Thread: What did I buy?

I just got this on ebay. It was apparently owned by a barber, and this time the claim seemed plausible since a lot of barbering stuff was offered by the same seller, including a wonderedge and a couple of goldedges. I think I have an idea what it is, but I am not sure: I just ran into it soon before the auction's end...

Could you take a pic with better lighting?

This might be a very dirty yellow coticule. The front half looks a bit like it.
If the color of the back half is not dirt, then I wouldn't know that type of hone it could be.

+1 on it being a coticule. I was watching it to see what it sold for. Not all coticules are one color.

I had a low snipe set on that one, suspecting it was a vintage coticule. If so, congrats. Maybe even a natural combo.

Josh

Yeah, it might be a coticule. Might be a coticule/belgian blue combo (either natural or glued) as well. If you lap it and then take pics and post them we might be able to tell you with slightly more certainty

Thanks, guys. I was hoping as much. Although I do admit I got into a bidding war like an ebay newbie. I will post some better photos once I receive it.

OK, the stone came today. It was in pretty sad shape. It appears to have been well used, with rounded edges, but the bad news was that the yellow surface (10 o'clock in the photo, which I did not notice ) had surface irregularities / chips which were quite deep.

The good news is that it is indeed a vintage natural combo coticule. The blue side is actually more a brownish-reddish purple.

So I spent quite a bit of time this afternoon lapping the surface flat. I honed up a razor, and ... it was worth the ache I feel on my arms and shoulders (I just used wet/dry 320 grit sandpaper).

It is smallish, barber hone size at about 4" x 2.5" so it takes more flips of the razor, but it sits nicely in the palm of my hand.

Ray,

You got a good deal, in my opinion. That is a hone for a lifetime, and the extra work was worth it.

Congrats!

Josh