Ha! Ralfy, my friend. You just save me starting a new thread...
Yes, N°19 is a most peculiar case.
The layer is called "Les Laitneuses". It is the very first I ever saw of this layer.
The Coticule side is very pure. Purer than the current picture would suggest, because it still shows the very coarse scratches from Ardennes' huge spinning lapping disc. I'm going to shoot a new picture and also one of the back, and upload those later.
It is a natural combination. The other layer looks a bit like a "La Grise" layer, but with variety of shades, hardness and patterns. It looks like it was sliced at a transition to real blue stone. I suspect that if lapped 0.5 mm further in the back surface, it could become much more uniform. The back surface releases the well known milky Coticule slurry and offers a very decent honing speed. Faster than the typical BBW. I haven't tested it any further than that, maybe I'll ask permission to Ardennes if I can lap that 0.5mm away and run additional tests.
Now, the regular Coticule side, is both fast and fine. Together with La Petite Blanche and La Veinette, this layer was considered premium grade for honing razors in the old days, according to the little booklet that you can download in the Heritage section.
N°19 is a long hone, and I love honing on it. Because it is so fast, I decided for one of the tests to put a new edge on a freshly restored Heljestrand, honing past the slight chipping caused by the sanding and polishing job. Took me about 40 minutes from scratch to shaving sharp.
It's a good one, and 2 Coticules for the price of one
, coming of a layer that you won't often encounter these days.
