Coticule tip

[Disburden]

Good morning everyone

I thought I would share a tip on coticule honing that I've been using for some time now.

Recently I've been trying to get the most out of one of my continues, which was a slight struggle. The shaves tugged a little under the chin.

I decided to try something of a pyramid but with the one stone and different pressures.

I raised a watery slurry on the razor. It was almost there, so I didn't want to start over with thicker slurry. I then did some half strokes with a slight pressure, only a tinny bit, no bearing down on the blade. Once I felt the cut change I then did very light half strokes on the same slurry.

Then I would dilute with a drop of water and repeat with pressure and then no pressure for each dilution.

What I think happened was that by using pressure at the start of each step, I was going a slight bit backwards, sort of like a pyramid but with one stone. This helped the razor catch up anything missed by my skills on that coticule.

Finally I finished under running water, which I always do on this stone. I then stropped on Keith's firehose and red imp leather.

The shave this morning was much better...BBS and no burn from the special reserve aftershave.

Anyone who struggles with their coticule may benefit from doing this pressure type pyramid for each dilution.

Ps can someone adjust the title? My tablet auto corrects everything I type...what a pain.

 

[buca3152]

My experience with cotis is that you need firm pressure to have contact with the stone. Otherwise the slurry can beat the edge up. I'm not talking about bearing down pressure now.

 

[Earcutter]

Nice!

Well, i’ll add that progressively reducing pressure as you travel through the grits on any stone helps out. More so on your last step for sure. In my world anyway. It reduces scratch depth.

Great tip - thanks.

 

[Gamma]

He's talking about cycling pressure for each step, not just reducing pressure progressively.
It starts off each step with a 'lower grit' and deeper stria than one would 'expect' or 'assume' to start off with at that stage.
It's actually a pretty complex technique to spin into a Dulicot; esp given the variables of slurry density and a lack of super accurate dilutions. Kudos for nailing it.

For a synth user - it would equate to something like this.

Heavy pressure on the 1k to start but ending with lighter pressure.
Then - moving to 3k, and starting with lighter pressure than was used to start with on the 1k, but still heavier than the ending pressure on the 1k.
As the work on the 3k progresses - the pressure is reduced.
Starting on the 5k, the pressure is less that what was used to start on the 3k, but heavier than what was used to end on the 3k...
And so on...

 

[Disburden]

Right, sorry for the confusion. Thanks Keith.

I call it a pyramid, but you can call it whatever you want, but I think what helps is that when I used pressure again for each step I Was able to back track a little bit to see if I missed anything on the previous stage of the coticule.

I still mostly use a slurry method where I don't dilute much at all and just refresh the slurry as needed. I get very gentle edges that way.

 

[Seveneighth]

I still mostly use a slurry method where I don't dilute much at all and just refresh the slurry as needed. I get very gentle edges that way.

Can I ask what this method is? Can you describe it in a little more detail please? Do you finish with water or with slurry?

 

[Disburden]

Every Coticule is different.
So just keep that in mind.
With the one, I like to use, I just make a watery slurry and hone away.
When I feel the cutting has stopped, I refresh the watery slurry and go again. I keep this up until I feel the edge doesn't get any better (this is a sensation thing). The garnets DO dull after a while when you hone, they hit each other and dull the cutting power. They don't break down like a JNAT slurry, but they do impact into each other.

Some coticules have aggressive slurry, so this may not work with your stone.

 

[Twelvefret]

Every Coticule is different.
So just keep that in mind.
With the one, I like to use, I just make a watery slurry and hone away.
When I feel the cutting has stopped, I refresh the watery slurry and go again. I keep this up until I feel the edge doesn't get any better (this is a sensation thing). The garnets DO dull after a while when you hone, they hit each other and dull the cutting power. They don't break down like a JNAT slurry, but they do impact into each other.

Some coticules have aggressive slurry, so this may not work with your stone.

How does the "cutting has stopped" feel? Slicker?

 

[Disburden]

I.can't explain it. It's just something you notice the I th experience. The grip seems to lessen.

 

[Seveneighth]

Good morning everyone

I thought I would share a tip on coticule honing that I've been using for some time now.

Recently I've been trying to get the most out of one of my continues, which was a slight struggle. The shaves tugged a little under the chin.

I decided to try something of a pyramid but with the one stone and different pressures.

I raised a watery slurry on the razor. It was almost there, so I didn't want to start over with thicker slurry. I then did some half strokes with a slight pressure, only a tinny bit, no bearing down on the blade. Once I felt the cut change I then did very light half strokes on the same slurry.

Then I would dilute with a drop of water and repeat with pressure and then no pressure for each dilution.

What I think happened was that by using pressure at the start of each step, I was going a slight bit backwards, sort of like a pyramid but with one stone. This helped the razor catch up anything missed by my skills on that coticule.

Finally I finished under running water, which I always do on this stone. I then stropped on Keith's firehose and red imp leather.

The shave this morning was much better...BBS and no burn from the special reserve aftershave.

Anyone who struggles with their coticule may benefit from doing this pressure type pyramid for each dilution.

Ps can someone adjust the title? My tablet auto corrects everything I type...what a pain.

I've been trying this. It works well - thanks.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Interesting thread and helpful. Thanks, gentlemen.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[tonkhang]

Can you post some video that I can watch and learn ...

 

[Seveneighth]

I have tried this technique 3 times now - but also have added @Disburden 's advice from another thread to increase strokes at each stage. The third time was a charm. Best dilucot edge I have produced and an all time great shave from it.