Thread: Coticule kosher

Originally Posted by English

I also believe that the Kosher coticule is a grade with no discolorations throughout the hone.

The color of Kosher Coticule or its slurry is cream yellow/white to pink/rose (or a pink/rose shadow).
No green or grey shades, no very bright white surface.

These stones come from some rare Coticule veins which we only come across rarely.

We are 100% sure that there are no faults INSIDE the Coticule.

Selected Coticule stones don't have faults (or have very minor faults which don't effect the Coticule) ON the surface but we don't guarantee that there are no faults INSIDE the Coticule.
Selected means "the stone is selected as best stone out the current stock", so it's the best stone we have at the time of ordering! Selected = hand picked out of the stock.

Originally Posted by English

Kosher does not refer to hardness or softness.

This indeed is our statement (Ardennes Coticule) but it isn't the statement of all Jewish Rabbis/users.

We sell Kosher stones directly to Belgian Jewish Rabbis. Sometimes they prefer a harder stone and sometimes a softer one.
The Jewish slaughters ALWAYS want very soft stones! But Jewish cooks are happy with harder stones as long as they are 100% Kosher (= 100% without faults on the Coticule surface and INSIDE the Coticule).

Why are the Jewish slaughters so picky to have an extremely soft stone? This way they don't need water to hone their large knives (knives of 40-50 cm!) and they can create slurry on the stone with the blood of animals. When you are a ritual slaughter and you have to kill 100 cows a day then you are covered with blood. The Coticule stones which is in a pocket at their right or left boot is covered with blood. They take out the Coticule stone, hone their knife, put the stone back in the little pocket at their boot and continue with their job.

Originally Posted by English

As for the differences between coticules, well I believe that the differences are not great. The garnets that do the cutting are I believe all of the same general shape and size. So the variables are how many garnets are rolling around and are they rolling around on a hard or soft surface.

Some Coticule veins can compete with 12K stones, other Coticule stones are more 8K stones.
High grit means small garnets. So a stone with a higher grit does have smaller garnets than a lower grit stone (grit = amount of garnets in 1 square inch).
The shape of the garnets mostly are the same.

Originally Posted by Bart

I think it's more important that you told Rob the purpose for your hone, than what label (Kosher, slelect or standard) it is carrying.

This my friend indeed is very important!!!
Wood workers need very hard stones, straight razor users want soft stones.
So when ordering from us always tell us the purpose of the stone you are buying!
There's a comment text box at the check out of our online shop.

PS: stones bought through Howard are always very good for straight razor honing!

Thats right just what i thought i here how coticules can vary .

How do i tell a hard coticule to a soft coticule?

Aha! So the secret for honing with a coticule is to wait until we cut ourselves shaving and then grab the coticule and hone away!

Originally Posted by gary haywood

How do i tell a hard coticule to a soft coticule?

Years ago a barber told me that if you could scratch the coticule with your fingernail it would be a better hone then if you couldn't. Rob mentioned scratching a soft coticule with the fingernail in one of his posts. So maybe that is one way to tell.

Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

Years ago a barber told me that if you could scratch the coticule with your fingernail it would be a better hone then if you couldn't. Rob mentioned scratching a soft coticule with the fingernail in one of his posts. So maybe that is one way to tell.

Really? I had to grab my coticule from the bathroom and try this out. Turns out I could scratch it a bit with my fingernail. (I tried on the side of the stone, I wouldn't dare scratch the honing surface) So I guess that means I have a soft one!

Dave

Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

Years ago a barber told me that if you could scratch the coticule with your fingernail it would be a better hone then if you couldn't. Rob mentioned scratching a soft coticule with the fingernail in one of his posts. So maybe that is one way to tell.

This is the only way to check if your stone is a harder or a softer one.
So don't bit off your fingernails when you are patiently waiting for your new ordered Coticule stone!

Originally Posted by ArdennesCoticule

This is the only way to check if your stone is a harder or a softer one.
So don't bit off your fingernails when you are patiently waiting for your new ordered Coticule stone!

I have checked my coticule my wife used her nail as she has good nails and her nail did mark the surface but did not form a deep scratch so i should imagine this would mean my coticule more hard than soft but not rock hard probably medium to hard ? and should be suitable for honing razors?

Originally Posted by gary haywood

I have checked my coticule my wife used her nail as she has good nails and her nail did mark the surface but did not form a deep scratch so i should imagine this would mean my coticule more hard than soft but not rock hard probably medium to hard ? and should be suitable for honing razors?

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but my take is that hard, soft or medium the coticule can be used for honing razors. The garnets are in a matrix of sedimentary clay that has hardened to rock over years of pressure. As the razor moves over the surface a softer matrix allows the garnets to be exposed more quickly and therefore removes metal more quickly. Forinstance I have one coticule that is a very fast cutter while another is quite slow. The slow one is great for polishing so it has it's place. The only way to really tell where your coticle fits in the progression is to use it and see how it performs.

Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but my take is that hard, soft or medium the coticule can be used for honing razors. The garnets are in a matrix of sedimentary clay that has hardened to rock over years of pressure. As the razor moves over the surface a softer matrix allows the garnets to be exposed more quickly and therefore removes metal more quickly. Forinstance I have one coticule that is a very fast cutter while another is quite slow. The slow one is great for polishing so it has it's place. The only way to really tell where your coticle fits in the progression is to use it and see how it performs.

To be onest i have used this coticule on a couple of razors that were pritty good shape and shaved well. I thought i'd give them a thew laps on the new hone and i would say they shave realy nice now i do finish on chr which i think without a shadow of dout defanatley gives a smoother finer edge to me personaly. And the coticule with just slurry did make the razors performance not as good but honing after with just water did undo that and razor shaved well again. I've used the hone on a pritty dull razor and with slurry i was amazed by how fast i got a sharp feeling edge from such a smooth hone if i would of purchased a coticule first i would'nt of purchased a norton 4k 8k or a 12k kitiyama but it is all a learning curb and i'm sure my noton 1k and 4k 8k 12k kit will come in handy but the coticule realy is a nice hone and also saves time not having to soak in water like the norton.