Coticule Stones?

[Mark Kuzee]

I just picked up this nice one pictured but realized I had one on the bench for a while.

Is longer one is rather nice. Little wear and it still has the factory bevels on the edge of the stone.

Can anyone tell me about these Razor hones319202319203319204319205

[Mel Fulks]

From what I've read it's just the light colored side that is used on razors the blue part is just a base. The blue is sometimes sold alone for woodworking. The coticule is preferred by some over the thuringian hones. Also heard they vary widely in fineness.

[bridger berdel]

I have used the belgian blue side for straight razors. Seems plenty fine enough.

[Kees Heiden]

There are yellow and blue cotticules. They both contain garnets, the yellow ones contain more then the blue ones. The yellow ones are often glued to a piece of blue slate, which hasn't much sharpening quality. The yellow stone sits in thin veins in the rock, among blue stuff, so sometimes the blue underside is natural, and could be usefull too.

More info: http://www.ardennes-coticule.be/en/

[Kristoffer Frederiksen]

Coticules are really nice stones however they dish rather easily. In my opinion the don't have to be confined to only razor honing. In Denmark, where I am from, they have been used by both cabinet makers and boat builders back in the day.

[Mark Kuzee]

Coticules are really nice stones however they dish rather easily. In my opinion the don't have to be confined to only razor honing. In Denmark, where I am from, they have been used by both cabinet makers and boat builders back in the day.


Kristoffer,

The stone I have has a slight dish. These stones look extremely hard and therefore slow wearing. I wonder why they dish so easily.

Mark

[bridger berdel]

Coticules are soft and fast wearing

[Mel Fulks]

They vary in hardness as well as fineness. The really good ones suitable for razors are expensive. I would get someone knowledgeable to help you figure out its quality. If it is a good one I would not use it on woodworking tools. We have had some comments here saying the new coticules are nothing special.

[Mark Kuzee]

They vary in hardness as well as fineness. The really good ones suitable for razors are expensive. I would get someone knowledgeable to help you figure out its quality. If it is a good one I would not use it on woodworking tools. We have had some comments here saying the new coticules are nothing special.

As I see it, we have differing opinions regarding value/use and hardness. I get that.

Unless someone has this stone in their hand, I don't think it would be easy to determine value or hardness.

I don't have anyone that I know of that could tell me.

well enough. I may just dump it on a popular website this winter.

Mark

[Brian Holcombe]

Sorry if this advice does not fit with the Coticule stone, but I basically flatten everything pretty regularly while working on them....natural stones included. The natural stone I have is fairly hard, but it still needs a light touch up before every use....clears any lingering dusts that wont brush off and brings up a slurry.

I dont see the harm in trying some woodworking tools on these....but I like to live dangerously :D

[Kristoffer Frederiksen]

Coticules are some kind of clay slate and in my perception it releases its particles a lot like japanese waterstones. The ones I a rather are rather fragile and can easily be dinged with a chipped tool. However they flatten easily dry on sandpaper.

The blue side are the easiest to use since the consistency of the slurry doesn't play as big a part as on the white side. The white slurry needs to be very thin and watery otherwise you can end up dulling the tool instead.