WOOD
Black Locust Burl

Beech Burl

Birch Burl



STONE

Coticule, Latneuses
Coticule, La Petite Blanche
Coticule, Latneuses, S-H
Coticule, Latneuses, Hybrid
Layered Gray Shale
Rouge du Salm / Lorraine
Rouge du Salm, Soft
LOCATION

Eindhoven, NL

Eindhoven, NL

Eindhoven, NL



LOCATION

Vielsalm, BE

Vielsalm, BE

Vielsalm, BE

Vielsalm, BE

Vielsalm, BE

Regné, BE
Regné, BE
-

-
-
-


USE CASE

Sharpening, Honing

Sharpening, Honing

Sharpening, Honing

Honing

Sharpening, Honing
Polishing, Honing

Polishing
Note: All the information and research on this page were conducted independently by Vasco. If you notice any errors or have additional insights, please feel free to contact us. Your contribute is greatly appreciated.
Earthen Matter Materials Archive           Field Trips            Projects            Process & Techniques

Rouge du Salm / Lorraine

This stone is found at the Ol Preu quarry in Regné. Nowadays abandoned, this was the first quarry where the Coticule was extracted from. It is just a few kilometres away from Vielsalm.

When the quarry was still active, the Coticule was found in between layers of Rouge du Salm. Both stones were usually cut together but they were also sold separately since both are useful. This one is a bit less versatile and slightly slower than the Coticule. However, it is the stone with the best polishing I found so far. Great contrast between layers but still some visible scratches. Definitely worth another trip. 

On a personal note, some years ago I found one of these stones while visiting my great-grandparents’ house in rural Portugal, alongside a straight razor from Solingen, Germany, in a box dated 1973. I was already making knives at the time but I had no idea what this stone was.
Name: Rouge du Salm / Lorraine
Provenance: Regné, BE
Geology: Medium-grade metamorphic stone
Composition: Indurated clay, spessartine, quartz
Use case: Polishing, Honing
Grit size: 5k-7k
Hardness: 4/5
Cutting speed: 3.5/5
Feedback: 4/5