Thread: The......Belgian Brotherhood?

howdy all,

I just finished lapping my coticule on some wet/dry sandpaper and there is a whole bunch of slurry all over the place.

the water is slowly starting to evaporate and its turning paste-ish. I was wondering has anyone ever put this paste on a linen strop?

I mean everyone puts other pastes on their strop but why not this coticule paste?

I couldn't find my third natural combo the other day. Well here it is


I find the variation amongst them fascinating...


...as is the transition...

New to the club. La Veinette natural, 150 x 75 mm:

I just received this natural combo 8"x3" and I'm still learning what to look for in quality. I noticed many of the natural combo's posted have a soft gradation from BBW to coticule where as mine has a sharp almost centered border. Is one style considered more desirable than the other? Also, mine has several salmon colored veins running the length of the coticule, is that good or bad compared to a totally homogeneous surface?

[QUOTE=crichton;154823]lol....I haven't actually seen that one yet Doc....

Neither have I, but I know lots of people I'd nominate for it. (Not talking about anyone here, guys).

I noticed many of the natural combo's posted have a soft gradation from BBW to coticule where as mine has a sharp almost centered border. Is one style considered more desirable than the other?

Yes, there is a difference. If the line between Coti and BBW is very sharp,
it is possible that the BBW has been glued to the Coti.
So it is an artificial combo, but not a natural.
A natural combo (as my own, see below) is grown that way
wich is way, way more rare.

The performance, however will not be affected by this.

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To add something new to the collection:

Tatatadaaaa


My La Petite Blanche in 200x60 mm
naturally combined to a inclusion-free BBW!




The stone has some nice veins and lines, pure character.
It seems like this La Petite Blanche has a bit of "la veinette" in it,
but I am no expert so any comments are welcome.



Heres another shot of the surface:





Natural grown looks something like this:




And here is the very nice BBW backing




And wow, this thing is humongous, for comparison sake with my green (la grise?) 180x50 Coticule






With slurry this stone cuts like a champion, partly because of its huge size. It will cut a bevel and eliminate microbevels in no-time.

The bevel finish is, of course, way coarse than a j-nat,
but still it is shiny yet matte.

The stone is heavy and sturdy, but I can comfortably hone with it while keeping it in my hand.

Without slurry the stone still works fast, without auto-slurry, though.
It has a very nice and velvety touch to it
and will leave a very fine edge on a razor.
I have yet to shave with a razor finished of this stone

Thanks Lesslemming,

Mine is definitely a "natural" combo as the two stones don't meet with an even border but rather wavy all around the perimeter. So based on the fact that it's a natural, the question still stands...is there a difference in value between the gradated combo and one, like mine, with a defined border?

Here's my entry.

it's 150x50mm. Just got it from Lynn in fact. I have used it several times and already sold my Norton 4/8 because of how well this thing does it's job.

.is there a difference in value between [...]

This of course depends. Genrally spoken, yes there is a difference in value.
A naturally grown combo stone is far more rare than an artificial one.
Anybodoy can glue a coticule to a bbw.
So given the chance you find someone looking for something rare as this,
he will eventually be willing to pay more, than for an artificial.

Looking at the pictures of your 8x3 Combo I am in doubt if this is a naturally grown coti/bbw combo.
The edges of the border are very sharp for a grown stone.
But then again, I am no expert.

Originally Posted by Lesslemming

This of course depends. Genrally spoken, yes there is a difference in value.
A naturally grown combo stone is far more rare than an artificial one.
Anybodoy can glue a coticule to a bbw.
So given the chance you find someone looking for something rare as this,
he will eventually be willing to pay more, than for an artificial.

Looking at the pictures of your 8x3 Combo I am in doubt if this is a naturally grown coti/bbw combo.
The edges of the border are very sharp for a grown stone.
But then again, I am no expert.

My stone was purchased from Michael Poe of Best Sharpening Stones who is highly regarded on the forum and has an impeccable reputation, I doubt he would falsely describe a high end stone such as mine. Besides, the two stones do not meet with a perfect straight line border but rather waves to one degree or another on each side of the combo...I doubt the quarry hand carved each stone to fit into each others crevices.

But you missed the point of my original question. It's not whether a natural combo is more valuable than a bonded combo, of course it is. The question was whether a natural combo that has two clearly defined stones is more or less valuable than one that gradates between the two.