Thread: Combo coticule conundrum

Here is what looks like a natural combo stone I grabbed from a local antique shop for $15. Great, right? There is only one problem, and it's a big one.

It has been used nearly to death, has a significant dish in the center/side of it and...To get the thing lapped flat, it will end up at max thickness of 0.350". How fragile are these stones?

I would like to really lap the whole thing flat, but I may just make 2 triangular stones out of this one for traveling. I really dig the iridescent spotted purple side, it looks pretty cool under sunlight.

You should ask Howard about this really. My understanding is coticules are very fragile, that's why they bond them to slate for the stability. Also to flatten out a natural stone to that degree will take some doing. Its not fast like a Norton.

so the yellow is dished out, eh? looks like you'll either have to be happy with the smaller sizes, but i personally will keep it large. there's plenty of stone left for honing many many razors - these don't seem to wear much at all.
the blues are rather sturdy (no I won't tell you how i know) and the yellow isn't all that delicate - it's a stone afterall. if you drop it it'll break, but under normal usage I won't expect any problems.
you may want to make a box for storage, though.

and yes check with howard.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

You should ask Howard about this really. My understanding is coticules are very fragile, that's why they bond them to slate for the stability. Also to flatten out a natural stone to that degree will take some doing. Its not fast like a Norton.

That's what I have read too. Meh, for the price I would be fine with 2 stones. I started lapping it and I would say it's harder than the Norton but not as hard as my Carborundum hones...and not as hard as my Spyderco hones (heh heh heh).

Right now, I would rather have access to both sides of a smaller stone than resort to cementing the thing to something to stabilize it and only using the yellow side. I am going to set it aside and think about it for a while.

Originally Posted by gugi

so the yellow is dished out, eh? looks like you'll either have to be happy with the smaller sizes, but i personally will keep it large. there's plenty of stone left for honing many many razors - these don't seem to wear much at all.
the blues are rather sturdy (no I won't tell you how i know) and the yellow isn't all that delicate - it's a stone afterall. if you drop it it'll break, but under normal usage I won't expect any problems.
you may want to make a box for storage, though.

and yes check with howard.

Yeah, pretty bad, pic #2 shows it, the dark part (excluding the water coloration) is the dished spot. Worse than it looked at the local antique shop.
BUT...what can you do when the HAD bug takes hold of you?

That is a conundrum. What a beautiful stone though. If it were my stone, I would succumb to temptation and lap both sides. If I didn't pay a lot for it and it broke, I'd use a bout from it, or cut it up/have it cut up into combo slurry stones, keep a few for myself and sell the rest off inexpensively to others.

Chris L

If it were my stone I would opt to lap the yellow side and use it. There still looks to be plenty of life left in that stone.

Glue it to a glass or stone back.
That way you can use the yellow without breaking it.
Unless you spends months on the road, it's not really necessary to travel with hones.

I like mounting it to glass. That way I can still look at the purple side.

Big thanks to everyone who has responded thus far!

Originally Posted by heavydutysg135

If it were my stone I would opt to lap the yellow side and use it. There still looks to be plenty of life left in that stone.

I agree with Heavyduty. There's a lot of yellow left, and from what I can see in the photos you wouldn't lose much stone to flatten it. The blue is what appears to be really worn. I would lap the yellow only – not the blue – and treat it as a particularly beautiful coticule rather than a combo stone.