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Select Coticule

Gentlemen,

I have been using a straight(s) for about 10 months and have really enjoyed it and also have honed several razors of mine from bevel on up for me as well as several others, I am quite sure I am no where near where you guys are at on honing but am thinking about trying a coticule, I have pretty much all synthetic stones and they have been serving me quite well along with a JNAT that I recently gifted to my son along with strop and razor and I have my Apache Strata so I am thinking maybe I could sell off or trade these two stones that honestly don't see much use.

I purchased these 12K and 16K used but they look in excellent shape and as I said I have not used them much, I pretty much go from my Cerax 8K to Apache and then leather and done, below are the stones I am thinking of parting with either in trade or sale to purchase a select coticule in the 70 X 150 size range, so the question is am I out of my mind for thinking this like would this be a bad move.


12K

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A great many of us (myself included) are huge fans of a good coticule edge. Can take a bit of time to learn your stone, but once you get the hang of it a coticule edge makes for a beautiful shave.
 
A great many of us (myself included) are huge fans of a good coticule edge. Can take a bit of time to learn your stone, but once you get the hang of it a coticule edge makes for a beautiful shave.

Brian,

Thank you for the advice, like I said I am pleased with the razors I have honed which is not many compared to all you other guys but I keep hearing a lot about coticules so I started reading and I know it's going to take some or lots of practice to get used to using one I just need to decide on doing it or keep what I have, I do however like the simplicity of having a good bevel set stone and then a coticule to do the rest
 
It comes down to personal preference really. I have honed on coticules, synthetics, arks, and film. All will produce an edge that is more than competent for shaving, but they all feel different on the face during and after the shave. My personal favorite is the coticule edge. No way to know what yours is until you do some experimenting. I don't know if trading off your other hones is a good idea. There is after all a possibility that you won't be a fan of the coticule edge.
 
It comes down to personal preference really. I have honed on coticules, synthetics, arksI don't know if trading off your other hones is a good idea. There is after all a possibility that you won't be a fan of the coticule edge.

The reason for trading them off was to offset the cost of getting a coticule to try and I honestly have not used them hardly at all, I pretty much go from 8k to Apache finisher and done, I tried the 16k after the Apache and did not care for the edge
 
If you are enjoying the Apache Strata hone then I think you will love a good coticule edge. I have an Apache hone and honestly don't use it anymore. It is a good finishing hone, but it doesn't give me anything that I can't get from my coticules. Hang on to your Apache stone and trade/sell off the others. The reason I say this is that one of the best uses for the Apache stone is to take a coticule edge that isn't quite "there" and bring it to "there." Coticule hones are actually quite easy to use up to a point. You can get 90% of everything you ever wanted out of a shaving edge pretty quickly. Then learning to extract the last 10% can be more difficult and requires you to spend time with your stone and learn how to best employ it. While you are learning your stone it is nice to have a fall back procedure to keep you in top shelf shaving edges.
 
Probably the easiest way to see if you like a coticule edge is to send one of your razors to TSS for honing - they do it for free so long as the edge isn't beat up and the razor isn't some fly-by-night thing. Might want to do that before selling hones to buy one. Even if you use those hones infrequently enough that it makes sense to sell them, you'll at least know whether a coti is what you want to buy with the proceeds.
 
Probably the easiest way to see if you like a coticule edge is to send one of your razors to TSS for honing - they do it for free so long as the edge isn't beat up and the razor isn't some fly-by-night thing. Might want to do that before selling hones to buy one. Even if you use those hones infrequently enough that it makes sense to sell them, you'll at least know whether a coti is what you want to buy with the proceeds.

I never knew that and you are correct, this would be a great way to try a coti edge, I have a J.R. Torrey that I can take back to bevel and the run it all the way up to say 16K and do a few shaves then send it off to them to have a coti edge put on it and compare the two.

Thanks for the suggestion, I have been reading a lot about coticules and honestly love the idea of only using a bevel setter then coticule for sharpening, now I know this only works if I like the edge I get from one and not all blade steel react the same.
 
Just remember - An edge off a coti by one person is not neccessarily going to be 'exactly' like the edge off a different coti honed by a different person.
So - while testing a Coti edge is a good thing, it's not the only thing.
 
Just remember - An edge off a coti by one person is not neccessarily going to be 'exactly' like the edge off a different coti honed by a different person.
So - while testing a Coti edge is a good thing, it's not the only thing.

Very true but will allow me to sample test the waters
 
Made contact with TSS today and hopefully will send off a test subject by mid-week to have a coti edge put on it so I can test the waters and if all goes well I may jump in and will most likely need help from all you experienced coticule users on getting a good edge, I am sure if I jump in TSS can supply me with a good stone.
 
Letting Jarrod at TSS help you select a coticule is definitely a good idea. Looking forward to hearing how your first coti shave goes.
 
My razor is on it's way back from TSS so hopefully in a few days I can experience a coticule shave.
 
Received my razor back from TSS today and cannot wait to test the edge, if I like the shave I am sure to get a stone so if it comes to that what would be a good starting size, from my understanding it won't be my last :lol:
 

David

B&B’s Champion Corn Shucker
130x70 is a great all around size, especially if you like using circles.
 
It comes down to personal preference really. I have honed on coticules, synthetics, arks, and film. All will produce an edge that is more than competent for shaving, but they all feel different on the face during and after the shave. My personal favorite is the coticule edge. No way to know what yours is until you do some experimenting. I don't know if trading off your other hones is a good idea. There is after all a possibility that you won't be a fan of the coticule edge.

This is so true. Coticules have a justified loyal following because after you have vested time to learn how to use one properly you feel a sense of commitment to it- also they make a nice smooth edge that is hard to replicate outside of coticules. But there are many more ways to skin a cat. My latest bias is with the Naniwa's. The Shapton's (I have all of them) do the job but can be too fast and too harsh if you don't pay very careful attention. I also must be one of the last guys to love the Zulu. I use it as a finisher. With any of these stones the goal is to find the right balance for you and for the particular razor in keeness and smoothness.
 
Had my first coticule edge shave and Jarrod at TSS did a super job, it easily cut thru several days growth very smoothly, the keeness is very similar to the edge I have been getting from my Apache but still was something different and cannot put my finger on it, I did not do a pre strop session so I could test the edge but did do 50/100 post so we will see what happens next time but I am pretty sure I want a coti to add to my stones, i know there is a learning curve over the Naniwa SS's I am currently using but I think it's time to branch out.

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