Coticule love... show off your rock
- Thread starter Drybonz
- Start date
Update on this stone, now that I have tested it out.
I think this could be my new favorite hone. It was a very dished vintage that I sorted out, and I’m glad I did because the edge off it is a winner. I want to try it with a few more, different razor styles, but I think I might be putting my other finishing hones away for a while.
I think this could be my new favorite hone. It was a very dished vintage that I sorted out, and I’m glad I did because the edge off it is a winner. I want to try it with a few more, different razor styles, but I think I might be putting my other finishing hones away for a while.
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First natural combo, Le Dressante au Bleu perhaps?
Seems very fast and fine under its first blade. It feels extremely hard when honing.
Seems very fast and fine under its first blade. It feels extremely hard when honing.
Just got my first; an old barber's stone, quite reasonably priced off UK ebay. Wasn't listed as a coticule so didn't attract much attention. I need to read up about these, and use &c. but I had a couple of q.s if anybody might be able to help...
Are the markings on the surface of this one indicative of any particular layer or type?
This is quite a thick stone already, has been glued in to the paddle, and I think probably goes down further. Should I try to remove it and clean everything up? Or leave as is...?
TY for any advice / opinions!
Are the markings on the surface of this one indicative of any particular layer or type?
This is quite a thick stone already, has been glued in to the paddle, and I think probably goes down further. Should I try to remove it and clean everything up? Or leave as is...?
TY for any advice / opinions!
It’s very hard to identify vintage stones.
Unless the stone comes off the paddle easily, I would probably leave it on there. Looks like a pretty good stone. Good score.
What is the black dot on the end? A hole?
Ah, is it... I didn't know how easy (or not) it was to identify them from the patterns.
The black dot is indeed a drilled hole, I assumed from the ebay pictures that it went all the way through and was some kind of thing to fix it to a wall or something before it had the paddle made. But actually it only goes down 3 or 4 mm... so no idea what it's for tbh.
I might try to see if a bit of gentle warming might loosen some old glue, though the whole thing is in surprisingly clean and good condition, so there's no particular need. Certainly not like buying old oilstones!
Looking at the sides of the hone, it might have used it with oil. That will clean off easily enough. Maybe the hole was an oil reservoir? No idea, I’ve not seen that before.
A little heat would be a good start. I’ve heard of people glueing hones into boxes with wax.
Nice looking stone!
I'm not much of a paddle guy so would remove it, but that's me. It looks like some work went onto it so might be worth saving.
I have sawn stones off of wood when I didn't want the wood. Sawing very close to it makes it easy to pry the rest off by hand then clean up.
If you want to save it then try some heat first, then maybe some solvent along the edges along with knifing down the sides.
I'm not much of a paddle guy so would remove it, but that's me. It looks like some work went onto it so might be worth saving.
I have sawn stones off of wood when I didn't want the wood. Sawing very close to it makes it easy to pry the rest off by hand then clean up.
If you want to save it then try some heat first, then maybe some solvent along the edges along with knifing down the sides.
I really don't know why I bought this as I knew it was likely to be a very thin layer and it had stated damage but it was on the bay forever for no money.. Prizing it from the box was amazing, it must have separated at one point along the diagonal manganese fissure, whether it was a drop or just spontaneous I have no idea but the person who fixed it fused it back with red wax of some sort and about half an inch of it was fused to the bbw on the bottom. It was like somebody glued a coti back together with melted down fernslers ruby hones... Anyway, I got that off just to take stock of the damage, let the fissure drink as much water thin ca as it wanted and lapped it. It turns out to be another frustration in the sense that it is a very nice stone but not much is left of it. It's one of those high feedback coticules that I think anyone could probably get an ok edge from out of the gate and well more once they really dialed it in. If any part of the edge is behind it really lets you know just through your fingertips. It's really brain dead to use for a coti.
Another new one. Pretty lightweight for the size, but not really super soft or anything. Really dry feeling coticule. Some blushing, some bruising, some manganese, some rings like tree rings, a lot of twinkling in the surface. Not nearly as straightforward in use as the one above.
Am certainly looking forward to giving it a go in a bit
. Unfortunately the stone isn't going anywhere easily. And I might be tempted to do the same, but you're right - it is a rather beautifully made box/paddle. Properly well finished and from a really nice, dense, piece of wood - at a guess possibly Mahogany. So it's staying put for the time being!
@Legion 's q. and thoughts about the hole led me to investigate further; and actually it does go all the way through the stone, it was just mostly full of the putty-like glue stuff that's holding the stone in place. Which meant I could dig it out and get an idea of the actual depth... it looks to be coticule all the way down, rather than a BBW layer too, and about 28-30mm deep. Which seems to be quite thick for an old one (?)
Yeah, really unusual. Almost like it’s home made. Maybe someone in Belgium found the slab and decided to DIY. Though theoretically it could be really old, and the stone turned up anywhere in the Roman Empire.Am certainly looking forward to giving it a go in a bit
Unfortunately the stone isn't going anywhere easily. And I might be tempted to do the same, but you're right - it is a rather beautifully made box/paddle. Properly well finished and from a really nice, dense, piece of wood - at a guess possibly Mahogany. So it's staying put for the time being!
@Legion 's q. and thoughts about the hole led me to investigate further; and actually it does go all the way through the stone, it was just mostly full of the putty-like glue stuff that's holding the stone in place. Which meant I could dig it out and get an idea of the actual depth... it looks to be coticule all the way down, rather than a BBW layer too, and about 28-30mm deep. Which seems to be quite thick for an old one (?)
I can’t think of a reason for the hole while it is in the box, which makes me think it had a life before the box was made.
That my my thinking - that it likely pre-dated the paddle thing, and was probably used to hang or hold it somewhere originally. The box has been made with a serious amount of care and attention, and looked after nicely. For instance - rather than having those big round marks you often get on the insides of old stone boxes from boring drill bits - this one has been chiselled. So tbh I'm not too fussed about the stone not coming out, and it's actually been made in such a way that there is the potential to saw the 'handle' bit off the end, sand down, and just have it as a beautiful box. The dimensions for that are perfect
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Also - If anyone has any advice or can point me in the direction of a kinda 'Beginners' Guide' to using coticules, especially in terms of how to use and manipulate slurry for different purposes, that would be much appreciated!
That my my thinking - that it likely pre-dated the paddle thing, and was probably used to hang or hold it somewhere originally. The box has been made with a serious amount of care and attention, and looked after nicely. For instance - rather than having those big round marks you often get on the insides of old stone boxes from boring drill bits - this one has been chiselled. So tbh I'm not too fussed about the stone not coming out, and it's actually been made in such a way that there is the potential to saw the 'handle' bit off the end, sand down, and just have it as a beautiful box. The dimensions for that are perfect
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Also - If anyone has any advice or can point me in the direction of a kinda 'Beginners' Guide' to using coticules, especially in terms of how to use and manipulate slurry for different purposes, that would be much appreciated!
I wouldn’t cut the box. It’s probably a legit antique in its own right.
Step one is to lap that sucker.
Yeah it certainly did need it!
Is it weird that I kept the mud in a little plastic cup, figuring I could let it dry out and then use to dress other stones? Or maybe even keep it wet, and add to it when I need to flatten things in the future. To create my own personal 'Mother Slurry' that I can continue to use and replenish over the years...
This is the kind of genius that only comes to you at 1am after a negroni and a few beers.
Nice collection of stones!
That table is perfect for them.
I would love something like that but live in earthquake country and seems to risky for my stones. Love how yours look though.
That table is perfect for them.
I would love something like that but live in earthquake country and seems to risky for my stones. Love how yours look though.
What's your favorite stone to finish a SR?
I actually sharpen kitchen knives rather than razors; I'm here to learn more about different types of stones from you experts, rather than just Japanese ones that get all the attention on KKF. Having said that I could probably have a guess at things that would be good...
The first two on the top row are a Washita and an old Turkish; would be good for SRs (I assume this is 'straight razor'?) but perhaps not as finishers, ditto an unpictured old Norton hard/trans I have. The 7th stone on the top row is a Maruoyama Shiro Suita that would probably be good if worked without too much slurry. The coticule for sure. And also the 4th stone on the top row is a very dense slate type stone, I think probably a Thuringian, which is very fine but also surprisingly quick - that'd be great for them too.
The couple of try-outs I've given the coticule have left very refined edges (overly refined for my tastes), but looking forward to experimenting further. If I can't get my head round it I may offer up for sale here and try to make my money back, though I've found @Bowmaker 's knowledge and opinions about stones to be absolutely spot-on in the past, so I imagine it'll be a keeper
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Orrrrr...... you could buy yourself a straight razor, and then no stone will be too refined!I actually sharpen kitchen knives rather than razors; I'm here to learn more about different types of stones from you experts, rather than just Japanese ones that get all the attention on KKF. Having said that I could probably have a guess at things that would be good...
The first two on the top row are a Washita and an old Turkish; would be good for SRs (I assume this is 'straight razor'?) but perhaps not as finishers, ditto an unpictured old Norton hard/trans I have. The 7th stone on the top row is a Maruoyama Shiro Suita that would probably be good if worked without too much slurry. The coticule for sure. And also the 4th stone on the top row is a very dense slate type stone, I think probably a Thuringian, which is very fine but also surprisingly quick - that'd be great for them too.
The couple of try-outs I've given the coticule have left very refined edges (overly refined for my tastes), but looking forward to experimenting further. If I can't get my head round it I may offer up for sale here and try to make my money back, though I've found @Bowmaker 's knowledge and opinions about stones to be absolutely spot-on in the past, so I imagine it'll be a keeper
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