Time to try a coticule...

Not sure what layer or anything...got a bunch of possibilities (about a third of the layers were suggested), but it's an interesting stone, and I hope to give it a little but of a workout on kitchen knives as well as razors.


Came to me seemingly smooth and supposedly lapped, but running razors over it, it seemed very bumpy and very slow with regard to generating swarf. Re-lapping it seems to have reduced that texture a lot and made the stone a fair bit faster, for the brief time I used it, at least. Almost seems like there's a matrix of softer stone with little clumps of more tenacious material that wear away differentially.

I know coticules aren't too popular in this community; just thought I'd share.

 

I am curious what you think of it. I enjoy using mine. I only have 2 small ones (and a slurry stone), but they work at a decent speed and I enjoy the edge I get from them.





Have fun!

 

I am curious as well. I've never tried one, even though they come from my neighbour country. What I hear from my neighbours is that they are rated as about 8K, but that they leave a pretty coarse finish on a straight razor. And that they're pretty soft. I've never spoken anyone who's used them on kitchen knives, so please let us know!

 

Those are some nice looking rocks, @Riba

@mark76 I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in the razor community or anything its members or authorities say. In fact, I was reluctant to get a coticule for several years because I foolishly let opinions on various razor fora influence my decisions, and I really shouldn't have. That said, my initial biases might be inclined toward a different "feel" than this particular coticule gives...I tend to like creamy stone consistencies, and this one is not especially so.

After a certain time sharpening, I can get a good edge with most sharpening setups. With razors, I might be after a given face feel, but even that isn't some mystical thing that can only be achieved with special stones. If you gave me a microscope with a few finished edges, I might be able to guess within a pretty wide range; but if shaving or cutting with a knife, I'm 99% sure I wouldn't be able to distinguish them if they are good.

Mostly it's just for fun, for style, for history, for something a bit different from my Japanese naturals.

 

Thanks Robert. I must get one as well . Even if it is only for historic reasons. Riba, did you get yours from Belgium? Do you know if sell them online somewhere?

 

Mark, they're sold at quite some places (quick example: knivesandtools), but I got mine straight from the mine: http://www.ardennes-coticule.be/
Mine are a bit "oddballs", I think the typical razor user would not want the different inclusions (though Maurice informed me that there is no effect on the finish). As they are small, I got them cheap (30 and 45 EUR).

Quite a bit of the charm to me is that they are mined less than a 2 hours drive away. To me, they feel different than the JNATs that I have (but I only have limited experience, a hard aoto, oohira tomae and a razor shoubudani). Perhaps the Shapton GlassStone 6K is closest in feeling when sharpening. I find that they work quite fast (with a bit of slurry), they refine a Chosera 1K edge pretty quickly (even though the stones are small). And I like the edge, quite refined and still biting.

 

Thanks Riba! I don't mind oddballs, they're natural stones after all. And I don't mind the inclusions either, at least if there is no effect on the finish. Is that also your experience, guys?