New coti came!

[natchez]

I could not resist getting the #10 red bout below from Superior Shave. Jarrod was most helpful. Anyone else have one of these and, if so, how did you find it differs from the yellow fellows?

I honed a razor this morning and the slurry was milky with a pink cast and I followed the same normal coti dilucot and got a nice edge, but any tips are welcome.

In any event, you can see my new acquisition.

Here are some pics:

 

[ouch]

You got a purdy stone.

 

[petr]

That's sweet man.

What are the characteristics of the stone ... slow ... fast ... fine ?

Beutimous.

 

[natchez]

That's sweet man.

What are the characteristics of the stone ... slow ... fast ... fine ?

Beutimous.

I only have done the one razor on the stone, but it seemed fast and very smooth. I keep a few gold dollars around for trying out new stones, so I took a new one out with only the factory bevel (term used loosely) and set to it. About 40 minutes later I had the blade cutting arm hair easily and smoothly. I refreshed the slurry once during the process. Also, I do not hone very quickly, so YMMV. The edge did not look quite as polished as off the yellow coti, I do not use magnification as it confuses me more than helps. The blade worked as well as off a yellow coti. After a good stropping session, ~100 strokes on leather, the shave was quite good. Still BBS 7 hours later.

I will try some more razors over the weekend and report back. I have six 5/8 hollows to clean and hone up from a seven razor set and I was planning to see how they did on this stone. The gold dollars are a heavier grind, which leaves me some more room for error, the full hollows sharpen easier but are far more delicate- at least to me. I am often a klutz.

Jarrod from Superior Shave had written on their web site that these are his ideal stones, so I was intrigued. He has a ton of experience. I wonder what Bart thinks of them? Hopefully, he will see this thread and choose to weigh in.

I was hoping that some other folks had one of the red stones and could give me some advice, also. Particularly, about the final finishing up.

 

[SliceOfLife]

He's posted in a thread about a "red" on his site.

http://www.coticule.be/the-cafeteria/topic/787.html

 

[BladeRunner001]

Beautiful

 

[natchez]

He's posted in a thread about a "red" on his site.

http://www.coticule.be/the-cafeteria/topic/787.html

I had not yet searched- too busy today

Just got back from an Eagles concert- they still can rock!

 

[Nerdman]

Nice stone Richard!! Im stil curious about those coticules, but i can not betray my films!! lol

 

[natchez]

Thanks again Ian. Here is what Bart said on coticule.de with regard to finishing on another stone like mine:

"That's a lovely stone. When you end up with a violin on the HHT, after the full Dilucot, Put some water on the surface and make 5 sets of 10 halfstrokes on either side. Apply some pressure. Rinse the hone again, and give it another set of 10 per side. Rinse again and finish with 60 laps on water. Watch the water, it must run up the edge. If you need to add a tad of pressure for that to happen, please do. End with 20 of the lightest strokes. That should normally bring your HHT up to 3, even if it's close to the holding point. Strop the razor very well on linen and leather.

Let me know what happens, ok?

Kind regards,
Bart."

I am going to get to work on some razors now

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Nice rock!

 

[natchez]

You got a purdy stone.

That's sweet man.

What are the characteristics of the stone ... slow ... fast ... fine ?

Beutimous.

Beautiful

Nice rock!

Thank you all for the kind words. Well the stone is pretty fast, but getting that elusive magic edge is still taking some time. I played with it a good part of the morning and ended up with one fully honed razor. I will keep at it later,, when SWMBO has finished with me for the day

Here is a picture newly slurried:

 

[kwigibocity]

hi

I don't really think vendors with vested interest in items have much place in discussions related to them anymore, but since asked...

First off, it is an honor that Bart thinks well of us and our coticule devotion. I'm sure he's forgotten more about coticules than I'll ever know. Hadn't even occurred to me to try various methods of pressure and direction based on variances amongst the stones; as Picasso was fond of saying, I'm always learning. I just start with a really thick soup atop, move/push however is needed to cut into the razor equally across its length without ever adding water until it looks uniform and cuts arm hair, start misting smidges of water every few laps until that which was once loose concrete looks like plain water, and then strop and shave.

Now as to why for my own personal preference for the red/orange/etc. hue of coticule...to me having lapped and played with hundreds of the stones by now, I see the most variance in the things below the final edge. Though it is there, the final edge from them has the least variance; it isn't the lack-of-friction champion edge like the best artificial stones, but I never cut myself with it. Things amongst coticules with plenty of variance to me: 1) 'grit' of vibrations transmitted to fingers during cutting, 2) amplitude of the vibrations transmitted, 3) sound of the cutting, 4) speed of how quickly rock peaks from use during thick step 1 slurry soup, 5) sharpness after that step 1 is exhausted in utility, 6) stone's appearance (which shouldn't affect me, but does).

Combining these things which vary and accepting that there are variances in these things even when appearances are similar, I've come to like the red/orange/pink (call it what you like) stones best. They're not slow at all. They talk to my ears and fingers in ways I appreciate. My 'keeper' bouts have become as natural to me as an old pair of jeans. And I can hone upon them and shave and feel like there's nothing of the shave that leaves me wanting more. I try resist getting lost in advanced honing thoughts-it reminds me too much of the imaging industry folks I used to know well, passionately consumed with chasing lens sharpness but not using their cameras nearly as much as I...I have a tremendous stereo microscope, but I never use it beyond 20x magnification during honing examinations. Like the 'unregulated dream space' from "Inception", you can get lost in there. Bottom line; our business has sold many, many razors. People like the edges. Good enough for me.

Anyone (not just forum devotees), can return a coticule we've evaluate if it isn't their cup of tea...we'll just deduct our actual costs to accept the order and ship the rock. It does happen from time to time.

Can't help much with particular advice related exactly to these reddish stones, but I look forward to reading of those whom have varied their pressure/direction/repetition/etc based on one rock or another. I do recall selling an absurdly, ridiculously fast stone once to a fellow somewhere in the EU, warning him that I thought it was so fast that it was a one-trick pony. Turned out that he would finish with it dry, and it worked nice and slow and fine like that. I'd have never thought of that.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Finally got to use my rock from the Superior shave. It was a long bout. I found it medium/fast. It didn't cough up slurry like my fastest coti's do, so a really nice do it all stone. The surface had a bit of a crunchy, velcro feeling on water, so for final passes I had to be careful to keep it very wet to break the friction there. My memory isn't perfect, but I seem to remember this being strikingly similar to how Jarrod had described it in the listing (and the details penciled on the surface), so that's another big plus of dealing with him, he seems to get a pretty good read on how a stone performs, and gives a rather useful technical breakdown of how it acts.

 

[natchez]

Now, that I have honed five razors on it, I can give a decent report. All the bevels were first set on a Norton 1K, then went to the coti.

The stone cuts relatively fast and makes a good solid consistent slurry with about two minutes of initial rubbing. It needs some added water after each ~20 passes. But, some of that is due to the very dry air here in Nevada. I find with many stones I need to add water more frequently than others have indicated is their practice. By the way, I do not use electrical tape, except for wedges and a blade or two that has been fully refinished that I do not want to show the wear. Nerdman made me promise to use tape on a couple not to ruin his wonderful refurbishing.

Dilution therefore occurs almost automatically, as I am adding about half a teaspoon of water each ~20+ passes. I probably did ~160 passes in total. After the blades felt "right" with the TPT and cut arm hair very easily, I thoroughly washed and rinsed the stone before finishing.

To finish I made ~50 passes with just water adding a bit of pressure, say 3-4 ounces. Then I rewashed the stone and made 30 light as possible passes; just enough to keep the razor stable. I then took the razors to a .25 micron diamond sprayed felt for five passes and off to linen and leather stropping. The razors passed the HHT test ~3+ when I was done stropping. The edges were comfy and good. Not the best I have done, but clearly usable and shave-able.

I will keep experimenting as I get some new guinea pigs in and update.

Cheers

 

[gary haywood]

Now, that I have honed five razors on it, I can give a decent report. All the bevels were first set on a Norton 1K, then went to the coti.

The stone cuts relatively fast and makes a good solid consistent slurry with about two minutes of initial rubbing. It needs some added water after each ~20 passes. But, some of that is due to the very dry air here in Nevada. I find with many stones I need to add water more frequently than others have indicated is their practice. By the way, I do not use electrical tape, except for wedges and a blade or two that has been fully refinished that I do not want to show the wear. Nerdman made me promise to use tape on a couple not to ruin his wonderful refurbishing.

Dilution therefore occurs almost automatically, as I am adding about half a teaspoon of water each ~20+ passes. I probably did ~160 passes in total. After the blades felt "right" with the TPT and cut arm hair very easily, I thoroughly washed and rinsed the stone before finishing.

To finish I made ~50 passes with just water adding a bit of pressure, say 3-4 ounces. Then I rewashed the stone and made 30 light as possible passes; just enough to keep the razor stable. I then took the razors to a .25 micron diamond sprayed felt for five passes and off to linen and leather stropping. The razors passed the HHT test ~3+ when I was done stropping. The edges were comfy and good. Not the best I have done, but clearly usable and shave-able.

I will keep experimenting as I get some new guinea pigs in and update.

Cheers

with more practice you will hit 3 plus hht after stropping, you will see. have you tryed the dilucot from the sharpening acadamey over at coti.be.

gary

 

[natchez]

with more practice you will hit 3 plus hht after stropping, you will see. have you tryed the dilucot from the sharpening acadamey over at coti.be.

gary

I reread the dilucot thread and tried the stone again, also with good results on one razor. Then I took a different approach.

I tried Lynn''s circle approach on the fat end of this coticule for a set of seven Stoll/Soligen full hollows I have had waiting to be honed. I built a thick slurry then did four sets of 40 circles, diluting after each set. I did the razors in series. The stone cut the steel really nicely. I then took the blades to the new C12K I got and polished with that, using 4 sets of 10 half strokes with just water and a very light touch. Four strokes on a .25 micron diamond paste, linen then leather. Great shave and excellent honing experience. Fast and effective. I had always used half strokes before on the coti, but the circles seemed to work great. Of course, YMMV, and I find full hollows easier to hone then heavier grinds, but it was nice to finish seven razors in a little over two hours. This was my best honing session yet.

 

[gary haywood]

I reread the dilucot thread and tried the stone again, also with good results on one razor. Then I took a different approach.

I tried Lynn''s circle approach on the fat end of this coticule for a set of seven Stoll/Soligen full hollows I have had waiting to be honed. I built a thick slurry then did four sets of 40 circles, diluting after each set. I did the razors in series. The stone cut the steel really nicely. I then took the blades to the new C12K I got and polished with that, using 4 sets of 10 half strokes with just water and a very light touch. Four strokes on a .25 micron diamond paste, linen then leather. Great shave and excellent honing experience. Fast and effective. I had always used half strokes before on the coti, but the circles seemed to work great. Of course, YMMV, and I find full hollows easier to hone then heavier grinds, but it was nice to finish seven razors in a little over two hours. This was my best honing session yet.

what ever works for you . sounds like a good progression.

 

[Disburden]

Very nice stone, enjoy the coticule, it's very fun to play with.