Another two vintage pieces

[BlueDun]

Hi all,

I recently found an offer for two vintage barber hones on the web. It had only a crappy picture but the color of one of the rocks made me think that it might be an Escher. Price was cheap so I scored it.
It turned out that the colors of the pictures were way off. What arrived were two apparently vintage coticules :w00t:
( As we say: The dumbest farmers harvest the biggest potatoes.

Both measure 18x4 mm.
Number one seems to be a natutal combo. But how do I find out if the dark side really is a BBW?
The coti side shows significant wear. At both ends it is about 5mm thick going down to about 3mm in the center. But I guess this is plenty to last for years.

Number two is glued to a wooden base. I don't know if it is only sitting on top of the base or if it sits in a cutout. The visible part is about 7mm at the ends and 5mm in the center.
I plan to take it out of the base. Help needed! What kind of glue could this be? How can I get it off without causing too much damage to the coti as well as the base?

Im gonna clean and plane number one and post some more pics.
Tips for number 2 are very welcome.

Cheers
BlueDun

 

[StraightRazorDave]

Very nice!!! :thumbup: :thumbup:

I'm not able to help you out much though, but I am pretty sure the first one is a natural combo. Looking from the side of that stone the division between the yellow and blue doesn't look like it's glued. Also from about a 1/4 of the way from the right of the stone there's a little circular darker area in the coticule section that dips down into the blue, i.e. it's not a straight line like you would find in a glued one. BBW also looks kind of purple, and if you created a slurry with the BBW you will find a dark purple slurry.

Nice score, best of luck turning them into serviceable hones.

 

[torbenbp]

Darn..if that`s cotis,you made a great deal! Congrats from Dane Land ;-)

Torbs

 

[Smythe]

Wow what a score :w00t:

But I know, it's hard, but it's better to wipe the tears, grit your teeth... and lap the stone.
Also I wouldn't remove the stone from the wooden base... you will brake it... trust me you will... especially if it's fitted in a cut-out.
You can lap it while it's still attached to the base and hone with it too... nothing wrong with that... As you can see the original owner must have had many good years of pleasant shaving from blades sharpened on that stone.

Please let us know how it sharpens.

 

[BlueDun]

Gentlemen,

here comes the sequel to the story of the dumb farmer and his big potatoes.
I cleaned and planed the first piece and it turned out as expected: A very nice combo with still plenty of coti to go.
Then I was kind of uncertain how to proceed with the one glued to the wooden base. First, I used a small rotary wire brush and cleaned the area around the coti. Yet, I was not able to see how the connection was done and how thick that coti actually was. I carefully tried to get underneath the coty with small tool and lever it off the base. I did not force it much because I didn't want to break the coti. But no success anyway.
I was kind of stuck and I asked my better half if she had an idea. Women tend to takle problems in a more "gentle" way ... She said she would try it with heat. Not a bad Idea I had to admit. The glues of the old days were purely "bio" made out of bones or animal hides. So I heated the oven to 90° and put it in there. Then I sat down with a beer and let the Simpsons distract me from my project for a while.
After 20 minutes or so I took it out and checked if something had happened. BTW, the smell was horrible. Just as if you would put an antique shop in a microwave. So I tried to wiggle it loose from the base and really, I heard a "clac". I turned it over and gave it some taps on the back. And out popped another perfect Coti-BBW combo :w00t: :w00t:
I did mention that proverb about farmers and potatoes - did I?

I quickly tried both hones on an old razor and found a perfect result on slurry. Both seem to be medium fast and differ a bit in the sharpness delivered from the slurry.
I took an old french blade I recently scored and did a dilucot on one of them. And this morning I had a wonderful shave with that razor.

Here are they are:









Cheers
BlueDun