Kosher Stones

There's been a lot of talk about kosher stones - can people elaborate as to what this means in terms of both quality of the stone and grit.

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by suzuki

There's been a lot of talk about kosher stones - can people elaborate as to what this means in terms of both quality of the stone and grit.

Thanks.

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I am no expert, but I think it has to do with the fact that the stone has to be of a very fine grit. For belgian coticule they favor a white color.
Because of this fine grit, the blade should be free of serrations, and very sharp.
I have heard that this is a requirement for kosher slaughtering of animals.

The problem of course is that high quality coticule that is close to pure white is very rare. Because of this, it is significantly more expensive.
I think that is why it is labeled 'kosher quality' so that you know the reason for the price, and so that the butchers know they can safely use that stone.

To add to Bruno's comments, I think that due to the multi faceted shape of the garnets (that are suspended in the slurry) used to sharpen the blade, the final edge is free of nicks, as opposed to the edge that results from the use of a std. waterstone etc. This is a critical issue for those involved in Kosher butchering/slaughtering.

Note that this distinction has triggered a lengthy thread in the past that deals with the technical side of "nick free" as opposed to the philosophical side. A search of coticules should reveal much.

I am sure that someone will contribute a more detailed post that will be more informative than this one.

This is the thread I was thinking about.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showt...oticule+kosher

Your guys learn well <g>. Basically it is the best of the best and f course most expensive stones that get this rating. I know with Belgians they ran about 30% higher and even at that only testing will tell what any particular stone will do, Belgian or otherwise.


Tony

Garnet xtls usually are Dodecahedrons (12 sided) and depending on the type of Garnet have slightly differing hardness though as members of the xtl group with the highest symmetry they could be modified cubes also. (Garnets are silicates and could be aluminum, iron, calcium,magnesium even chrome-there are many types) so that fact will not change no matter the particular coticule. I would guess what makes the better stones better is the size of the xtls in the matrix and the distribution throughout the matrix. I would imagine the type of Garnet should be the same within the same quarry and I would guess there is an ideal Garnet type for the coticule type though I don't know what variety that is. (can you guess what I majored in?)

Its a given that the best stones will be free of physical defects and be nice and straight.

I have looked at a lot of Belgians, Eschers and Thuringens under a microscope and even in any given type of stone the concentration and size of the garnets varies widely. in some they are large and easily seen. In others they are almost a solid field of tiny red dots. Somewhere in all this is the perfect blend of garnet to matrix that will make a stone really sweet to work with.


Tony