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Pyrenees stones

I've got a les latneuses stone 100 x 40 and a bbw/ Pyrenees on the way and I'd like to hear what the members here think of Pyrenees stone? Seems it would be awesome for knives and axes but I've never seen it before so I have no idea what the grain of the stone looks/ feels like. What do you think of this one gents?

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I don't know for sure, but I assume that the AC Pyrenees backing stone might come from Saurat (?)

In which case - yes I have one. It appears to be either a type of schist or very hard sandstone; low-ish abrasive power, works for knives and tools. Reminds me a bit of a Rozsutec.

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Niche thing that I've only just noticed - that 'AC' logo they've got going on is a very intentional play on 'Appellation Controlee'. I know winemakers who've done similar (as a joke) and been taken to court.
 
Were the winemakers in France or in the UK?

Ha! Yes they were, as you guessed, French - it's a very French thing to do / attitude. Usually 'natural' winemakers thumbing their nose at the rules of the appellation (AOC, previously AC) system. Most notably a guy called Olivier Cousin who makes Vin de France wines in Anjou, and at one point started writing: Anjou Olivier Cousin , on all his boxes. This went down like a cup of cold sick with the folks at the local AOC, who took him to court in Paris. Which he amusingly turned up to riding the horse that he uses to plow his vineyards.

Ardennes Coticule are obviously doing something a little less deliberately provocative, and quite clever I think. As far as I understand they are the only current producers of coticules (?), and there isn't an appellation system for them anyway, so they're not doing anything wrong. But for a lot of people in Europe the letters 'AC' or 'AOC' are associated with a monitored quality guarantee of the product they're purchasing, and I'm pretty certain Ardennes Coticule know what they're doing with that name and logo.

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Sorry to derail a bit there ES! I just thought it was a cute bit of branding.
 
I've got a les latneuses stone 100 x 40 and a bbw/ Pyrenees on the way and I'd like to hear what the members here think of Pyrenees stone? Seems it would be awesome for knives and axes but I've never seen it before so I have no idea what the grain of the stone looks/ feels like. What do you think of this one gents?

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I have a 150 x 50 la pyrenees/bbw combo from Ardennes Coticule and with slurry, I'm able to quickly set a bevel with it, without slurry, it takes a little longer. It's estimated at about 1,200 grit and certainly feels like it.
 
I have a 150 x 50 la pyrenees/bbw combo from Ardennes Coticule and with slurry, I'm able to quickly set a bevel with it, without slurry, it takes a little longer. It's estimated at about 1,200 grit and certainly feels like it.
That is fantastic news. You use a diamond plate to slurry? I usually use the hybrid side of a 20mm x 20 mm les latneuses slurry stone. It does an awesome job of bringing up slurry on my old suspected la lune and that sucker is hard. I need to see if it'll do it on a green Vermont slate, I was really surprised how hard it was.
 
I just use a BBW slurry stone on it.

BTW, Thiers-Issard uses these stones when they set the initial bevel
That's a great factoid! I've never used a TI but certainly will one day. I got an SRD razor that in fixing the geometry on and I look forward to using. I sharpen tons of knives and tools so I don't get disappointed over non- finishers and the lower grit naturals that are fast are priceless.
 
Stones came in today. I run a knife across the dark blue Pyrenees and it sharpened up my knife quickly and was still pretty fine for a knife. The material makes me think of if a schist scythe stone, bbw and queer creek were all combined and poured into a small brick. Interesting stuff, I bet it'll do awesome on my old machete.
 
I just use a BBW slurry stone on it.

BTW, Thiers-Issard uses these stones when they set the initial bevel

Thanks for posting the link. Interesting to me in that the honer from T-I insists on using gasoline (available in one-liter bottles in hardware stores for domestic purposes in France) on the stone rather than water, claiming that water would rust the carbon steel blade. Also interesting in how he grips the shank and turns the wrist during the flip. He says that this should be done in the same way as with stropping.
 
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