Thread: Is my Yellow really a Yellow?

Originally Posted by Bart

It's a natural Coticule. Sometimes the transition between the Blue and the Yellow is a hard edge, sometimes it's a slow transgression. You might want to think that's not good, but for finishing you could be very pleasantly surprised. Usually Coticules that have a greenish shade, are slow slurry-cutters. But they have a good reputation for finishing.
You should definitely test is. Try finishing with water only. If you want to test it for slurry-cutting, raise the slurry with a DMT, instead of a slurry stone. That way you're only testing the slurry of the hone, and not the slurry of your slurry stone.
Should you find it on the slow side, use a "fast" slurry stone, and test again. On slower Coticules, the slurry stone can really make a difference.

If I had to pick one on merely seeing it, I would prefer this one over one that has the color of your slurry stone.
By the way, how does it smell (when you raise a slurry on it)?

Hope this works out for you,
Bart.

Bart, your ability to mind read is phenomenal. I was going to remark about the very "earthy" smell of the coticule in a write-up I was going to do later after honing a few blades with it. I loooooove the smell of the coticule! You've hiked the Ardennes region... does the air smell like this??

And you have the color nailed. It seems quite green in color. I'm glad to hear it has a good reputation for finishing, since that's really what I want it for. I want to pit it against the finishing ability of the shapton 16k. Although I must say that I also do plan on using the coticule *after* the Shapton 16k and 30k to see if I can retain the sharpness of the shaptons, but "refine" the edge (more comfort) with the coticule. So many things to test... so little time.

Thanks for the help, gents, I knew you guys would have this figured out for me in no time.

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

you are getting confused yourself.Don't pay attention to colors.100% this stone is natural combo stone .Possible you have get better stone then usual people gets.No one knows untill you will test it .check this picture. i think you are expecting similar this stone? but you need to know how your stone acts that is all matter .if it is acts similar 4k then forget about if it acts same as 10k or more then you must be very happy.This is why you need to test it.use blade and sharpen it.then check it undo microscope see what happens to your edge?

Both natural combo
small one is light color then big one and small is a lot better sharpener.

That was exactly what I was expecting, Bud, you nailed it. Thank you!!!

Originally Posted by Cornelius

I guess that answers your question, then.

That said, the fact that there is a darker part on the other side really should have given it away?

I agree the color looks more grey than yellow, that's for sure.

I don't know... is it possible to have a darkBBW/lightBBW natural combination? If the answer to that question is "no", then you're right: the fact that there is a transition in colors *would* give it away.

Pizza, you should have bought one from me...

Did you check with Rob?

Originally Posted by zib

Pizza, you should have bought one from me...

Did you check with Rob?

After checking all over the internet, I found that Rob had a non-combo in stock for alot more money than I paid for the stone in this thread. *Alot* more, and I really wanted a combo stone. I haven't seen yours available for sale yet.... did you get them in?

You have a yellow/BBW natural combo stone. Test the coticule side and hone with it. I don't think you'll have any problems there and you'll be happy with what you've received.

I have an 8"x3" combo natural. In no way is the coticule side "yellow". It's an olive green. The transition line is virtually indentical to yours in that it's a graduation rather than a demarked separation. The coticule side of the stone I speak of is hard and produces no slurry on its own and therefore is a good (albeit a bit slower than some of my medium soft coticules) polishing stone. Ok, a great polishing stone.

Like someone else said, don't focus on color. Performance is why you buy a stone like that anyway.

Interesting side note regarding my stone: The BBW side is a bit lighter than any other BBW I have. The BBW side on that stone cuts less aggressively than a typical BBW.

Chris L

These are all three Coticules. Actually the very first three that I ran comparative tests on, by honing up 2 groups of 4 Double Arrows (all razors from the same batch). The middle one comes form Ardennes Coticule, the top and bottom are picked up at abandoned mining sites. For finishing, there is very little difference. On the first test we finished a DMT-E / Belgian Blue progression with 100 laps on one of those three. The fourth razor, we left unfinished, for the sake of bare comparison. NO differences showed up in the shaves, that were performed blind (not blind-folded). We were only able to identify the unfinished razor. Later on, during another test, the bottom one was found to produce a slightly keener result when a sencondary microbevel whas created, by adding three layers of tape and honing a few laps on either one of those. That hone has a glassy surface.

Based upon how your pictures show up on my screen, I'd say that you're more without a real blue, than without a Coticule.

Bart.

Originally Posted by Chris L

You have a yellow/BBW natural combo stone. Test the coticule side and hone with it. I don't think you'll have any problems there and you'll be happy with what you've received.

I have an 8"x3" combo natural. In no way is the coticule side "yellow". It's an olive green. The transition line is virtually indentical to yours in that it's a graduation rather than a demarked separation. The coticule side of the stone I speak of is hard and produces no slurry on its own and therefore is a good (albeit a bit slower than some of my medium soft coticules) polishing stone. Ok, a great polishing stone.

Like someone else said, don't focus on color. Performance is why you buy a stone like that anyway.

Interesting side note regarding my stone: The BBW side is a bit lighter than any other BBW I have. The BBW side on that stone cuts less aggressively than a typical BBW.

Chris L

That's exactly the way I'd describe the color of mine. Thanks, Chris!

Originally Posted by Bart

These are all three Coticules. Actually the very first three that I ran comparative tests on, by honing up 2 groups of 4 Double Arrows (all razors from the same batch). The middle one comes form Ardennes Coticule, the top and bottom are picked up at abandoned mining sites. For finishing, there is very little difference. On the first test we finished a DMT-E / Belgian Blue progression with 100 laps on one of those three. The fourth razor, we left unfinished, for the sake of bare comparison. NO differences showed up in the shaves, that were performed blind (not blind-folded). We were only able to identify the unfinished razor. Later on, during another test, the bottom one was found to produce a slightly keener result when a sencondary microbevel whas created, by adding three layers of tape and honing a few laps on either one of those. That hone has a glassy surface.

Based upon how your pictures show up on my screen, I'd say that you're more without a real blue, than without a Coticule.

Bart.

Glad to hear that... while I do want to have both a BBW and coticule, I'm much more interested in the coticule than the Belgian Blue.

My latest e-blade is going to go: Shapton 1k, BBW, Coticule tonight.

Hey Pizza, No, not yet, I'm just messin with ya....and still waiting on Rob. He can take up to 4 weeks to fill an order.

Do you know about the Coticule scratch test? You can test them with a finger nail scratch. With a very soft stone you can almost peel off the Coticule. With a hard stone +- nothing happens. A medium stone, is well, in between the two. This is the explanation I got from Rob.
Maybe he'll join in and give us some more info...

Originally Posted by zib

Hey Pizza, No, not yet, I'm just messin with ya....and still waiting on Rob. He can take up to 4 weeks to fill an order.

Do you know about the Coticule scratch test? You can test them with a finger nail scratch. With a very soft stone you can almost peel off the Coticule. With a hard stone +- nothing happens. A medium stone, is well, in between the two. This is the explanation I got from Rob.
Maybe he'll join in and give us some more info...

Very cool.. I had no idea.. I'm gonna go see right now.