Thread: belgium blue

would a belgium blue benifit my yellow coticule if used together and what would the honing process be.S would i use bbl first with or with out out slurry . If anyuses these two hones could you explain your honing process please as this would help me decide wheather or not to buy a bblue to use before my coticule as mid range hone bearing in mind i mainly refesh my razor when they are starting to struggle.

I've been using this progression with good results lately . . .

• DMT 1.2K to set a bevel on ebay specials;
• Belgian Blue with slurry, which I dilute with plain water over the course of a couple hundred laps (until DMT scratches are gone);
• Coticule with light slurry, which I dilute with water over the course of a hundred or so laps (until BB scratches are gone);
• 50 laps on the Nakayama with plain water (this step is almost gratuitous; razors shave fine after the coticule with plain water).

One of my most consistent honing progressions is the following:

Hone on DMT 1200 till the bevel is flawless and sharpness maxes out.
At that point a razor shaves arm hair like a charm. I also manage to pass a crude version of the HHT at this stage. (The hair needs to be dragged a bit across the edge before it catches and pops).

Next I do about 50 to 70 passes on a Belgian Blue with a light slurry.
This refines the edge further, in a way I could never do with a coticule. (I have run very extensive tests on that statement)

Next I finish with about 70 to 100 passes on a coticule with water only.

This gives me very decent edges with a good longevity.

There were times that I left out the Blue and replaced it with a honing session on the coticule with slurry, that I gradually diluted with water every 20 laps, till the slurry is completely washed away, finishing with those same 70 laps on water only. At best the results were as good as the method that includes the Blue. But the results were far less predictable with the diluting slurry method.
The blue is fairly inexpensive, and although it's a slow cutter, it's an very rewarding stone to use. I've had amazing results, creating a secondary bevel on a blue with water only. I have more experimenting to do before sounding the big bells, I just want to illustrate that there's more than one way to use a hone, and conducting personal experiments is part of the fun.

Best regards,
Bart.

By the way, I often read how the blue is a slower cutter than the yellow, but my blue is faster than any of my three coticules.

I use the Blue Yellow progression but to be honest, I did so simply to reduce the wear on my cherished yellow coticule. The blue is cheap enough to replace, has a wonderful feel and all, but my yellow puts such a fine finish on the edge that I'd rather save it for the final strokes and let the blue wear away in a blaze of...... err... make that "in a puddle of slurry!

Regards

Christian

I use the coticule as my final stone whether refreshing or working on an eboy special. I rarely use the blue. If I need to fall back I use one of the norton stones. The blue is just too slow for general use, (for me) there are better choices.

I wouldn't be worried about saving the yellow because of wear. Its not a norton 4k. Its hard and you could hone a million razors on one without any serious wear.

I'm in the middle of transitioning from one system of stones to another. Having learned the basics on the very trusty Norton 4k/8k combo plus pasted strop to finish (using diamond pastes), I was getting very sharp edges, though somewhat delicate and ephemeral (due to the pastes) and the shave could sometimes be a little rough/irritating on the skin.

I've been playing with a Belgian Blue Whetstone and have been very impressed with it. Like most here, I've found it cuts effectively with a slurry with which I hone up to 100 laps. I'll then switch to only water on the BBW for up to another 100 laps. I then polish on a coticule with thin slurry or just water.

I've been incredibly impressed at how smooth the shave is. I'm going to try chromium oxide paste instead of diamond. But certainly, for refreshing blades, the BBW then coticule gives a great edge and a very smooth shave.

(For setting bevels, I use a DMT 1200.)

How dow i create a slurry on a belgium blue as mine does'nt come with a slurry stone.

Gary, most of us creat slurry on stones that don't have a matching slurry stone by using our diamond lapping plates (finer grits are better). I use a DMT D8E which is a 1200 grit. It works well.

Jimmy HAD uses a credit card sized or at least uses a smaller DMT to make slurry.

I had an 8"x3" Belgian Blue cut up about six months ago specifically because I wanted a Belgian Blue slurry stone to go with my Belgian Blue. I sold the extras to other members. Someone could run with the same idea, but the demand is not high.

Chris L

i've got a diamond lapping plate the one you mentioned thanxs for that.