New Coticule

[dnullify]

Hi all.

Well, i took a bit of a risk and ordered an new coticule. I haven't tried it yet, but by appearances i'm a tad disappointed. Definitely not what i was expecting.It's not even remotely yellow, but a green/blue/gray.

I ordered it in hopes of trying something new, because i'm not particularly satisfied with the edge my other coticule is giving.
Ah well, here are some pictures colors are relatively true, with my other coticule (a les lat).







I'm a little concerned about those purple/brown spots on that one end. i know that they shouldn't effect honing, but it does look pretty different from the rest of the stone.
any ideas what this can be?

 

[Matt]

Hey man, remember there are no two stones alike, these are like women.

As for spots, you will see various discolourations of coticules, spots being manganese or other inconsistencies of the stone, yours looks to me like it's still coticule in the darker spots, too. Remember, these are sedimentary rocks that formed around 480 million years ago from volcanic ashes. By this time, there were already

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

, proto-amphibians, fish and other complex animals present on Earth, not to mention water plants, so anything that was trapped in there between ash layers, stayed there. Think of those spots as of a special souvenir from millions years ago. :thumbup:

And remember that if you have any questions or doubts about the stone, you can contact Ardennes, they'll help you for sure (talk about >>marketing propagated by the "Coticule Crew"<<, ROTFLMAO ).

regards,
Matt

 

[jeness]

Thats a La Verte. Very hard, doesn't give slurry too easy, and slow. Its that hard that I honed maybe 10 razors from start to finish on it, with a lot of slurry rubbing, and the factory lines were still on the surface. You can't feel the dots in it, they doesn't affect honing in any way. They feel the same as all other parts of the stone. A good finishing stone, but it is slow for bevel work, so a good 1k can come handy.

 

[torbenbp]

Yep...thats a La Verte. Very hard,extremely difficult to bring up slurry and very slow in all matters.

If you ordered it from Ardennes Coticule,you could have asked Maurice for a specific layer,he is most helpfull.

Torbs

 

[garyhaywood]

I agree it looks like a standard la verte. I have a tiny one. Mine is easily capable of resetting a bevel after dulling on a glass. any coticule is slow or fast can do just that set a bevel after glass dulling. rebuilding a bevel is another thing, removing a chip takes a very fast layer.. try it . i think you will be surprised how easy it is to get a good edge of the la verte.

good looking coticues are not always the easiest. Its the not so good looking ones that can surprise you how good they are. give it ago, let us no how it works. If your not happy with it ardanees would certainly exchange it for you.

gary

 

[Bart]

I wouldn't have adviced to buy another Coticule for solving a particular dissatisfaction with the edges you get from your first one, but since you did, I don't think you could have gotten a better compliment to your Les Latneuses than a La Verte. Les Latneuses is generally very fast and somewhat challenging to get the final finish right. While La Verte is as far away from that as possible within the Coticule spectrum. Last week, I was talking to Maurice and Jarrod (the three of us met at Ardennes), and coincidentally the same topic was discussed. We all agreed that La Verte is likely the easiest layer to achieve sharpness. But La Verte has been acknowledged for that by more people than just the three of us. If you twist my arm, I'll admit that I don't find them the most visually appealing of Coticules. It's the only layer to my knowledge that shows these brown precipitations (according to Maurice, they are a form of Manganese). Somehow they lake me think of rotting leaves in prehistorical swamps. But who cares! It's the performance of the hone that matters, not how it looks.

Kind regards,
Bart.

 

[tat2Ralfy]

I couldnt agree more, you have a great finisher to use after your Les Latneuses, I too would have advised that another stones tends to compound honing problems rather than help to solve them, but hey ho you have a very nice combination set up now, and IMHO the new stone is beautiful in its own right :thumbup:

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[rtedwards]

I think you have done well. My La Verte is my favorite finisher. Give it a try. A little pressure at first on water, then lighten up as you cruise toward a very keen edge. I love the feel of those stones.

 

[Loric]

Just another +1 to the La Verte being a good complement for your first stone. I have a little sliver of that layer, and love the keen edges it produces. They do look a bit odd, but honestly the more I look at mine, the more I like it. Give it some time, it will grow on you. The spots just give it character.

 

[Paul]

I really like the looks of La Vertes. I'd love to play with one some time. I'm sure you'll enjoy yours

 

[Loric]

I forgot to ask, what are the measurements on your stone? It looks to be nice and long, that should help offset the slow character of this layer.

 

[dnullify]

it's a 40x175cm

I had a chance to try it out, and i gotta take what i said back, it is a decent stone.

I was hoping to get something to replace the les lat, partly because i didn't like the finish on the les lat, but also because I wanted something longer for quicker finishing. Ideally i want to have only one stone, (a feat of willpower).

It is indeed hard as granite! On slurry it wasn't really fast, but it wasn't all that slow either. i was surprised, it was at a HHT3 off halfstrokes slurry before i even got to rinsing and water. i figured most of the the slurry i worked up was from the slurry stone. i think that might have sped it up.

I did notice that on water it had a peak point, and then the edge seemed to degrade. Overall keeness was not all that much better than my les lat, but got there a heckova lot faster. I'm going to give it another shot, i just wish i had more dull razors!