Keep an eye out or message him. I saw recently on Facebook he was working on some of the raw rock. Would think he will have some soon.
Coticule supplier?
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Keep an eye out or message him. I saw recently on Facebook he was working on some of the raw rock. Would think he will have some soon.
No I’m saying test shave 12k edge, then obliterate it and re finish on coticule. It’s not just a couple light touch up x strokes, but starting at sets of 20 half strokes with pressure.
I agree there are plenty of methods to get a sort of hybrid edge, but that’s not what I’m saying I did here.
I do agree arks make a keener edge as a general rule! I just think Coticules at their peak performance are much closer to ark level keen than I always see described on here. Honestly for someone with a truly tough beard an ark finished edge might be the ultimate edge you can get that’s still forgiving in use.
Okay, fair enough. Thanks for clarifying. What did you do to obliterate the edge before refinishing on a coticule?
If you are checking with Griffith Shaving periodically, if you happen to see one of the Greek Vermio stones, grab it. Matt has not had any in stock for a while, but I can get a better edge with my Vermio than any other stone I have, with the possible exception of the Zulu Grey and the Suehiro G20K.
Sometimes I do a jointing pass on the edge of the stone, but usually just the volume of Coticule work wipes out any hint of the edge that was there. Usually even if I have a certain Coticule in mind to finish on, I’ll start with one of my two particularly fast stones so no existing edge stands a chance. Either of those stones will make visible steel swarf in a few strokes using just water.
How do I contact him?
Is it true that most cuticles fall into the 8K-10K grit zone?
I know number mean nothing etc etc ...just asking.
I know number mean nothing etc etc ...just asking.
That is what I have heard. I only have one Coticule and mine seems to produce an edge similar to an 8K Naniwa SS. There are a lot of guys who can shave off an 8K Norton or Naniwa. I suspect they would love Coticule edges. For me, however, even a 12K Naniwa SS does not produce an edge to my liking. I can use a 12K stone, but only if I do a lot of work on pasted strops afterward to further refine the edge.
They’re generally supposed to be 8-15mu spessartine garnets, so by particle size much coarser than synthetic finisher range. The magic is in the particle geometry and managing the interaction between the blade, the stone, and the garnets.
This is a good illustration of the importance of particle geometry in finishing, left is 6mu synthetic stone particle and right is 15mu spessartine garnet and the bevel/edge they would leave on a blade. I wish I knew who to give credit for this:
You can see from this why it’s important for most Coticules to finish with no slurry and just water on the stone, running a nice bevel straight into a tumbling 15mu garnet would take a tiny chunk out of that edge. This is why I mentioned finishing under running water. The running water is not about creating a nice lubricant on the stone surface like oil on an Ark, it’s about clearing away any garnets that break loose from the stones surface before they tumble into your nice new edge. Most stones auto-slurry to some degree, but there are very hard-surface outliers that can be used more similarly to a typical synth or JNAT or Ark and they have the reputation of being “easier to max out an edge on”. People mistakenly assume those stones must have smaller garnets, but while garnet sizes may vary it’s really all the other stone characteristics that make the biggest difference in how you have to use the stone to reach its peak. I’ve got a super hard La grise later stone that I’d bet has the coarsest garnets of all my stones, but produces an excellent edge with almost no effort or thought because of no autoslurry. I’ve also got an awesome La Dressante that autoslurries like crazy, and the difference between finishing under running water or using it on a bench top is truly night and day; it’s amazigly smooth hair popping edge vs barely shavable tugging edge.
The Les lat hybrids are sort of their own stone because they won’t auto slurry and supposedly they carry some garnets but also very fine particles of quartz/chlorite so they may actually be the closest parallel to using a synth stone in the 8-12k range. That can be an awesome edge sort of halfway between a typical coti and a typical finishing Ark.
Having said all this I’m not highlighting any one layer or stone, I’m just trying to say they’re all a bit unique. I think if you buy a Coticule from a good seller and they can attest it’s a good razor finisher then you’re all set, from that point it’s just figuring out what works and what doesn’t.
I always take my coticule from slurry to plain water then running water. Then I strop and finish on a bit of soapy water, though I now finish with mineral oil and zero pressure. This takes my coticule edge to new heights.
@gary haywood is his forum name
Thank you.
Baby oil is basically pharm grade mineral oil plus light perfume, so it should be fine.
I find clock oil takes the edge further than anything else.
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So I got my coticule in yesterday and had a very brief opportunity to work with, about 10 minutes while the spaghetti was cooking. I shaved this morning and could definitely feel the difference in the edge. It was so much less harsh. At first I thought it wasn’t as keen as before, but after a couple passes I realized that my shave was just about on par, so I think I was mistaking harshness for keenness.
Overall I am very happy with this preliminary attempt. I may give it a little more work when I have some time, maybe use some soap or oil as suggested above and see if I can get my edge sharper, however I am already happy with the improvement in smoothness!
Thanks to all for the advice!!!
Overall I am very happy with this preliminary attempt. I may give it a little more work when I have some time, maybe use some soap or oil as suggested above and see if I can get my edge sharper, however I am already happy with the improvement in smoothness!
Thanks to all for the advice!!!
That’s awesome! If you get the impression from face feel or whatever that it’s dull, but it’s removing hair without tugging that’s really the famous edge. You may never want to shave off anything else... except for more Coticules obviously. Arks are pretty cool too.
Get your Coticules spayed or neutered. They multiply like rabbits.
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