As I said in a previous thread, I recently received a coti/BBW but I have no idea how to use the BBW. Every video I have seen goes into the coti side of the natural but what is the BBW for? Any tips, advice, comments greatly appreciated.
Well when I was 1 stone honing with my coticule I would start with a heavy slurry on the coti side, switch to the BBW side with heavy slurry then continue going diluting that until it was pure water on the BBW side. Then I would switch back to the coti side and go with pure water until I felt the edge was good to go. They're basically mean to compliment each other, however using just the coticule side has become rather routine with people going Dulicot and Unicot.
As far as I know the BBW side severs as support for the coticule side (as the coticule layers are quite thin). The BBW side is therefore not always usable as a hone. Sometimes, though, they find a natural BBW/coticule layer. Then the BBW side can be used as a hone as well. Take a peek over here: coticule.be. It's a website devoted solely to the coticule and the BBW. Much info to be found over there. Another informative site: timbertools.com/products/belgian-coticule.html
The BBW or blue belgian stone, is used the same way a coticule is used. Put water on it, raise a slurry and start to hone. The slurry should be the consistency of milk. The stone should be lapped flat prior to use. The BBW is my favorite stone for knives and I use it for razors which are dull and which need faster honing than a coticule. Excellent stone!
Coticule radiates through the blue stone mass and when they blow up the quarry face they sometimes find gradable stone that has straddled the coticule vein. This quarry is the only quarry in the world that produces a natural double sided hone. The coticule is generally only thin if you buy the standard grade stone, it's thicker with the Select grade stones. These stones come naturally as double sided stones although in the past certain companies glued a yellow to a blue and sold them as such. The BBW side is ALWAYS usable as a hone but sometimes is confused with the slate side of a coticule only stone. The slate is not used as a hone but instead just to support the soft coticule stone. I have used and handled several thousand coticules since 2005 and every time I get a box I'm amazed how similar and how different each is from the others. If you have never tried Belgian stones I highly recommend them.
