The Coticule Edge

[rbscebu]

Yesterday I was given an unknown (to me) whetstone as reported here. After cleaning it up and lapping flat, I was informed that what I had been given was an old Coticule/Belgium Blue (although it is a red-wine colour) combo whetstone.This was my second natural whetstone after my Adaee #12000 Cnat that I purchased about a month ago.

After learnt what I had been given, I selected a matching weekend set of two identical (except the timber scales) Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 SRs to see what this Coticule would do for my shave quality. One of this set had been maintained on diamond pasted balsa (clear tail) and the other on my Cnat (black tail). Both SRs have shaved almost identially in shave quality, both in closeness and comfort. I chose the clear-tail SR to put a Coticule finish on.

First I gave the clear-tail a few laps on an 8k Chinese synthetic to put some striations on the bevel. Then I proceeded to polish the bevel on the Coticule. I started out with a slight slurry on the Coticule, finishing with clear water and finally some shaving lather. The bevel finished up with just the very slightest of a hazy finish, only visible under a good light with loupe.

This morning I shaved with both SRs from this matching weekend set.

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I performed a rather complex and lengthy comparison shave. First was WTG, clear-tail RHS and black-tail LHS. Then another WTG swapping the SRs over for each side. Next was XTG+CdM (a.k.a. Fool's Pass), clear-tail RHS and black-tail LHS. This was followed by another XTG (in opposite direction) +CdM swapping the SRs over for each side. I did another final two XTG passes in opposite directions (6 passes in total), one pass with the clear-tail and the other pass with the black-tail.

The Result

The Coticule edge (clear-tail) is noticeably more comfortable to shave with. The edge/bevel just glides over my skin. When performing the CdM I found the Cnat edge (black-tail) to be just slightly more keen than the Coticule but only just noticeable. Both being well honed SRs, there was of course no skin damage or irritation.

Conclusion

This Coticule will become my preferred finisher now, at least on my T.H.60 SRs. I have yet another T.H.60 finished on diamond pasted balsa that I have been using as a loan-out SR. I will give that SR a Coticule finish directly onto its pasted balsa finish (no 8k synthetic honing first) and compare the two Coticule edges tomorrow morning.

I am loving my Coticule whetstone. There is so much to learn and try out.

 

[Bevel]

The Result

The Coticule edge (clear-tail) is noticeably more comfortable to shave with. The edge/bevel just glides over my skin.

Conclusion

This Coticule will become my preferred finisher now, at least on my T.H.60 SRs. I have yet another T.H.60 finished on diamond pasted balsa that I have been using as a loan-out SR. I will give that SR a Coticule finish directly onto its pasted balsa finish (no 8k synthetic honing first) and compare the two Coticule edges tomorrow morning.

Does it have the won't cut you feel?
If you have a wedge that's the one you really want a coticule edge on. This in conjunction with a lanolin based soap are some of the best shaves I've had.

I am loving my Coticule whetstone. There is so much to learn and try out.

The first thing I'd ascertain is speed. Get a blade, wet the stone and do about 20 Japanese half strokes and check for greying of the water. Keep going until you get some greying. Try it with and without slurry.
While you have nothing to compare it to it should let you know if it's fast or slow. The sensation and sound often give away the speed but the greying is the thing to look out for.
Coticules are weird in that every one is different. Some are lightning fast but also great finishers. Some are slow but eventually get you there. Most are very slow on water alone but some say it's impossible to overhone on a coticule.

 

[Tomo]

Welcome to the dark side.

 

[rbscebu]

Does it have the won't cut you feel?
If you have a wedge that's the one you really want a coticule edge on. This in conjunction with a lanolin based soap are some of the best shaves I've had.

The first thing I'd ascertain is speed. Get a blade, wet the stone and do about 20 Japanese half strokes and check for greying of the water. Keep going until you get some greying. Try it with and without slurry.
While you have nothing to compare it to it should let you know if it's fast or slow. The sensation and sound often give away the speed but the greying is the thing to look out for.
Coticules are weird in that every one is different. Some are lightning fast but also great finishers. Some are slow but eventually get you there. Most are very slow on water alone but some say it's impossible to overhone on a coticule.

I wouldn't say a "no cut you feel" but it definitely feels safer than my pasted balsa and Adaee #12000 Cnat edges.

As for cutting speed, it is faster than my Adaee #12000 (thankfully) but not as fast as my 8k Chinese synthetic. I have also since found that the red-wine BBW side is faster than the Coticule side of this whetstone.

I now have three Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 SRs finished off the Coticule. One was from an 8k synthetic, another from pasted balsa and the third from the integral BBW. I want to see which one is best for my shaving style.

 

[rbscebu]

Welcome to the dark side.

Is there a rehad that works?

 

[Tomo]

Is there a rehad that works?

It sounds like it’s already too late for that.

 

[David]

Is there a rehad that works?

Yes. Get married.

 

[Legion]

Yes. Get married.

Says the guy who buys his infant children multiple high end knives for when they “one day” need them.

Your wife is a saint.

 

[rbscebu]

This morning's shave was to compare two identical Titan T.H.60 SRs, one off an 8k Chinese synthetic and Coticule finish (clear tail) and the other off diamond pasted balsa and Coticule finish (white tail).

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The white-tail (balsa + Coticule) had an edge that was noticeably keen in the CdM pass and just a tad less comfortable all round than the clear-tail (8k + Coticule). My preference to regularly shave with would be for the whit-tail.

Tomorrow I will compare the white-tail against another T.H.60 honed on BBW + Conicule, as nature intended.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

I think I hear a 7-day coticule set in the making ...

 

[rbscebu]

As stated in my last post in this thread, this morning I compared the white-tail (balsa + Coticule) against another T.H.60 (my first real SR) honed on BBW + Conicule.

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The winner was definitely the BBW + Coticule edge (clear tail in photo above), both in cutting and comfort. I will continue maintaining these two SRs after each shave, white-tail on balsa + Coticule and the clear-tail on BBW + Coticule to see if there is any further changes.

 

[Basil]

Love my coti stones. I’ve had the same stone for at least 10 years now and even though I’ve tried other methods I keep coming back to the coti.

 

[Bevel]

I will continue maintaining these two SRs after each shave, white-tail on balsa + Coticule and the clear-tail on BBW + Coticule to see if there is any further changes.

Wait, you're going to rehone each razor after every shave? Also maintaining on balsa or BBW, then coticule seems excessive.

Part of the coticule smoothness comes after a couple of shaves. If you rehone you'll never experience this mellowing over time. A fresh edge is always nice but experiment a little too. As you have a load of razors I'd suggest honing one to perfection and seeing how many shaves you can get from it with stropping on leather alone. I think the linen is only required post hone so just leather should be fine. (coticule edges seem to benefit from extra linen stropping post-hone so whatever your normal routine is double it. If I hone a wedge on a coticule I actually really lean in on the stropping with pressure and have very good results)

Coticules round the edge so it's tougher than a super acute apex from some other finishers. You might be surprised how long it will last. It's this slight rounding that makes it feel like it won't cut you and where the comfort ultimately comes from.

 

[rbscebu]

@Bevel thank you for the guidance. Being new to this, I did not know. I will now stop refreshing the Coticule edge and just strop only.

I normally strop about 5 to 10 laps very lightly on linen after each shave to clean the bevel. Is that still ok?

 

[Bevel]

@Bevel thank you for the guidance. Being new to this, I did not know. I will now stop refreshing the Coticule edge and just strop only.

I normally strop about 5 to 10 laps very lightly on linen after each shave to clean the bevel. Is that still ok?

It won't do any harm but personally I only give a freshly honed razor a single vigorous linen stropping once and then leather from then on. It may indeed be good to remove soap scum but I meticulously clean razors after a shave and do a quick palm-strop so don't usually bother with the linen.

(If it helps, to clean I wet blade after the shave, wipe between fingers to loosen any residual soap, run blade under HOT water to aid drying process, pinch the blade between tissue and run it 10 times heal to toe carefully, a quick palm-strop just to be sure and finally another tissue wipe to remove any oil from the palm-strop)

My logic on linen is, the linen will remove the tiniest imperfections (microscopic wire edges or micro-flecks) but once that's done there's no need for it until the next hone. This is of coarse my opinion so if anyone thinks differently by all means chime in with your thoughts.

I have a W&B wedge I honed on a coticule once, gave it a thorough linen stropping once, and now only use leather and it's almost perfect. Having said that I have a lot of razors I'm currently going through one by one so it hasn't been used in a while but I'd say there's at least 10 shaves on it and it's smooth as silk with no signs of deterioration, only improvement.

Experiment yourself with your current method but keep one that you only strop on leather and see if you find it improves over time and report back. Again there is a logic to this in that you've probably heard our DE brethren state that a feather blade is better, or more comfortable/smoother, after a few shaves. Same thing here.
Your results will help me confirm this isn't all psychosomatic on my part but this has been my experience so it's all I have to go on and I'm happy with it. Someone else arriving at the same conclusion would be affirming.

 

[rbscebu]

@Bevel, I have now set up my four identical Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 SRs to compare edges over time. The tail of each has been marked to that I can keep track. Will report back here once I start to get some results.

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From top to bottom:

1. Finished and maintained after each shave on diamond pasted balsa (clear tail)​
2. Finished and maintained after each shave on Adaee #12000 Cnat (black tail)​
3. Finished and maintained after each shave on Coticule (orange tail)​
4. Finished on Coticule and not maintained after each shave (pink tail)​

All SRs get 50 to 60 laps on a clean leather strop before each shave and 5 to 10 laps on clean cloth strop after each shave.

 

[clanravencub]

As a fresh recruit I am curious how often folks believe razors should be sharpened (as opposed to stropping)

 

[Herrenberg]

As a fresh recruit I am curious how often folks believe razors should be sharpened (as opposed to stropping)

There is no generally applicable answer. My own answers have gone from:

After two shaves, because my newbie self is shaving at too high an angle and putting little dings in the edge that I can see under magnification

to

I don't know, because I like honing, and I like fresh edges, so I haven't left one alone for more than three shaves to see how long it would last.

I once did leave a razor alone, while I was still at too high a shaving angle, and I started disliking the shave on the 5th use, and it started tugging on the 7th use. I bet I could go a lot longer now, but I just don't want to try, because it would mean giving up a couple of fresh-edge shaves.

 

[rbscebu]

As a fresh recruit I am curious how often folks believe razors should be sharpened (as opposed to stropping)

It's a personal preference thing. My development has been like @Herrenberg above. I am now at the stage where I just prefer a freshly maintained edge before each shave.

I enjoy after-shave edge maintenance. It takes me only a couple of minutes and I have the time to do it.

With good SR shaving technique, many can go for a hundred or more shaves with a blade before they feel that the edge needs to be refreshed on whetstones.

 

[clanravencub]

Cool that's really helpful guys. As you say I've heard the hundreds figure and that you should sharpen once every six months (from general websites as opposed to shavers). What you say makes sense. Lolol another thing to start practising