Got my Coti! Now come the questions.

[Fletch]

Well I think the only thing to do now after working it tonight is to shave with it the next time I shave. I spent a bit more time with it tonight and if it's not shave ready it has to be remarkably close. When finishing it I could feel the blade sticking to the stone while I was working it under running water. Felt a great drag when stropping and any place I touched on myself that had hair on it it went through it like butter and wiped a little pile of hair in a pile. Finally I went for the HHT I didn't even have to drag the hair across the blade. Soon as it touched the blade I felt it grab it and pop it right off. So the moment of truth will be coming up in the next day or so. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

[danjared]

That was fast. And you only used the coticule? If so, I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised (and perhaps confused too) with your next shave.

 

[Fletch]

Yep only used the coticule and strop. I figure total time invested with it was about 3 hours or so. Like I said I don't know how it will do on a shave but it I figure it has to be pretty close. Im debating on whether to try spending some more time with it finishing bit it seems really close now.

 

[Munxcub]

Sounds promising, getting an HHT4. That's what I've managed (using my wife's fine hair) and it provides a great shaving edge.

 

[Fletch]

Well tonight was the moment of truth, like most of you this is one of the few places where I can talk about this and some people can actually NOT roll their eyes..... Now let me preface this by saying that until getting my Es Ex back from Larry for honing my best shaving razor that I owned was a cheap Gold Monkey razor I bought from a member here. Who to his credit spent a lot of time with it stropping it on some CrOx. And it was my go to razor, never really got a lot of tugging but often wound up with some weepers around my chin area going ATG and whatever clean up I would do but it shaved.

I grabbed the razor I honed and at first was tempted to spend some time on it with the Balsa and CrOx and FeOx I got. But then opted to just go for it as is and see how she did. Wow, WOW!! Is all I can say, I was actually so impressed by it that I got so wrapped up in admiring how smooth it felt I forgot to stretch near the side of my chin and bit myself ever so slightly with it as it dug in a bit. But OH MY was it probably the best shave I've ever gotten since I started straight shaving. Every pass was effortless, no stop and go on the heavier growth areas, no tugging, no nothing. Just the sweet sound of that "butter knife scrapping toast" sound the entire time.

I was still debating on putting it now on the balsa and see how it is but (and I'm not trying to sound boastful here) but can it actually maker any kind of difference? The shave was so nice that I can't see what ese can be done, except maybe shooting to try and get a HH5 using something that is .5 and .25 microns.

So I just want to give a big THANK YOU to all you guys here who helped answer my questions from the decision of what kind of stone to buy. Up to and including the help here. I probably wouldn't have had the kind of success with it had I not been pointed to Munx's Coti thread and letting me know about Coticule.be and all the great resources here. It's very rewarding taking something that wouldn't shave at all to making it a smooth shaving razor. Of course this changes the game for me altogether as I would always shy away from any razors that were not shave ready because getting it there automatically tacked $15-$20 on the price. So now I can buy more razors and as long as the edge isn't chipped make it shave ready.

 

[danjared]

Well tonight was the moment of truth, like most of you this is one of the few places where I can talk about this and some people can actually NOT roll their eyes..... Now let me preface this by saying that until getting my Es Ex back from Larry for honing my best shaving razor that I owned was a cheap Gold Monkey razor I bought from a member here. Who to his credit spent a lot of time with it stropping it on some CrOx. And it was my go to razor, never really got a lot of tugging but often wound up with some weepers around my chin area going ATG and whatever clean up I would do but it shaved.

I grabbed the razor I honed and at first was tempted to spend some time on it with the Balsa and CrOx and FeOx I got. But then opted to just go for it as is and see how she did. Wow, WOW!! Is all I can say, I was actually so impressed by it that I got so wrapped up in admiring how smooth it felt I forgot to stretch near the side of my chin and bit myself ever so slightly with it as it dug in a bit. But OH MY was it probably the best shave I've ever gotten since I started straight shaving. Every pass was effortless, no stop and go on the heavier growth areas, no tugging, no nothing. Just the sweet sound of that "butter knife scrapping toast" sound the entire time.

I was still debating on putting it now on the balsa and see how it is but (and I'm not trying to sound boastful here) but can it actually maker any kind of difference? The shave was so nice that I can't see what ese can be done, except maybe shooting to try and get a HH5 using something that is .5 and .25 microns.

So I just want to give a big THANK YOU to all you guys here who helped answer my questions from the decision of what kind of stone to buy. Up to and including the help here. I probably wouldn't have had the kind of success with it had I not been pointed to Munx's Coti thread and letting me know about Coticule.be and all the great resources here. It's very rewarding taking something that wouldn't shave at all to making it a smooth shaving razor. Of course this changes the game for me altogether as I would always shy away from any razors that were not shave ready because getting it there automatically tacked $15-$20 on the price. So now I can buy more razors and as long as the edge isn't chipped make it shave ready.

Told you so.

You could try doing more light passes on water to reach HHT5. But really, I think you'll reach that with practice with just your coticule. I imagine that those pastes might raise the keenness but loose on the smoothness and forgiving nature inherent in a coticule honed razor. Really though, you can achieve HHT5 with just your one stone.

Your next task is working on another razor and seeing if you can get as good of an edge as quickly. That is, work on repeatability.

Good job!

 

[Fletch]

Yeah I'll be attacking my Gold Monkey (don't know how much I can expect out of that one) and I have a (forget the exact one off the top of my head). A razor made in Sheffield England that isn't a great shaver (edge wise) either. After that I'm half temped to run the edge of my Es Ex that Larry honed on me over a glass and do that one.... But not sure if I can bring myself to do that. But that maxes out my collection of 4 razors. Guess I gotta get myself a few more now. Either that or maybe try a free honing PIF or something on a few razors just for the practice is another idea.

 

[Munxcub]

Nice work Fletch! It's very rewarding isn't it? If you want to try sneaking it up a little more, I would suggest doing sets of 30-50 x-strokes, VERY light, under running water. I hold it in the sink with just the lowest amount of water that gives me a steady trickle.

But it sounds like you got it right already, so maybe it's time for "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and move on to your other blades. (or new ones...) hehe

 

[twoods]

Congrats! I would skip the paste and go back to coticule with lather if you want to increase the HHT results. Work up a nice thick lather and apply a little bit on the stone and do about 20 passes. Works for me.

 

[Loric]

*warning thread jacking*

I got my first coti last week, and after several days of testing, I finally got an ok edge on it. However I'm getting some thick gray sludge building up on the razor when I'm diluting. I guess the dry weather is robbing my slurry of moisture quickly. When I started to add enough water to stay ahead of this, I finally got some workable results. Is this the proper technique?

 

[Munxcub]

Yes. If your slurry is drying out you must keep it at the moisture level you need it to be at. So you don't need to stick to a regimen of specific drops of water at certain intervals if it's not working the way it should in your environment.

 

[DESkydiver]

Just jump right in with the kaput one, you can't make it worse! It's the only way you learn.

Work on the kaput one first. Do not touch the other ones until you have gotten a bit of a feel for the stone and the feedback it gives.

Yep... jump in with using the worst condition razor you have. If that razor still holds sentimental value, get some cheap ones online for practice.

Now that you got your Coti, it's time to learn your coti and learning on old cheapo's is better than destroying a higher quality or heirloom piece.

 

[Fletch]

Well I had the day off today so I worked on my second razor ( G. Johnson Sheffield) and it looks like that one is in the books now too. I'll probably shave with it tonight but the tests I did with it seem no different than the Dovo I honed. It was the first straight I ever bought but never really got great shaves out of it. The person I bought it from said it was shave ready "to his standards" but I think it will shave a lot better now. Although the only thing I'm not keen on is the fact it is a square point and I prefer rounds.

 

[danjared]

Well I had the day off today so I worked on my second razor ( G. Johnson Sheffield) and it looks like that one is in the books now too. I'll probably shave with it tonight but the tests I did with it seem no different than the Dovo I honed. It was the first straight I ever bought but never really got great shaves out of it. The person I bought it from said it was shave ready "to his standards" but I think it will shave a lot better now. Although the only thing I'm not keen on is the fact it is a square point and I prefer rounds.

You're on a roll!