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La Petite Blanche

I won a LPB in a raffle. So excited. Any tips on using this baby? I heard she is fast.
 

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I’ve got two and both work best finishing under running water, depends how hard it is though.
Mine are both of medium hardness and cut very fast
Ive found after a set or two of half strokes a faint hint of slurry starts to build which once it starts rapidly causes the release of more slurry if not washed away.

I’ve found a very slowly dripping tap works very well, dilute with drops of water as needed to keep slurry from becoming an issue and for the finishing stages a lightly running tap works well for me

Let us know how you get on bud

Rob
 

Legion

Staff member
Congrats. I’ve had a few, and the one I still have is my workhorse. It gets used for everything from bevel set up to 95% finished. I could use it for the whole thing, but it needs a bit of extra work to go the last bit, and I have other hones that are easier, but it definitely can be used for the whole job. If you had to choose to only have one stone, LPB is a good choice. And getting harder to find these days, too.
 
I’ve got two and both work best finishing under running water, depends how hard it is though.
Mine are both of medium hardness and cut very fast
Ive found after a set or two of half strokes a faint hint of slurry starts to build which once it starts rapidly causes the release of more slurry if not washed away.

I’ve found a very slowly dripping tap works very well, dilute with drops of water as needed to keep slurry from becoming an issue and for the finishing stages a lightly running tap works well for me

Let us know how you get on bud

Rob

Thanks for the tips. I’m curious how this stone works. I’ll let you guys know how it does.
 
LPB can be pretty hard and almost glassy, and they can be softer and a little more grainy - those are usually very fast.
They can be glued to slate, or a natural combo. I do not recall a glued combo LPB but because I have seen more than a couple glued to slate I can imagine there are glued combos out there.

Moral of the story is, as it is with all Coticules, take each stone on its own merits. Every vein will produce stones with some consistency, along with outliers. Get a blade, get it on the stone, see what you are getting out of it and adjust slurry/technique accordingly.

Stones from the newer location have been different than their sisters from Old Peru; not saying better or worse or whathaveyou - but there have been notable differences in stones from the same vein. La Vienette comes to mind, going back to Old Rock stones, then Old Peru, and Regne' - it seems there were 'signature types' from each location and I have to assume outliers from each place also. The point is, all stones are different so evaluating them on their own merits is really the only sensible solution to figuring them out.
I had a 6x2 LPB that was so fast I could set bevels on it under 10 minutes. Had another one that was slow as a slug in winter. Judge each stone on its own merits. All veins produce stones with various traits and personalities.

I'd like to know how the vendor id'd that stone. Many LPBs from OP did have a 'look' that was readily visible, but there were other veins with similar traits too. I have not come across any Maurice-verified Regne LPBs but anything is possible.
At any rate, it looks like a nice stone and the shape is great. Big slurry stone too which is also pretty neat.
 
The lines on the side and the pinkish / orange hue in the Coticule layer does give me a good feeling it is indeed a LPB. It looks a lot like the one I have from Ardennes. It gives me the same feeling / vibe. I'm fairly certain.

I love mine, I have two.
One straight from Ardennes and the other a LARGE vintage one, the vintage one feels grainy and is SUPER fast. The one from ardennes is actually very smooth and very fine, but also very fast; a superb all round stone.
As mentioned, it is a true workhorse.
If you would need one Coticule that could do it all from bevel set to finish in the easiest way possible? The LPB are very hard to beat.
 
Congrats. I’ve had a few, and the one I still have is my workhorse. It gets used for everything from bevel set up to 95% finished. I could use it for the whole thing, but it needs a bit of extra work to go the last bit, and I have other hones that are easier, but it definitely can be used for the whole job. If you had to choose to only have one stone, LPB is a good choice. And getting harder to find these days, too.

Thank you kindly for your reply.
 
LPB can be pretty hard and almost glassy, and they can be softer and a little more grainy - those are usually very fast.
They can be glued to slate, or a natural combo. I do not recall a glued combo LPB but because I have seen more than a couple glued to slate I can imagine there are glued combos out there.

Moral of the story is, as it is with all Coticules, take each stone on its own merits. Every vein will produce stones with some consistency, along with outliers. Get a blade, get it on the stone, see what you are getting out of it and adjust slurry/technique accordingly.

Stones from the newer location have been different than their sisters from Old Peru; not saying better or worse or whathaveyou - but there have been notable differences in stones from the same vein. La Vienette comes to mind, going back to Old Rock stones, then Old Peru, and Regne' - it seems there were 'signature types' from each location and I have to assume outliers from each place also. The point is, all stones are different so evaluating them on their own merits is really the only sensible solution to figuring them out.
I had a 6x2 LPB that was so fast I could set bevels on it under 10 minutes. Had another one that was slow as a slug in winter. Judge each stone on its own merits. All veins produce stones with various traits and personalities.

I'd like to know how the vendor id'd that stone. Many LPBs from OP did have a 'look' that was readily visible, but there were other veins with similar traits too. I have not come across any Maurice-verified Regne LPBs but anything is possible.
At any rate, it looks like a nice stone and the shape is great. Big slurry stone too which is also pretty neat.

I agree! I’ll work with the stone first with water. See how fast it is. It has a BBW which I’m thrilled about. I usually do 1K for bevel sets but where does the BBW come in after synthetic progression?

I’m unsure how the seller knows it’s LPB.
 
The lines on the side and the pinkish / orange hue in the Coticule layer does give me a good feeling it is indeed a LPB. It looks a lot like the one I have from Ardennes. It gives me the same feeling / vibe. I'm fairly certain.

I love mine, I have two.
One straight from Ardennes and the other a LARGE vintage one, the vintage one feels grainy and is SUPER fast. The one from ardennes is actually very smooth and very fine, but also very fast; a superb all round stone.
As mentioned, it is a true workhorse.
If you would need one Coticule that could do it all from bevel set to finish in the easiest way possible? The LPB are very hard to beat.

Awesome! I’m thrilled to have spent $8 in a raffle to win this. I’ll work the stone good to gauge it’s capability. I love coticule honing. Once I nail a coti edge it is usually lovely smooth. I have a few that I have nailed so far.
 
where does the BBW come in after synthetic progression?

I've yet to find any good reasons for using BBW for anything other than cutlery. If I leave a 1k and then go to Coticule, there is nothing BBW can do that yellow Coticule doesn't. There's just no point to adding a step that affords nothing to my progression. Literally, Coticule does it all. So I keep BBW for knives.

I’m unsure how the seller knows it’s LPB.

In the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter, every stone is it's own thing and the hole it came out of doesn't mean much. Vein names were originally for the quarry workers, not retail marketing. Photos are not a good way to ID stones, and even when it's in-hand getting a positive/accurate ID can be next to impossible. Even quarry workers can mistake identities.
Looking at your photo, the name LPB is not jumping out at me. But because stones vary, looks will/can be deceiving. There's a lot of name-assumption going on in the retail world, and I am wondering if that is diluting things somewhat. So I am always both curious and hesitant when 'famous' vein names are dropped unless Maurice or Rob have weighed in on it.
Like the seemingly never ending Tsunami of La Viennete a few years back.
During that time-frame, every stone everyone found or sold was magically a La V. It was ridiculous. But it doesn't matter really, I've had some La V I got along with very well, and some that don't behave the same at all.
 
I have a few lpb stones. They are pretty awesome and always provide great shaves.
I usually set the bevel on another stone but it’s doable on a coti with lots of slurry and patience.
After the bevel is set I usually do laps of 20/30 and then add a drop of water. Keep going until you’re down to pretty much plain water(it will take a while depending on how thick of a slurry you started with)
Once you’re down to plain water rinse the stone and razor and do some laps on the plain water.
You can always do a drop of soap after you are done to try and push the edge further.
 

Legion

Staff member
I've yet to find any good reasons for using BBW for anything other than cutlery. If I leave a 1k and then go to Coticule, there is nothing BBW can do that yellow Coticule doesn't. There's just no point to adding a step that affords nothing to my progression. Literally, Coticule does it all. So I keep BBW

this. I only use the blue for knives. And that is so I don’t dish the more valuable yellow stone.
 

Legion

Staff member
I have a few lpb stones. They are pretty awesome and always provide great shaves.
I usually set the bevel on another stone but it’s doable on a coti with lots of slurry and patience.
After the bevel is set I usually do laps of 20/30 and then add a drop of water. Keep going until you’re down to pretty much plain water(it will take a while depending on how thick of a slurry you started with)
Once you’re down to plain water rinse the stone and razor and do some laps on the plain water.
You can always do a drop of soap after you are done to try and push the edge further.
If I want to finish on my LPB I need to do it under running water. But it is a pretty fast stone.
 
If I want to finish on my LPB I need to do it under running water. But it is a pretty fast stone.
True some stones will be different so it’s all about getting to know your stone. I’ve had luck with plain water and just refreshing it after 50 laps, which is kinda like running water. If I add soap though it always gives a great edge.
 
This was sent from the person that did the raffle. My stone is in this pic. He is very knowledgeable about coticules.
 

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Well, back on the old Coticule forum, they found the BBW to pretty much have the same finishing capabilities as the Coticule. If not even more skin friendly.

In a blind side by side study of Coticule lovers, you know what stone was preferred between a BBW or Coticule?
Take a look: BBW Study

Also take a look: How does a Belgian Blue Whetstone compare to a Coticule? (a story about garnets)

I highly disagree about the usefulness of the BBW side on razors, the BBW side has a higher max keenness than a Coticule and is extremely useful.
People don't realize the similarities between a BBW and Coti is much greater than the difference.
There are differences, but both are extremely useful and good stones.
For my knives? I also love a BBW, always keener than a Coticule edge.
Easiest to get a smooth edge from? IME a Coticule
My best, smoothest and keenest edge ever? Came from a BBW from a natural combination stone, but I found it much harder to accomplish.

To each their own, but I LOVE my BBW as an in between before finishing on a Coticule on plain water.
It refines my edge in a more efficient and more advanced way than my Coticules.

But everybody does how they prefer. I find mine very useful and found their place in my honing routine.
YMMV.
 
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