Thread: Mystery stone - is it a coticule?

Originally Posted by SteveS

Thanks for the suggestion. I lapped it for a while last night to expose some fresh stone and got out my 100x Radio Shack special. I could see what looked like a red garnet here and there, but they are few and far between. It looked something like the attached coticule photo from Tim Zowada's stone surfaces page.



Is the lone dark particle in the upper right corner of his photo what you mean? Besides a coticule, what else could this hone be?

Meant to say: put the slurry on a slide and look at it under a mike. Garnets should look like this:http://www.belgischerbrocken.com/

Click on "INFOS" and click on 1st or 3rd pic on left.

That looks like a coticule to me. The dimensions are correct. The manmade stones that have that color are usually wider. I have a couple of the manmade also. If the dark side is a solid color then it is slate but if it is kinda speckled then it is also a natural stone but of a coarser grit.

Lap that hone and try it.

Despite the posts to the contrary, I still believe it to be a coticule!

Steve,
It does indeed look like a coticule and you can tell even from the thumbnail by the slate base. No other stone looks like that! Coticules vary in color. They range from light yellow to dark tan to tan with figure that makes them look like bacon in some instances. The color has nothing to do with the honing capabilities. If they are graded then they are suitable for honing razors. The dark color may have come from someone putting oil on it. I have some of those in my collection. It's nothing bad but if you want it to go away just lap it with a DMT8C and it will lighten up.