Coticule love... show off your rock

[Sebrazor]

Here are my three new freshly lapped beauties.
After 800 grit sandpaper and a slurry stone, there was still a crunchy sound of sharpening steel.
I then rubbed the stones together, very hard feedback now and still not really noiseless with bigger razors. But now they are perfectly smooth and ready for finishing razors. The upper stone was an extra-extra, sold in 1960. The others were not labeled with extra-extra, but they may have been. I honed two razors on the middle stone today (10"x2,2"), it was sold in 1961. The shave was perfect, super sharp and still skin-friendly. The lower stone has the same age, the glue that was used on this three is equal. Hard to believe, how many blades have to be sharpened to wear it out in such a way.
A bit strange, that there is some glue on the sides of the stones. Maybe the 60 year old glue began to flow in hot summers.

 

[Sebrazor]

I was wrong, this stone is so incredibly hard and fine that I thought it must be a La Dressante. Maurice told me, it is a La Veinette that is very rare, super fine and fast.

 

[Sebrazor]

Crazy, I just saw this on a coticule store:

 

[kcb5150]

Something new.. I am expecting high speed in all ways but it could fool me. 8x2! Proper bench stone...

 

[David]

Nice stone, Keith.

 

[Sebrazor]

Looks like superb quality rock, very nice.

 

[Namkcakram]

Crazy, I just saw this on a coticule store:
View attachment 1015887

I’m confused why you don’t have this one yet... you need to stop messing around with all those 10”x2” peasant rocks and go for a real serious stone!

 

[Sebrazor]

I’m confused why you don’t have this one yet... you need to stop messing around with all those 10”x2” peasant rocks and go for a real serious stone!

Oops, 18.7"x4" whoppers would be nice for all kind of guillotine blades I think. But I am modest, I stick to classic razors for shaving, a good 1.5" to 2.5" wide stone suits me just fine.

 

[rideon66]

Nice stones fellas. Never find coticules lime that anymore.

 

[Sebrazor]

I posted this stone before, it was an extra 1, sold around 1960. It is a La Dressante au bleu together with the top layer La Dressante, which is very rare. A super fine stone with a good speed. On those you can easily hone a razor from a 1k to shave ready, and the shave will be great for sure. The reason it was an extra 1 and no extra-extra is a natural fissure crack, that goes about 2" through the stone. Looks somewhat scary for blades on the photos. Fortunately, it can not be felt and the stone is usable for razors. The burst at the edge is like a small hole, the razor slips over without any problems. In my experience, cracks are safe in coticules, as long as they are made by nature.

 

[Sebrazor]

This natural grown from 1961 was already broken and glued together again. But the old resin glue has failed. The stone fits perfectly on the BBW, like a puzzle piece. Some new glue, some weight, some sandpaper and voila, a beautiful 9 7/8"x2 1/2" La Veinette is ready for use. There is only 1/8" to 1/5" left, but I think I can still hone a few thousand razors, the rescue attempt was definitely worth it. It is exactly as a La Veinette is described in ´grinding and honing part 4´.

 

[kcb5150]

I posted this stone before, it was an extra 1, sold around 1960. It is a La Dressante au bleu together with the top layer La Dressante, which is very rare. A super fine stone with a good speed. On those you can easily hone a razor from a 1k to shave ready, and the shave will be great for sure. The reason it was an extra 1 and no extra-extra is a natural fissure crack, that goes about 2" through the stone. Looks somewhat scary for blades on the photos. Fortunately, it can not be felt and the stone is usable for razors. The burst at the edge is like a small hole, the razor slips over without any problems. In my experience, cracks are safe in coticules, as long as they are made by nature.

Reminds me of this one that I have. Was the main stone I used for a long time. Superior performance.

 

[Sebrazor]

Very nice stone. I do not know if I am right, but yours is a vintage for me from the look. I have one that looks like yours, it is very very fine. But it is a bit different to my newer one, which particularly become noticeable when honing with slurry. Both are really good, two of my best. Maurice told me, the upper layer La Dressante has more garnets and that is why it has often cracks, which should completely filled up with manganese. The crack could damage the razor. Otherwise they cut them to bouts. Does your stone cause problems?

 

[kcb5150]

No, no issues. It's extremely fine for a coticule. This is very old, it was likely originally in a huge paddle. I prefer the upper layer as a working stone myself, but I prefer either to most.

 

[Sebrazor]

I am glad to hear that it does not cause any issues.
Here is my vintage together with some stones from the Burton Rox era. I am no expert, but I think these could be La Dressantes.
The creamy white layer at the bottom stone is way faster than the bit La Grise looking layer on top. I just tested it with a knife. Crazy, I can hone a knife on such a small area . The edges from these two really want to cut hair, and they are wonderful at it. The upper stone is not tested yet.
The second layer of the vintage looks coarse with its red dots, but who knows. The vintage is the only stone where some hybrid is present between the layers. The crack also causes no issues. Water tends to bead off a bit on the vintage, but this does not cause any problems. It seems the paddle needs a bit oil

 

[Sebrazor]

Here can be seen a great historic documentation about the mining and production of the Belgian Coticule. These people did a great job, even today the vintage and new stones give me a great pleasure. Looks it was a back-breaking job in former times.

 

[Namkcakram]

This natural grown from 1961 was already broken and glued together again. But the old resin glue has failed. The stone fits perfectly on the BBW, like a puzzle piece. Some new glue, some weight, some sandpaper and voila, a beautiful 9 7/8"x2 1/2" La Veinette is ready for use. There is only 1/8" to 1/5" left, but I think I can still hone a few thousand razors, the rescue attempt was definitely worth it. It is exactly as a La Veinette is described in ´grinding and honing part 4´.

He doesn’t often glue Coticules together... but when he does, they’re always clamped by the weight of other Coticules.

 

[Sebrazor]

It is only logical, there is no better weight.

 

[Sebrazor]

These two are very hard and fine. The one with the red streaks is a ted finer and smoother. The other has small green lines at one end, the photo shows it not so good. Never saw this before on a coticule. It also has a crack in the yellow side, but it is harmless. Both are very nice to use with slurry, the shave was nice from both.

 

[kcb5150]

Forgot to throw a picture of this one up. I bought this a few weeks ago separated and fused it all back together. Faint blush on one end.