Thread: Belgian Coticule as finishing stone?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

...you will find that it is a natural stone so they actually differ between stones, as to the final finish, so some people who happen to have bought a very, very, fine one will tout it's finishing capabilities, but that does not necessarily mean that the one you get is going to be as good...

I just got my second coticule and the difference between the two is night and day. My initial combo is almost too coarse and fast to use as a finisher, and the combo I got from Ardennes is slower and almost as fine as my Nakayama. Go figure!

That just means you need to buy a LOT of stones, otherwise you don't know what you are missing!

While it eats its way down in a scratch pattern with each stroke, a Coticule becomes increasingly slower. That's because the initial sharp peaks of the previous (Norton in your case) scratch pattern are easily abraded, but the flatter and rounder they get the less effective the Coticule with only water becomes. Without slurry a Coticule will never (within a humanly reasonable amount of laps) reach the valleys of the previous scratch pattern. Anyone can check that out with magnification.
Because of this, it really does not matter much how many laps you make, as long as you keep the pressure low, and do enough. I usually recommend 70 to 100. You won't overhone on a Coticule.
For the same reason it is imperative that you hit good keenness before the Coticule. Don't expect that a Coticule with water will make up for a lack of sharpness. With water, it "nicefies" the edge, rather than sharpening it.

I agree with Joke1176 on his observation, but we must not exaggerate those differences. Most Coticules sold for razor use, will be very nice finishers. Some are ultra-finishers, but I don't think the 8K offers the keenness to bother with those.

Bart.

Originally Posted by Bart

...I agree with Joke1176 on his observation, but we must not exaggerate those differences. Most Coticules sold for razor use, will be very nice finishers. Some are ultra-finishers, but I don't think the 8K offers the keenness to bother with those.

Bart.

Bart raises a good point: In most cases, they will be pretty similar in character, give or take a few thousand grit wise. There are some oddball hones out there, especially if you buy from ebay or whatnot, but everybody that buys from the mainstream sellers around seem to have similar assessments of stone abilities.

Thanks for all response. What then would be recommended as a good finishing stone after the Coticule?

A thuringian stone is a great finisher, its also known by its dominant brand name, Escher.

I have not experimented with it enough to draw my own conclusion yet, but I recall that a web site selling Thuringian hones declared that there was little benefit to be gained by using their hone after a coticule.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I have not experimented with it enough to draw my own conclusion yet, but I recall that a web site selling Thuringian hones declared that there was little benefit to be gained by using their hone after a coticule.

That is the Timbertools website. The quote is, "The Escher is NOT recommended as a final hone if you have used the natural Belgian garnet stone in advance. We are often asked about this combination use and can, at best, offer the advice that Belgian hones produce an edge without burrs, therefore that edge is already drawn to a more ideal finish, not gaining any advantage using the Escher."

I am glad I hadn't read that before I started using an Escher blue/green after a coticule. I got fine results and I am pretty sure Lynn has written that he has used an Escher after a coticule as well. I know that he has used it after the 4/8 Norton. The Shapton GlassStone 16K may have shot the Escher out of the saddle for Lynn now. I'm not sure ? I feel that the edge finished with an Escher or a hard coticule is more comfortable then that off of a synthetic hone.