Thread: The......Belgian Brotherhood?

.is there a difference in value between [...]

This of course depends. Genrally spoken, yes there is a difference in value.
A naturally grown combo stone is far more rare than an artificial one.
Anybodoy can glue a coticule to a bbw.
So given the chance you find someone looking for something rare as this,
he will eventually be willing to pay more, than for an artificial.

Looking at the pictures of your 8x3 Combo I am in doubt if this is a naturally grown coti/bbw combo.
The edges of the border are very sharp for a grown stone.
But then again, I am no expert.

Originally Posted by Lesslemming

This of course depends. Genrally spoken, yes there is a difference in value.
A naturally grown combo stone is far more rare than an artificial one.
Anybodoy can glue a coticule to a bbw.
So given the chance you find someone looking for something rare as this,
he will eventually be willing to pay more, than for an artificial.

Looking at the pictures of your 8x3 Combo I am in doubt if this is a naturally grown coti/bbw combo.
The edges of the border are very sharp for a grown stone.
But then again, I am no expert.

My stone was purchased from Michael Poe of Best Sharpening Stones who is highly regarded on the forum and has an impeccable reputation, I doubt he would falsely describe a high end stone such as mine. Besides, the two stones do not meet with a perfect straight line border but rather waves to one degree or another on each side of the combo...I doubt the quarry hand carved each stone to fit into each others crevices.

But you missed the point of my original question. It's not whether a natural combo is more valuable than a bonded combo, of course it is. The question was whether a natural combo that has two clearly defined stones is more or less valuable than one that gradates between the two.

WineGuy

For what its worth, I think its a natural. There looks to be a natural line rather than a glued one. Look at my earlier post and you can see my 3 cotis. Two of them have a sharp difference like yours, while all 3 of them are natural.

Here it is again:

Originally Posted by WineGuyD

The question was whether a natural combo that has two clearly defined stones is more or less valuable than one that gradates between the two.

That depends, if it is genuinely a true natural I would say there is no difference. If you have an eye loupe or a microscope take a look at the seam to confirm it one way or the other. While the 'true' natural formed by metamorphic forces has more 'cool' factor it is not better than a glued combo. It may not be as good as some individual stones or it may be better. IME with a couple of dozen there have been slight differences but they have all been reasonably close in performance.

Originally Posted by WineGuyD

The question was whether a natural combo that has two clearly defined stones is more or less valuable than one that gradates between the two.

The abruptness of the boundary has pretty low significance to the overall value of the hone - for me. That particular aesthetic just doesn't mean a lot to me personally.

Here's a few detail shots to mollify the skeptics that thought my 8x3 stone was not a "nztural combo".

yes, it is much more evident now. It´s clearly a natural.
Unfortunately it seems to be grown to schist* that is (almost) unusable for sharpening action.
But the stone is extremely nice anyway!


*unless the colouration of the picture is messed up

Originally Posted by Lesslemming

yes, it is much more evident now. It´s clearly a natural.
Unfortunately it seems to be grown to schist* that is (almost) unusable for sharpening action.
But the stone is extremely nice anyway!


*unless the colouration of the picture is messed up

Looks to me like there are actually three layers. 1) Coticule with a natural contact to a 2) thin BBW layer (lighter color in middle). The bottom of the BBW has been lapped and glued to 3) a schist (darker, thicker layer at bottom). Pics 1 and 3 show this best. I'd say the BBW was deemed too thin to be usable (or stable) and was glued to the schist.

That's my interpretation. YMMV....