Thread: So how exactly are the Coticule stones which we all love so much produced?

The atelier:



The place were the magic happens: our workhouse, store, storage room and bureau (located in the Belgian Ardennes).
Coticule whetstones have been produced in this building (built in approx. 1865) for over 140 years.
The left part of the building (2 windows, 1 door and another window) is the main workplace (atelier). This is the place were the raw Coticule rocks are cut up into pieces and the end products (Coticule and BBW whetstones in all sort of sizes) are made.
The right part of the building (large arc window with a door in the middle) is our store, storage room and bureau space.

This atelier is also used to produce natural construction stones (like the ones our building is made off). These stones are stored in pallets in front of the building.


The quarry:

Our quarry is located at "Thier del Preu" (which means "height of Preu", Preu is a place name). Our extraction site is approx. 300 meters by 100 meters and we are at a depth of +/- 50 - 60 meters. The quarry is at a 2 km distance from our Atelier.
We need to extract approx. 2 tons of rocks to have 1 kg usable Coticule.

Main view on our quarry right after the winter of 2007-2008 (before the pumping started). The water has a height of +/- 10 meters.



Second view on the quarry (you can see my father Maurice, with the green jacket, together with a visitor standing on a rock which tops just above the water).



Two photos of Coticule veins.