Thread: Question about coticules

Are the real deal coticules the ones from Ardennes? I was looking on eBay and it seems like some of the 2"x7" stones can be had relatively inexpensively. Are those the ones to buy, or do you guys recommend another kind?

They all got dug out of the ground in Belgium so whether it was 50 years ago or yesterday the stone itself was formed thousands ..... millions (?) of years ago. Say that to say, they aren't all exactly alike, being a natural stone, but if you luck into a good one it doesn't matter whether it is vintage or if it is current production. There are some folks who feel that the best rocks were dug up in the past. I don't know about that one way or the other.

Then there are the different grades, select, standard and the different veins, etc. etc.. This link has some good info that may help you with coticule knowledge. Belgian Coticule Hones

Good Luck!

Howard

The only place in the world these rocks come from is the ardennes quarry in Belgium. I recommend one 8" long. It makes the strokes easier, more ground to cover withou the razor falling off. I personally prefer 8x3" stones, but the 2" wide ones are fine. Coticules garnet content range from 30-40% garnet content. The more garnets, the faster cutting and (I think) finer the finished edge. I like to think that mine has alot of garnets, it makes me feel better about spending that much money on a rock...

It's a natural product and as they quarry it out the quality can change from foot to foot. You need to Know about the deposit itself to be able to figure out if the quality has changed over the years and compare samples of the old with the new and the future.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's a natural product and as they quarry it out the quality can change from foot to foot. You need to Know about the deposit itself to be able to figure out if the quality has changed over the years and compare samples of the old with the new and the future.

Would you mind dusting off the old electron microscope and counting garnet crystals in our coticules for us? We could then rate them: 1,234,239 crystals per square inch (or something like that)

I like to be able to hold my finishers. It's a personal preference of mine. I would tend towards a Coti that's about 6 or 7 inches long, by about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Good for inside the hand.

Now, if i was going to do batch honing and I wanted to do it on a Coti....then I would want to cover as much ground as possible, like woodsmandave says. I'd go for an 8 by 3 then.

A good thing about narrower stones is that it's easier to work around a slight warp, as the whole blade is not in contact at once.

Originally Posted by tlittle

A good thing about narrower stones is that it's easier to work around a slight warp, as the whole blade is not in contact at once.

full size hone works just as well for those problems, used properly of course.

Originally Posted by tlittle

A good thing about narrower stones is that it's easier to work around a slight warp, as the whole blade is not in contact at once.

What mainaman /stefan just said +1

Somehow that myth just keeps going and going and going If you really don't believe us, just draw a line down the center of a 3 in wide hone end to end and only hone on half of it A rolling X or a 45 degree heel forward X works on any size hone...