Belgian Blue Waterstones

I have and use a Belgiun Yellow (coticule) stone and the blue is a close brother. Thanks to HH. DM
 
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The only difference between the Yellow Belgiun Coticule and the Blue Coticule is the % of garnet. The Yellow having the higher % of garnet 30-40. Whereas, the Blue has 25-30. The remainder is clay and crystal.
Garnet being a hard gem and its grain structure makes these desirable. Plus, they tend to be fragile making them somewhat rare usually requiring a backing. These are a up grade stone from the Arkansas in hardness and cutting. A very good stone for straight razor shavers. DM
 
I've used a Belgian Blue (haven't had the pleasure of those coticules the straight-razor people use and love). For people who know what they're doing, they're probably the bee's knees. For me, it was a slow-cutting ordeal with purple slurry (kind of like the one Cookie Crisp makes in milk) as its only saving grace.

The pal who sent it to me not only told me to keep it, but didn't put a return address on the box he used for shipping. I paid it forward to someone else and he wasn't happy about it, either. While all three of us can do some good sharpening (the other two much better than me), it's very fair to say we weren't people who knew how to release the Belgian Blue's magic. Others' results vary greatly. Also, as a natural stone, some can be awesome and some can be wretched - just look at the dozens of types of aoto stones...
 
Thank you Thom!

There seems to be quite a bit of reluctance on all forums to criticize natural stones. Your evaluation was refreshing to read. :)

If one purchases Shapton or Naniwa products, one is assured of a consistent, top quality stone, although they are, shall we say, unnatural!:D
 
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