Honing help needed

[Shadow-cw]

Hi all,
I bought a couple of straights last year that were shave ready and a strop. Everything went pretty good learning how to use them. But now they are so dull a pasted strop and regular strop won't bring them back to life. I have started learning to hone them. I have been using wet/dry sandpaper in 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit. Wet the sandpaper and use it on a piece of flat glass. Using loupe I can see the progression of each grit. I also have two barbers hones and a Lagrise coticule. I have read tons of info on the subject of honing but still have a few questions.
My questions are:
Is 2000 grit to a coti too big a jump?
Should I get a 4k and 6k stone and then use the coti to finish?
Or get a Norton 4/8k stone and use the coti to finish?
Or do I need a stone that is finer than the coti to finish on?
Thanks!

 

[Doc226]

Hi all,
I bought a couple of straights last year that were shave ready and a strop. Everything went pretty good learning how to use them. But now they are so dull a pasted strop and regular strop won't bring them back to life. I have started learning to hone them. I have been using wet/dry sandpaper in 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit. Wet the sandpaper and use it on a piece of flat glass. Using loupe I can see the progression of each grit. I also have two barbers hones and a Lagrise coticule. I have read tons of info on the subject of honing but still have a few questions.
My questions are:
Is 2000 grit to a coti too big a jump?
Should I get a 4k and 6k stone and then use the coti to finish?
Or get a Norton 4/8k stone and use the coti to finish?
Or do I need a stone that is finer than the coti to finish on?
Thanks!

Welcome.

A coticule is really a one stone solution as long as there is no heavy work to be done. You can set a bevel on a coticule with thick slurry (you needs a small slurry stone) and take it to a nice finish.

Read up on dilucot and unicot methods

http://www.coticule.be/straight-razor-honing.html

 

[Wid]

Going from 2K to coticule is fine. I go from 1K to coti all the time. Go to coticule.be and do as much reading as possible.

http://www.coticule.be/

 

[jpcwon]

Go to coticule.be and do as much reading as possible.

http://www.coticule.be/

+1 on that!!

I too have a La grise that I'm learning on, and have been using 1k stones to set the bevel (have a King 1k and a Naniwa 1k) as I don't yet feel comfortable setting the bevel on my coti. I've been finding that the "jump" to a coti from a 1k is totally do-able, and you should be able to use your coti all the way thru finishing.

I also have a Norton 4/8, but to be honest I haven't even needed it for the past month or so since I got my Coticule!!

 

[Raithskar]

For heavy work a 1k and possibly lower is needed. If you are honing a newer razor then you can do correction on the coticule no problem. After you have mastered your coticule, you really don't need anything more unless you want an Escher, Thuringian etc. I shaved off 5 days of growth this morining with a coticule only edge, and it handled my beard like it was not even there.

Keep in mind that it takes a lot of time and practice to get a coticule edge like I mention here. My honing arsenal consists of a DMT 325 a Naniwa 1k several coticules and a Thuringian which I seldom use.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Your sandpaper progression will work okay for edge repair and bevel setting. The Coti will do the rest including all maintenance honing. If you are not initially satisfied with your coticule edge, remember that it can take a while to get really good with natural stones. Of course, you could always upgrade to lapping film for just a few bucks.

 

[Shadow-cw]

Thanks guys. I'll take some time to refine my technique with my Coti.

 

[Gamma]

Good advice - great plan.