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Need help with finding my first Coticule

A

altshaver

Well-Known Member
Hello all,

I would like to purchase a Belgian Coticule. From reading as much as I could on this forum, you folks have made me feel confident that one of these stones can suit my needs. I do have a few questions, though.

What size would be recommended? The FAQ mentions 150mm X 40mm. I was thinking of going with a 50mm with either a 150mm, 175mm, or 200mm length. From what I have read, the wider stones that are greater than 50mm are not recommended, so I'll stay away from those. Also, I was thinking of getting a rectangular Coticule.

Should I get a "standard" or "select" Coticule? I have read that the biggest difference between the two is how they look. Aside from looks, do these two grades of Coticules operate differently. Personally, I like the idea of having a select stone, but some of the stones that have patterning in them look neat as well.

Which layers are recommended? I keep reading about these layers that have French names and was wondering if some layers are preferred over others for razor honing. The La Petit Blanche layer seems to be popular. Do each layers have a "standard" and "select" grading system?

Are faster Coticules considered better razor hones?

I was thinking of getting a Coticule from The Superior Shave. Does anyone have any experience with this vendor? I have read good things about this vendor.

Is ordering directly from Ardennes Coticule recommended?

As far as the vault is concerned, I like N[sup]o[/sup]57, even though it seems to be from a less popular layer.

Sincerely, thanks for any help. I warned you about the questions. :lol:
 
Hi Altshaver

My favourite size is 50 by 175, it fits my hand and doesnt get too heavy, anywhere around that size is good IMHO

There is no difference in performance between standard and select, the select ones just look nicer to some eyes

Every Layer will get you there, some are less available at times but they will all do the job very very well

Faster ones are not IMHO considered better in any way, faster ones tend to suffer from more slurry dulling at the finishing stages, so you will end up taking more time finishing anyway, and tbh the average Dilucot only takes about 10 minutes so its no marathon, where faster ones benefit is when there is a little more heavy work to do, they will remove small chips and set the bevel faster, again to be honest I wouldnt let that influence you too much, the differences are not too major

I have no Experience with the superior shave, but I do know that you simply wont get a better deal and service if you deal direct with Ardennes, also I dont know of any vendor that can let you choose which layer your new Coticule will come from, of course this is no problem at all when you order from Ardennes.

No. 57 from the vault looks to me to be a wonderful specimen, I would buy it if I needed a new one.

I hope my humble opinions help with your decision
Best wishes
Ralfson (Dr)
 
Also need little bit help.
Now I use small coticule borrowed from my friend but by the end of next week I plan to pay Coticule Selected 200X75 from ardennes-coticule.com (Mr. Rob Celis already sent me e-mail with instructions how to make payment without tax.
Now, I see that there in coticule vault are explanations of each stone so I wonder why on ardennes-coticule.com no such description (layers from where stone is mined, speed, finish etc.).
Anybody can tell more about stones (especially Coticule selected) that ardennes-coticule.com sell????
 
king said:
Also need little bit help.
Now I use small coticule borrowed from my friend but by the end of next week I plan to pay Coticule Selected 200X75 from ardennes-coticule.com (Mr. Rob Celis already sent me e-mail with instructions how to make payment without tax.
Now, I see that there in coticule vault are explanations of each stone so I wonder why on ardennes-coticule.com no such description (layers from where stone is mined, speed, finish etc.).
Anybody can tell more about stones (especially Coticule selected) that ardennes-coticule.com sell????
Click to expand...
they are the same coticules as in the vault the only difference is that the ones in the vault are tested ant identified by bart
but if you contact ardennes and ask far a specific layer I'm pretty sure that they will do their best to find it

hope this helpes
cheers
Stijn
 
Thx.
Also does Coticule Selected stones from ardennes-coticule.com are provided with slurry stone or I have to order it separately?
 
king said:
Thx.
Also does Coticule Selected stones from ardennes-coticule.com are provided with slurry stone or I have to order it separately?
Click to expand...
I think you get one when you order at least I did but maybe it's safest to ask when you order
oh and personally I would go for a standard not a selected (I think it's not worth the price difference) but you are free to do a you please off course
 
king said:
Thx.
Also does Coticule Selected stones from ardennes-coticule.com are provided with slurry stone or I have to order it separately?
Click to expand...
If you ask, they'll include a slurry stone for free.

Concerning The Superior Shave: I regularly receive e-mails from people that consider to buy one of the stones listed on their website. They're to my knowledge the only seller to actually test the Coticules and provide meaningful information about them. Every time I have been asked to check one of the descriptions out, they made complete sense to me. I don't know Jarrod, the owner, at all but he really appears to know what he's talking about.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
Concerning Slurry Stones, do you have to make sure the slurry stone is harder than the whet stone? Or does this pretty much not matter?
 
altshaver said:
Concerning Slurry Stones, do you have to make sure the slurry stone is harder than the whet stone? Or does this pretty much not matter?
Click to expand...
It doesn't really matter.
 
Yesterday I sent e-mail to Maurice in ardennes-coticule.be about layers from which comes their Coticule selected stones.
Today he reply and said "...It is a combo "la Dressante au bleu".
So, Bart, can you tell me more about stones from that layer-speed, sharpnes level, finishing, dilucot, unicot, touch ups with water (or the question is too general)????
Also, what he means with term "it's a combo..."?
 
King,

Here is an example of the stone you mentioned:

http://www.coticule.be/277.html

It is a combination stone because it has the Dressante Layer of Coticule on top of a Belgian Blue Whetstone. I can't tell you any more because I really don't know anything about these stones yet, unfortunately.

I am still thinking about n[sup]o[/sup]57 :confused:.
 
That's mean I can use both sides.
One side is yellow coticule other is belgian blue stone.
Until now I was thinking that back side is usefull.
That comes from ardennes-coticule.com:
"The Coticule “Selected” consist of a Coticule top side of 7 to 10 mm and a bottom side of unusable black shist."
 
king said:
Yesterday I sent e-mail to Maurice in ardennes-coticule.be about layers from which comes their Coticule selected stones.
Today he reply and said "...It is a combo "la Dressante au bleu".
So, Bart, can you tell me more about stones from that layer-speed, sharpnes level, finishing, dilucot, unicot, touch ups with water (or the question is too general)????
Also, what he means with term "it's a combo..."?
Click to expand...
Here's some additional information.


Kind regards,
Bart.
 
tat2Ralfy said:
Hi Altshaver



No. 57 from the vault looks to me to be a wonderful specimen, I would buy it if I needed a new one.

I hope my humble opinions help with your decision
Best wishes
Ralfson (Dr)
Click to expand...

That is nice to hear, Ralphy, since I am getting no69 and I believe they are identical or at least very similar. Looking forward to a coti personally evaluated by the expert without peer. Cheers, D
 
Actually, it looks like 57 was claimed rather quickly. I hadn't noticed this until reading the reservation thread. 67 looks fairly nice right now, as does 63.
 
Which grit of wet-dry sandpaper is the best option to flatten the coticule stone?
 
king said:
Which grit of wet-dry sandpaper is the best option to flatten the coticule stone?
Click to expand...
Depends on how much flattening you need to do.
If you really need to lap a big hollow curve out of an old stone, start on 80 grit or so.
Smooth it out all the way till 600 grit.

If you only need to do some minor lapping and a bit of edge chamfering, you can start on 600 grit.
Best to work under a running tap.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
I just purchased my first straight razor hone. It is a 50mm X 150mm Select Grade Les Latneuses coticule from The Superior Shave. If you scroll down, you'll be able to see my hone on this web page:

http://thesuperiorshave.com/Coticules.html

I have done a lot of reading and hope that I made a good decision. Jarrod tells me that the unadulterated coticule layer is at least 7mm deep. The shadowy coticule layer between the unadulterated coticule layer and hybrid side is about 5mm deep. The total thickness of the hone is 21mm. The hone comes with a Slurry stone and a box. I opted for the Beligan style box over the Norton case. The hone was lapped by Jarrod also. The shipping is included in the price.

I hope I made a good choice!

Edit: It looks like Jarrod took the photo down :cry:. I'll ask him if he could email me the pic.
 
Jarrod took some extra pictures for me. Have a look:

cot5.jpg


cot4.jpg


cot3.jpg


cot2.jpg


cot1.jpg
 
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