Belgian Coticule Standard Whetstone [4" x 1"]

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Belgian Coticule Whetstones are used for super finish sharpening on KME or Hapstone knife sharpeners.Yellow Coticule is mined in the Ardennes mountains in Belgium. Coticule is ultr a-fine natural stone with a high garnet content, with estimated grit approximately 8000-12000 JIS. Coticule is one of the most well-known whetstones in the world.Coticule stones are universal and can be used to sharpen knives of any steel.The stone consists of 3-4 mm coticule layer and satellite stone glued together. Satellite stone is used to make the product rigid and thick enough.Coticule is preliminarily lapped and does not require lapping after purchase. Coticule should be used with water as a lubricant. All that is required is to wet the Coticule surface. There is no need to immerse the stone. During the sharpening, slurry with garnets is released from the Coticule surface. The more garnets are released, the more abrasive the grinding compound becomes. Try to keep slurry on a stone surface.Coticule stones may have a color pattern, slight natural imperfections, and inclusions.'Standard' Layers La Grise Thicker layer that allows several slices of Coticule to be cut with consistent properties throughout the layer. Color mostly warm (yellowish) gray, but cool (bluish) gray occurs as well. Presence of a grainy-looking pattern (although completely smooth to the touch), that is reminiscing of wood grain. Natural combination stones mostly have a gradual transition to the BBW. Many La Grises are glued to slate. Speed on slurry centers around moderate, sometimes a bit faster, but usually slightly slower. Speed on water is (relative) slow, which means that the water will show signs of darkening after a set of halfstrokes, but not with regular (low pressure) X-strokes. La Grise Coticules have a glassy feel on water only, and mild slurry dulling. They are easy to yield good keenness. La Verte Thicker layer that allows several slices of Coticule to be cut with (mostly) consistent properties throughout the layer. Color is of a distinct greenish gray hue. Natural combination stones have a gradual transition to the blue of their BBW part. Presence of a grainy-looking pattern (although completely smooth to the touch), that is reminiscing of wood grain. They are both in look and feel related to La Grise, albeit La Verte Coticules are generally harder. Speed on slurry centers around moderately slow. They are faster on water than La Grise, which makes them excellent touch-up hones, and they can make up on water for neglected work in earlier honing stages. 'Premium' Layers La Dressante Coticule has a coffee-with-cream color, a bit darker than the rest of La Dressante. Possible presence of black manganese lines and dots. Possible presence of red or orange lines. Surface of Coticule is not patterned, some bluish blotches may be present. Speed on slurry is moderate, about in the middle of the spectrum. Slurry dulling is mild. Speed on water is slow. La Nouvelle Vein Pale creamy color, often blotched with hazy blue spots. No real pattern as seen on La Grise, La Verte or La Grosse Jaune. Abrasive properties on slurry vary from slow to fast. On water, La Nouvelle Veine Coticules are slow. Fast-on-slurry La Nouvelle Veines exert much slurry dulling and require precise dilution to yield perfect results. It appears that these stones oblige the user to get it right, in which instance they deliver outstanding, mellow edges. La Veinette Creamy Coticule part, no surface pattern. Often manganese lines or dots. BBW caries short or longer white stripes at the lateral side, parallel with the separation line. Abrasive properties very consistent throughout the layer. Moderately fast on slurry and (relative) moderate to slow on water, which means that it will darken the water before the end of one set halfstrokes. No much slurry dulling, which makes them easy to use. Typical feedback, grainy feel on slurry that evolves to a slight draw on water. Les Latneuses Coticule is coffee-with-cream colored, manganese lines and spots possible. Sometimes orange-brownish lines. Also more pink colored Coticules with lighter yellow lines and dots. These are strikingly fast on water. One side of Les Latneuses has series of blue hairlines running laterally in the Coticule part. This side is moderately fast on slurry. The other side has far less occurrence of these blue hairlines, and is very fast on slurry. Speed on water of Les Latneuses is variable throughout the layer. 'Transition' Layer Transition Transition layer between Coticule and BBW. Exotic in bench format. Transition layer is from pale blue to yellow with purple dots. The surface is patterned. Speed is very fast. Estimated grit rating is in between Yellow Coticule and BBW. Advantages of aluminum blanks If you accidentally drop the stone, it's less likely you break it; Much longer life span for the stone after multiple flattening and lapping; Easy identification due to laser engraving; Reliable clamping for stones of imperfect shape. Stones mounted on aluminum blanks are thicker than stock KME stones. We recommend using the thickness compensator if you use stones of different thickness.Watch KnifeKrazy YouTube review of the new form-factor. Show more