Belgian waterstones

Roy Underhill had a stone he called a "Belgian Clay" with him when he
visited Seattle a couple of years ago. He said he got it at a flea
market and it had originally been used for sharpening straight razors.
It must work, because his tools were certainly razor sharp.

Australopithecus scobis <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Greetings,
> Saw a belgian waterstone on ebay, got curious and googled a bit. They are
> available in Europe, very reasonably priced, including shipping to the US.
> Prices are on par with Japanese waterstones. Google-grouped in the wreck,
> and the only articles that came up were from 1994/5. So, in the last
> decade, has anyone here played around with them?
>
> I'm looking for a 6k or 7k stone to round out my set, and thought it
> might be fun to try one of these. Will post a review, if and when...

On Thu, 16 Sep 2004 01:12:08 -0500, Australopithecus scobis
<[email protected]> wrote:

>So, in the last decade, has anyone here played around with them?

Yes, not impressed.

They handle like a natural Japanese stone, but are much cheaper.
"Natural Japanese" isnt necessarily a good thing, as they can be
awkward to work with - the synthetic waterstones are easier.

The problem with these coticule stones is "wolf" grains - outsize
grains that cause scratches. They're equal to a _very_ low quality
Japanese stone.

For woodworking they're usable, but more trouble and slower cutting
than a mid-price synthetic waterstone like a King. For sword
polishing (why I was using them) they're just not reliable enough and
there's too much risk of screwing up the work you've already done.

If you want a fine waterstone at a good price, I suggest a North
Mountain rather than a King. Kings are a bit soft.


--
Smert' spamionam