Thread: Belgian Blue 8k

The site shows them as belgian blue whetstones.All these numbers confuse me as I just asumed that if it's smoother than 4k then it must be an 8k.It doesn't say what grade it is but on the box it says "Ardennes coticule" like in the pics on the website.

Originally Posted by charlie762

The site shows them as belgian blue whetstones.All these numbers confuse me as I just asumed that if it's smoother than 4k then it must be an 8k.It doesn't say what grade it is but on the box it says "Ardennes coticule" like in the pics on the website.

A photograph of your stone would help.

Rob at Ardennes Coticule get's them out of the same quarry, but they're two different stones. Ardennes Coticule is the company name though, not that of the stone. Very versatile stones with the use of slurry.

I believe that a Belgian blue produces a same result of 6000 to 9000 artificial stones, depending of the use of slurry or water only.

But 6 strokes are insuficient for this type of hone
My oppinion is to try begining with 30-50 with slurry and finish with 30 -40 with water only. If needed increase the number of passes with slurry and
keep the finishing strokes with water only to 30-40

Originally Posted by sparq

A photograph of your stone would help.

If you go to the website,it's the picture at the bottom.
http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk/belgiancoticule.html

Originally Posted by charlie762

If you go to the website,it's the picture at the bottom.
http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk/belgiancoticule.html

You have bought another BBW. Ben got it right - the box says Ardennes Coticule but that relates to the manufacturer, not the stone.

Originally Posted by charlie762

If you go to the website,it's the picture at the bottom.
http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk/belgiancoticule.html

Ben.mid has it right. You have a Belgian Blue Whetstone (BBW), supplied by the company called Ardennes Coticule.

There is some info here: http://uk.ardennes-coticule.com/imag...le_english.pdf

Interesting quote on the BBW:

a high quality whetstone with identical sharpening properties as the "yellow whetstone" but only blue in colour ... Almost 30% of its weight is garnet, as opposed to the yellow which has approx. 40% garnet, this means it works just a little slower.

Identical sharpening properties? Maybe that's a simplification, but I bet a BBW on its own still makes a very fine hone. Especially if you use the trick of starting with a slurry but watering it down during the honing until you end up with just water.