Help Identify stone

Hi Everyone.

I'm a newbe here, just got my first razors, stone, and strop off of ebay today. Already everyone here has been very helpful, thanks!

The stone that I received didn't have any information about it other than it was a "razor" hone, and was really beat up. I read the faq on this site about lapping stones and ran out to the hardware store before they closed and got some 400 grit wet-dry sandpaper and went to work flattening the stone on both sides. Man what a difference! At least look and feel wise, all the scratches and edges sanded right out.

So now I am taking my first steps on the long path of learning how to hone and was hoping someone could give me some insight on what kind of stone/grit I have from some pics. I know it's probably a long shot, but what the hell right? The auction was in Belgium which makes me think it could be from there originally.

any ideas?

thanks

Certainly seems to be a coticule, my favorite finisher. The back is likely slate, the way to tell if it is a belgian blue waterstone is if it has a colored slurry (not black) when you lapped it.

Hey shotwell1234,
The slurry was kinda purplish/brown/black. If there is such a color.:hmmm:

It seems there are so many options out there for hones and it looks like a lot of people have a variety of them that they use in combination. Any suggestions on something that would be complimentary with this one?

thanks

If the bottom turns out to be a belgian blue (which it sounds like it may be) you have the majority of my progression right in your hands. I use a DMT 1200 or a Suehiro 1200 to set bevels (though a norton 1000 would do the same), move up to the blue with just water, and then the yellow with just water. I recommend another hone to set bevels other than the blue or yellow as they are both VERY slow at this. If you are just trying to maintain a pre-sharpened edge, you have everything you need.

That's a yellow coticule, but I can't make out from the picture if it's a yellow bonded to a Belgian Blue (this practice is not done anymore but was decades ago; what I mean is, you can't buy a yellow coticule bonded manually to a Belgian Blue new today) or if it's simply a yellow bonded to a slate backing (slate won't sharpen steel).

When you describe the lapping slurry as purplish, that would clearly indicate Belgian Blue (which is not blue but purple) BUT.........I have 4 Belgian Blue surfaces and not a one creates a slurry which has black in it.

Get past the grime on the dark side of the stone when lapping it until you know you're lapping a clean surface. Then wipe some of the slurry on a white cloth. IME you should only see purple color. You'd confirm that that it's a Belgian Blue.

When I hone on the belgian blue and use one of my Belgian Blue slurry stone (blue slurry on blue stone) and wipe off the razor, I wipe the blade on the one white T-Shirt I wear to hone. Unmistakably purple colored slurry.

Let us know what you find out.

Chris L

Nice find. I agree that it's probably a man-made combo stone.

How soft is the darker stone? I had to lap the slate on my coticule so it would sit flat, and it was a lot more work to lap than a blue Belgian. The blue is so soft that just swirling it on wet sandpaper with no pressure will quickly build a slurry. I do love that hone... :)

Josh

Alright.

So I did another round of lapping and the slurry is defiantly a purple color. I guess that means that it is a blue stone combo. Whew, I was really bummed when I first dug into my package and looked at the state of my new stone, now that I did some lapping and hearing from you guys I'm feeling a little bit better:D Thanks for the FAQ on lapping JoshEarl!

One of my razors seems in like new shape with no sharpening wear, but my other one looks as if it was put to the hone every day. the spine has a big flat spot and the edge looks bigger than my other razor(wider i guess, I'm still learning the lingo). I've been trying to get it sharp all day now and it still seems really dull. Oh well, I guess I'll keep trying!

Now, I get to work on my strop! It's a old loom strop that I washed with laundry soap after reading a thread here. Man! black as night! the screw that tightens the leather seems stripped which I'm thinking might be a good thing as some threads here say that loom strops lead to curling of the leather. It's drying now, so I have to wait to try it out clean!

I'm just sorry that I got frustrated earlier today and shaved with my mach3. Now I have to wait a couple days to grow more beard!:cry:

Here's the rub on your new hone: It'll take you FOREVER to get a dull razor sharp with it. It can be done, but you must have the patience of Job.

You need one more hone, something in the 1K to 4K range. A lot of guys would use the Norton 4K. I use a DMT 1200-grit diamond hone.

The purpose of this coarser hone is to remove the damaged metal from the edge, setting it up so you can polish it with your beautiful vintage combo hone.

You only need to do this once, so it might be worthwhile sending the razor out for that first honing. Once it's shaving, your hone will keep it in top shape forever, unless you drop it. :eek:

Josh

Awesome. Thanks again for the great advice! I might look into another hone in the future, and it's great to know what to look out for.

I've gotten one of my razors fairly sharp, at least a lot sharper than it was, but it still doesn't pass the HHT. I think I'll be pretty happy to see that first hair crack in half.:rolleyes: I've been trying to go slow and not use too much pressure and resist the temptation to speed up as I seem to just get sloppy and I figure that's not helping the edge any. I'll keep reading the posts here and try to get more ideas...

cheers,