Thread: Blue and Yellow Belgian Hone help

I was given a Belgian blue and yellow two sided hone by a friend. I am told that I need a slurry stone in order to use it. I guess my question is: Will this be all I need to hone and make touch ups on my razor, and what slurry stone will I need? Thanks

I would get a matching combo slurry stone. Slurry stones are made of the same material as your stone. Check the classifieds and you can probably find what you need.

depends on what condition your razor is, what exactly does your hone do (they can vary significantly), and whether you're happy with the edges off that hone, but the answer is tentatively yes.

you could get a similar small piece of yellow/blue combo - for example at one point few years ago i cut a combo stone that nobody wanted to buy into pieces and sold them as slurry stones.
or you can get a small diamond hone to generate the slurry.
or you can use even a piece of completely different hone to make a slurry.

depending on your actual hones you can get slurry mostly from the main hone, or mostly from the slurry hone. there really isn't a way to know before you try it out.

a lot of options would actually give you pretty much the same results.

Tonight, I tried the BBW for the first time, and my slurry stone appeared to be glued, and the blue side didn't look like BBW, so I assumed it was slate. I see no reason I couldn't have used the coti side, but I raised BBW slurry w/ a synthetic ruby stone - worked fine.

There's a slightly different technique for BBW - finishes w/ very light slurry instead of just water, and finishes with spine-leading strokes but the results were quite pleasing. 'A bit more crispy than the coti side, but very respectable. Be aware that cotis are said to respond to stropping more than other rocks. Though Bart (coticule.be) would say more than 60 fabric, 60 leather gives no added result, that has not been my experience. Maybe I'm lacking something on the finishing stage & the extra stropping is making up for it?

Anyway, the coti will do everything but the chipped and damaged edge repairs. Other bevel setters are more efficient, but it will do it. 'Very pleasing edges, though I've yet to have it equal the asagi. Others repeatedly get results they prefer to the jnat.

Originally Posted by pinklather

Tonight, I tried the BBW for the first time, and my slurry stone appeared to be glued, and the blue side didn't look like BBW, so I assumed it was slate. I see no reason I couldn't have used the coti side, but I raised BBW slurry w/ a synthetic ruby stone - worked fine.

There's a slightly different technique for BBW - finishes w/ very light slurry instead of just water, and finishes with spine-leading strokes but the results were quite pleasing. 'A bit more crispy than the coti side, but very respectable. Be aware that cotis are said to respond to stropping more than other rocks. Though Bart (coticule.be) would say more than 60 fabric, 60 leather gives no added result, that has not been my experience. Maybe I'm lacking something on the finishing stage & the extra stropping is making up for it?

Anyway, the coti will do everything but the chipped and damaged edge repairs. Other bevel setters are more efficient, but it will do it. 'Very pleasing edges, though I've yet to have it equal the asagi. Others repeatedly get results they prefer to the jnat.

+1 on the slurry stone, or use a credit card size DMT plate to raise slurry.

Now, can anyone explain to me why for a BBW the finishing is suggested as a spine leading, or to me, a stropping stroke? Also, is it just so slow that a light slurry is needed even when finishing? Water will not do it? I have not explored much of the BBW on either of the combos I have or the one little BBW I have yet to try. Thanks for any help.

Natchez, I don't know if you've already seen the BBW study. If not, it's the last pdf on he page here. I followed the recipe, with a few more strokes and alot more stropping, and got results the first time. It's a hoot. 'Especially for the grenade in the thinking that a gucci layer is the holy grail, when the humble blue can really kick butt too. I'm new to the coti, but its been alot of fun and I'd gladly live w/ the edges and not miss much.

I'll probably confuse the discussion, but my understanding of the spine-leading stroke is the coarseness of the abrasive affecting (colliding with) the edge, where if it must ride through the bevel section, it's less disruptive.

Originally Posted by pinklather

Natchez, I don't know if you've already seen the BBW study. If not, it's the last pdf on he page here. I followed the recipe, with a few more strokes and alot more stropping, and got results the first time. It's a hoot. 'Especially for the grenade in the thinking that a gucci layer is the holy grail, when the humble blue can really kick butt too. I'm new to the coti, but its been alot of fun and I'd gladly live w/ the edges and not miss much.

I'll probably confuse the discussion, but my understanding of the spine-leading stroke is the coarseness of the abrasive affecting (colliding with) the edge, where if it must ride through the bevel section, it's less disruptive.

Thanks! I read the study and it is, as you suggested a means of avoiding edge disruption.

I have been using my coti's and my face hurts from the lack of quality edge i got from it..
yes have read everything at the Belgium site many times and the edge looks great under a scope but wow is it harsh...

Originally Posted by shayne

I have been using my coti's and my face hurts from the lack of quality edge i got from it..
yes have read everything at the Belgium site many times and the edge looks great under a scope but wow is it harsh...

Begs the question, what razor and what was the condition before you began honing it on the coticules ? Have you been shaving with straight razors and previously gotten good shaves ? Off the top of my head I'm wondering if the edges were ready to go to a finisher when you brought them to the coticule ? The info on websites, whether here or otherwise, suggesting honing a dull razor from start to finish with a coticule can work, but it generally takes some honing expertise to end up with a really good shaving edge.

Originally Posted by shayne

I have been using my coti's and my face hurts from the lack of quality edge i got from it..
yes have read everything at the Belgium site many times and the edge looks great under a scope but wow is it harsh...

That's strange, I've never had a coticule edge that could be described as harsh. Although sometimes the honing was an exercise in patience (starting the dilucot procedure over 2-3 times) the edges were, in the end, always great. For me this would seem to suggest that you were not yet quite "there" with the honing procedure for the coticule.

So, back to the stones you !! Did you dull the edge before starting, btw ? Did you do bevel work on eg a DMT first ?