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Funny Bout, maybe la Grosse Blanche?

Tok

Well-Known Member
Hello,

I´ve found this bout and I couldn´t resist, to buy it (I had some kind of HAD, now it´s more like CAD, and I don´t mean computer aided design.).:

5817213.jpg


5817214.jpg


I like it, because it is nicely shaped (It is a No.7 standart bout, the longest side is 10,5 cm long, at the widest point, it is 5,5 cm wide.) and it had some lovely chocolate brown lines and little dark spots on it. You can see a rest of it in one corner. I lapped it with 1000 grit paper, because I like my hones that way, and most of the lines were gone, so it seems to be some kind of oxydation or photographic effect (As I read this, I thought you could put a negative on it, expose it to the light and make pictures on the stone.). I´ve read that la Grosse Blanche does this. Are there other layers that act that way?
I touched up a razor on it, but wasn´t able to test it, yet, so I can´t tell you how it performs.

Regards,
Tok
 
That would indeed be most likely a La Grosse Blanche. It is the only layer extracted at the Ol Preu quarry, with a photosensitive effect. This one is without doubt a hone of Ardennes. That I can see at the glue line and the used blacking slate. Hence it must be extracted at Ol Preu.

The La Grosse Blanches I've tested have always delivered the mellowest edges.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
Bart said:
The La Grosse Blanches I've tested have always delivered the mellowest edges.

...and there's someone who surely can confirm it, toom-tee-da-da-tee-too... :D
 
… and here is someone who thought about buying No. 60 for a second too long and still regrets it…

I am totally sure that it´s from Ardennes, since it is no so-called "vintage" one.

On this monitor, the stone looks much too yellow, by the way. It´s more pale and has some greenish lines (you can see them, by the way). The pattern looks like No.60, too… So, scored again!
Haven´t shaved yet.

Thanks and regards,
Tok
 
Ok, had a shave. I must admit, that I don´t feel any difference between this one and my La Veinette, yet. But this weekend wasn´t the best for sharpening. I have an Ern, that drives me crazy. I worked on it for hours; no HHT. Then, I realize, that it has some kinda w-shaped frown (nearly too light to be visible, but still there) and I think "how the hell did I manage to do this???" I worked on it, trying to get rid of the frown in the middle, but nothing changed… Well, at the moment it performs a mediocre HHT and I haven´t shaved with it yet. I think about soaking my coarse hone and kill that damn frown… There are times when you shouldn´t hone at all, especially not your vintage Solingens…

Regards,
Tok
 
Sorry to hear about the trouble with the ERN.

A La Grosse Blanche is notorious for slurry dulling (actually all "blanches" are), it's possible that you worked on a too thick slurry to reach a proper "shaving arm hair" keenness.
La Grosse Blanche is eaqually notorious for being extremely slow on water. I consider it the most demanding of Coticule layers known to me, but also one of the most rewarding if you get it right. (The Coticule in the Dilucot video is a La Grosse Blanche, by the way). But there's still the Unicot method that works like a charm on these hones, as long as you remember to not let the slurry become too thick during the bevel correction stage.

When a razor develops a frown while honing, theres always some user error involved. It is very important to realize that even in the dullest razor, the newly sharpened edge fits inside the dull shape. There is no single reason to reduce the width of the blade. If it does, you have started honing past the point where the edge should have been keen already.
If a curve develops, that should always be the results of many honings. Since such a curve should only develop at an invisible pace.
Personaly, I always aim for that slight smile, not in the least because that steers me away from any tendency to produce a frown. For that reason, my index finger during halfstrokes usually favors the tip and the heel of the blade and rests less on the middle part.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
Bart said:
La Grosse Blanche is eaqually notorious for being extremely slow on water. I consider it the most demanding of Coticule layers known to me, but also one of the most rewarding if you get it right. (...) But there's still the Unicot method that works like a charm on these hones, as long as you remember to not let the slurry become too thick during the bevel correction stage.
Confirmed. I haven't yet succeeded in Dilucot, using this stone; I guess I'm sticking too carefully to the procedure. I guess I need to increase the lap count while diluting slurry, am I right, Bart?

regards,
Matt
 
Matt said:
Bart said:
La Grosse Blanche is eaqually notorious for being extremely slow on water. I consider it the most demanding of Coticule layers known to me, but also one of the most rewarding if you get it right. (...) But there's still the Unicot method that works like a charm on these hones, as long as you remember to not let the slurry become too thick during the bevel correction stage.
Confirmed. I haven't yet succeeded in Dilucot, using this stone; I guess I'm sticking too carefully to the procedure. I guess I need to increase the lap count while diluting slurry, am I right, Bart?

regards,
Matt

As mentioned, the Dilucot video shows the entire procedure from start to end on a La Grosse Blanche. The HHT is hard to see, but it does pass as it should. If you give me more details about where you get stuck, I might be able to offer more tips.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
Bart said:
If you give me more details about where you get stuck, I might be able to offer more tips.
It's really hard to tell where. I've followed the procedure as I was doing previously with my #25, 30 strokes per each side with pretty many dilutions, well above 10. I assumed that a bit longer stone will make up for being slower, so I was just finishing with something around 30 X-strokes on the lightest slurry and then at least 60 on water, but even with another 60 I wasn't getting a proper HHT off the stone. So I was salvaging myself by taping them (fear-not-the-tape! :lol: )

Anyway, I've been quite busy lately, so it's been at least a month since the last time I touched this LGB.

regards,
Matt
 
Matt said:
Bart said:
If you give me more details about where you get stuck, I might be able to offer more tips.
It's really hard to tell where. I've followed the procedure as I was doing previously with my #25, 30 strokes per each side with pretty many dilutions, well above 10. I assumed that a bit longer stone will make up for being slower, so I was just finishing with something around 30 X-strokes on the lightest slurry and then at least 60 on water, but even with another 60 I wasn't getting a proper HHT off the stone. So I was salvaging myself by taping them (fear-not-the-tape! :lol: )

Anyway, I've been quite busy lately, so it's been at least a month since the last time I touched this LGB.

regards,
Matt

Have you tried Some Wicked Tips From Gary Haywood?

Good luck!
Bart.
 
Hi Matt, It is really Bart and Ray's secret, but setting the bevel very well will make getting the results you are after much easier with any stone. I use a dmt1200 and cannot seem to fail if I do that stage properly. In addition, if you are not doing so, before you check HHT give your edge five or six laps on a linen strop or the thigh of your jeans. It will make a huge difference with dilucot and not as much with unicot. I would also experiment with pressure on the very edge within reason, as if I had any. YT, Denny
 
Bart said:
Sorry to hear about the trouble with the ERN.

(…)

When a razor develops a frown while honing, theres always some user error involved. It is very important to realize that even in the dullest razor, the newly sharpened edge fits inside the dull shape. There is no single reason to reduce the width of the blade. If it does, you have started honing past the point where the edge should have been keen already.
If a curve develops, that should always be the results of many honings. Since such a curve should only develop at an invisible pace.
Personaly, I always aim for that slight smile, not in the least because that steers me away from any tendency to produce a frown. For that reason, my index finger during halfstrokes usually favors the tip and the heel of the blade and rests less on the middle part.

Kind regards,
Bart.

Thanks, Bart. I´ll start a new thread about the Ern. I´m not sure whether the frown is my fault, but I´m afraid it is. It might have been happening while I used my old, non-coticule hones. I did bad things back then. The frown is not very big, though. I try to get a light smile, too. Normally, I make some kind of light bow strokes, as if it was already a smiling blade.
Anyway, more in the other post.

Kind regards,
Tok
 
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