

I had read about guys doing that before I finally tried it, and I got real good results from refreshing two coticule stones against each other. Following that they both performed better than they had when I lapped them with a diamond plate. Now if I get a coticule that is dished I would lap with the DP. But if they are just needing refreshment I do the two against each other. Interesting that Mastro instructed to rub parallel, and not in circles. I'll give that a try.

Yeah, definitely straight motion, not circles

My guess would be that even coticules "like" some polish. Maybe not to the same extent as Arkansas stones in most cases, but like any other natural stone a smooth scratch free surface imparts a finer, more polished edge.

Exactly. If you lap a natural stone with a diamond plate you should always either give it some time to wear back in to it's optimum finishing state through use or use a like material rubbing stone to smooth out the surface a bit before expecting the best the stone can do in terms of edge quality.