Warning about natural Belgian combos

Sometimes you will find yellow belgians with a natural blue back. Mine is one like that. These are relatively rare because it is only possible to cut them like that if the yellow was on the edge of the seam, and happened to be backed by a relatively straight /even piece of blue stone.

However, you should not automatically assume that you can actually use the blue for razor honing.

After lapping my blue a couple of times, a dirty blackish vein emerged on the blue surface.
I can feel the difference between the seam and the rest of the stone when my razor touches it.

Lucky for me it is located at the end of the stone, so I can use the rest, though there are several tiny inclusions throughout the rest of the blue as well.

I think that unless you can inspect the stone yourself (or have someone whom you trust do it for you), do not assume that the blue side will be perfect. given that there is almost guaranteed to be a layer of crud between the yellow and the blue seams, you might end up with a nasty surprise.

Thanks for the warning Bruno (+ a bump :D)

Bruno,
Thanks for the post. I think when someone buys a natural they are expecting both sides to be good based on the premium they pay. If that were mine I'd be contacting the seller.


I had one Thuringen with a small line I missed, I asked he return it so I can replace it as at any price one should get what he expects.

Tony

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Bruno,
Thanks for the post. I think when someone buys a natural they are expecting both sides to be good based on the premium they pay. If that were mine I'd be contacting the seller.


I had one Thuringen with a small line I missed, I asked he return it so I can replace it as at any price one should get what he expects.

Tony

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Not exactly. The majority of the yellows are backed by slate, which is useless for honing (at least the kind they use for backing).

The fact that mine was backed by a natural blue was pure coincidence. it was just as expensive as the ones backed by slate. No premium was paid.
So in fact I bought a yellow, and got the blue back for free. It was sold purely as a yellow, so I don't feel I should complain.

Had I paid a premium for the blue back, I would feel differently of course, just like you say. But I got what I paid for. What I didn't pay for was not perfect, but I didn't pay for it anyway.

I posted a while ago but wanted to share this here too: my natural came with a long crack in the Blue stone. As I had paid for a natural (not just a Yellow) I contacted Howard from The Perfect Edge. I am not sure if the crack developed in transit or he missed it, but he promptly exchanged the natural and included a slurry stone (otherwise you have to buy those separately from him).

So I guess one would be well advised to inspect the naturals well, and - if possible - get them from a reputable vendor with good reputation

Cheers
Ivo

Bruno,
I must have confused your Belgian with another posters. I had thought you bought a natural for a very dear price. In that case I would want perfect. For les money I could live with a lot <g>

Tony

The belgians call a combination stone a "natural" and each one varies from the other. The stones are natural products and a degree of variation can be expected. The naturals I have handled, which amount to dozens over the past few years, have all been graded correctly i.e. the yellow is a standard belgian 8000 and the blue is a standard belgian 4000. Yes, you can get a vein or more often just a discoloration which is purely cosmetic. I would recommend lapping the blue side on a DMT Coarse stone to see if you can get past the darker vein as it may only be very thin - these are originally sedimentary stones that have been metamorphosed and thus do have layers.

Howard

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6118/bluejo2.th.jpg

my combo, and to the right Portuguese slate

First time I hear about Portuguese slate - anyone care to provide more info?

Thanks
Ivo