Quote:
I noticed many of the natural combo's posted have a soft gradation from BBW to coticule where as mine has a sharp almost centered border. Is one style considered more desirable than the other?
Yes, there is a difference. If the line between Coti and BBW is very sharp,
it is possible that the BBW has been glued to the Coti.
So it is an artificial combo, but not a natural.
A natural combo (as my own, see below) is grown that way
wich is way, way more rare.
The performance, however will not be affected by this.
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To add something new to the collection:
Tatatadaaaa
My La Petite Blanche in 200x60 mm
naturally combined to a inclusion-free BBW!
http://lesslemming.le.ohost.de/Coti/DSCF1531.JPG
The stone has some nice veins and lines, pure character.
It seems like this La Petite Blanche has a bit of "la veinette" in it,
but I am no expert so any comments are welcome.
http://lesslemming.le.ohost.de/Coti/DSCF1532.JPG
Heres another shot of the surface:
http://lesslemming.le.ohost.de/Coti/DSCF1533.JPG
Natural grown looks something like this:
http://lesslemming.le.ohost.de/Coti/DSCF1535.JPG
And here is the very nice BBW backing
http://lesslemming.le.ohost.de/Coti/DSCF1536.JPG
And wow, this thing
is humongous, for comparison sake with my green (la grise?) 180x50 Coticule
http://lesslemming.le.ohost.de/Coti/DSCF1537.JPG
With slurry this stone cuts like a champion, partly because of its huge size. It will cut a bevel and eliminate microbevels in no-time.
The bevel finish is, of course, way coarse than a j-nat,
but still it is shiny yet matte.
The stone is heavy and sturdy, but I can comfortably hone with it while keeping it in my hand.
Without slurry the stone still works fast, without auto-slurry, though.
It has a very nice and velvety touch to it
and will leave a very fine edge on a razor.
I have yet to shave with a razor finished of this stone