La Verte

[torbenbp]

Gents

Allow me to present this La Verte.

It measures some 20.5*6,0*1,5 centimeters and is a piece of solid coticule.

It was picked up,in person,by a well known Belgian guy. Story tells that,this guy and his friend,went to look for coticule remains at an old and abandoned mine (amongst other places) at Tier Du Mont.Amongst many others,this one was picked up.It was later cut by an gravestone carver.

It is lime green in colour and very slow. Because of mineral inclutions,only one side is functional. It does have a very "coarse" sound and feel,yet it is very very hard and slow. Slurry takes bundles of time to build up,but the results are a very crispy edges.Not at all what you would expect from the rough abbrasive feel.

Since harvesting,it has traveled to Japan and now to Denmark.

Photos from Jim`s site,as my DSLR`s dead ;-(
http://img2.blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ybi/1...older/562144/img_562144_17060435_1?1285356533

Kind regards
Torbs

 

[TM280]

Very nice! Looks like a bruiser...
Are we starting a whole new coticule aesthetic? Creamy goodness with a touch of "mug you in a dark alley"?

regards,
Torolf

 

[torbenbp]

Ahh..No it was not my intention. Got this one four days ago,but your thread actually reminded me to post this... I`ve got a really lousy memory,so thanks

But your thread actually got me going. This really shows what little we need.As some of you may have noticed,I`m leaning towards simplicity,and your wonderful semi raw coticule attracted my attention.

I really respect the time and effort you put into this one.

Tak for det Torolf.Godt at se en skandinav ;-)

T

 

[urmas]

Hi,

Nice coticule indeed.

I also have a beautiful La Verte ... and it's a good one in any coticule aspect of it.

For me, La Verte is a bit of a contradiction - why should a slow coticule produce for you a brisk edge. Mellow edge would be more fair and expected from slow coticule.
But anyway, maybe the brisk edge is the good for me... I'm not certain yet.

Torbs, I discovered that La Verte coarseness can be reduced by gentle lapping before using with water only or when you use for slurry rising mini DMT hone or when you use (after lapping) only light pressure on slurry stone in creating slurry. Then the La Verte surface is more smoother and acts quite differently. How much and in which direction, I cannot tell right now, because my testing is not ended yet.

Regards,
Urmas

 

[Bart]

Urmas is right.
I lapped that La Verte with a DMT XX (120 grit). That causes the coarse feedback, until you make it smoother. (I told this to Jim as well). A lot of use will do that for you, but a bit of sanding up to 600 grit will do the trick as well. After that, rub a good thick slurry on it and smear it around with some decent pressure. I use a BBW slurry stone for that kind of work. The slurry can be lathered up afterwards (just transfer it into a bowl get some soap on an old brush, a couple drops of water and lather away) to be painted on a linen strop. Not that you need it, but it's fun to play around with these things and feels good to have a use for all that slurry. Anyway, once you have put the natural texture on the surface of your hard La Verte, it will keep that feedback for the rest of your life and that of your offspring. The current condition doesn't really influence the actual performance of the hone, but it does makes it appear coarser than it is.

Kind regards,
Bart.

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Wonderful beautiful stones guys :thumbup:

and as always sound knowledge and advice from Sir Bart :thumbup:

Thank you all for sharing

Ace A Roo!!

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[Matt]

Great stone, without a doubt. And what am I seeing here, my friend?

Photos from Jim`s site,as my DSLR`s dead ;-(

Your fancy new Nikon is dead already? You haven't dropped it, have you? :

Indeed, final finishing with some higher drit paper makes a difference when lapping a stone. If I remember correctly I was using finally at least 500 if not 1000 sanding paper during last stage of lapping my vintage coti.

cheers,
Matt

 

[torbenbp]

No...havnt got the Nikon yet..And in fact it`s a Canon : Still waiting for the heritage to show up

No,the ol` Olympus has gone to a better place. May it rest in peace....no,actualy..may it burn in hell!Forever..

And it will be lapped during the weekend...Aint nothing better than rubbing a piece of rock with wet paper....sigh. Seems like Jim has beenn doing a bit of knife or sword sharpening on it ;-)

Kind regards
Torbs

 

[JimR]

Torben, I hope it treats you well. I did indeed sharped some knives, and a plane blade on it...I prefer smoothing through use rather than lapping, when possible.

Like I said, it was simply too big for me, but it's a nice rock indeed.

 

[torbenbp]

Thank you Jim

I`m forever gratefull and the stone will remain here always.
Yes,I did notice the marks from a knife. That would have to be some very hard steel`ed knifes.
Actualy the most facinating about this stone, is the history behind it.How it was picked up by Bart,then it travelled from Belgium to Japan and back to tiny Denmark. That makes it a very special stone,to me at least. So I hope to learn to master it,in the same way as it`s previous owners.

Thanks again Jim and Bart.

Kindest regards
Torbs

 

[torbenbp]

Okay,it has now been lapped with 320-600-800-1000 and finaly 1200 grit wet paper.It is now as smooth as Halle Berrys butt. Unfortunately I have never actually felt Halles butt,but I got a vivid imagination
So will give it a test drive tommorow,if time allows.

Torbs

 

[Woodash]

Okay,it has now been lapped with 320-600-800-1000 and finaly 1200 grit wet paper.It is now as smooth as Halle Berrys butt. Unfortunately I have never actually felt Halles butt,but I got a vivid imagination
So will give it a test drive tommorow,if time allows.

Torbs

Which? :w00t:

 

[torbenbp]

Hmm.Unfortunately I only have access to the La Verte
T