Thread: Coticule vein, names anyone?

Wondering if anyone knows what the names for different veins are. Just visited coticule.be and the coticules there come from la drassante and la gris etc... So I was wondering if anyone knows the different names and their properties. Thanks.

Yes, I do. Well: actually I don't know them, but I have the lists. The best overview (including chemical make up) is in a book I can't praise enough: "Ardoise et coticule en Terre de Salm - Des pierres et des Hommes". Unfortunately I can't get my scanner to work under Vista 64x, or I would've posted one of the tables.

And Bart provides some very good pictures and excellent, detailed descriptions of their qualities on his website.

I'd love to have that book if it were only available in an English translation for those of us who are linguistically challenged like moi.

or moi?

I have a "la Veinette"
its velvet like and feels softish.
cuts quick, slurry gets dark fast.
Doesn't dish easily though.

Here is an interesting post from another forum with many photos of various coticules that were provided to the poster by Ardennes Coticule for testing. He gives his assessment of the performance of the individual hones but unfortunately doesn't specify which vein they were harvested from. Here is another related post.

I too have a "la Veinette". I got it directly from Ardennes and it is a 'kosher' as well. I have found it to be a hard stone and I like to use it to finish after an 8k. It had the "la Veinette" in pencil on the top when I first received it which was , of course, lapped off of the stone when I flattened it.

Originally Posted by 0livia

or moi?

I have a "la Veinette"
its velvet like and feels softish.
cuts quick, slurry gets dark fast.
Doesn't dish easily though.

Interesting. I have a smaller vintage bonded coticule combo that is exactly as you describe. Velvety, softish feeling, cuts quickly, slurry darkens very quickly..... It's by far the fastest cutting coticule I own.

Chris L

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

He gives his assessment of the performance of the individual hones but unfortunately doesn't specify which vein they were harvested from.

Good one Jimmy! When I read your post I remembered too. And I also remembered Joel sold some of them later providing some more (and more flattering?) info and also some names:

- Green coticule
- La Dressante “Flamed Veins” Salmon coticule
- La Grosse Blanche. The famed "white" coticule

At my website you can download a booklet (in French, but I've made a bit of a start with putting English translation in between the lines), by Charles Gaspard. The booklet contains a description of all layers that were once commercially exploited. It's in the "Heritage" section.

Ardennes Coticule has access to some of those layers, but not to all. (They quarry all veins at Ol Preu and currently one vein (if I'm not mistaken) at Regné. Each vein contains several layers.
Note that in the old days, they had a very distinct appreciation for some layers and less for others. The system seems to favor layers based upon the keenness produced by use of slurry. With today's methods and uses, that system in pretty obsolete, in my opinion. But even if you accept the old "standards", these descriptions really need to be approached with skepticism.

Best regards,
Bart.

Originally Posted by Bart

At my website you can download a booklet (in French, but I've made a bit of a start with putting English translation in between the lines), by Charles Gaspard. The booklet contains a description of all layers that were once commercially exploited. It's in the "Heritage" section.

Ardennes Coticule has access to some of those layers, but not to all. (They quarry all veins at Ol Preu and currently one vein (if I'm not mistaken) at Regné. Each vein contains several layers.
Note that in the old days, they had a very distinct appreciation for some layers and less for others. The system seems to favor layers based upon the keenness produced by use of slurry. With today's methods and uses, that system in pretty obsolete, in my opinion. But even if you accept the old "standards", these descriptions really need to be approached with skepticism.

Best regards,
Bart.

Great stuff Bart. I just took a look and went beyond what is already translated to try and figure some of it out. I got to the part where the author is mentioning layers and recognized some and I'm intrigued by those I've not seen mentioned before. Many thanks for providing that on your excellent website.