Stone questions

[Steve56]

That looks wonderful. Where did you get your glass from? My home depot is only selling super thin 3/32" glass which is better than nothing but feels flimsy.

Any glass shop can fix you up, that’s where this came from, tempered plate glass. It was fitted to the stone and finished by my friend @Southbound1

 

[Slash McCoy]

That is an excellent way to put it and I've definitely went through the tape when I first started trying to hone lmao

That's what I thought. It's so hard to get a straight answer on the Gouken stones. Between the Kagayaki line, fuji line and Arata it seems everyone says something different but id be far more inclined to trust what people say around here vs what they say on eBay/Amazon listing.
I will say the 400 I got is definitely the Chosera / pro line. I got it cheap because it was an Amazon warehouse item, someone returned it so Amazon was selling it cheap AF. It's still one of the older ones as it's attached to the base and came with the big brown nagura.
Thanks a ton for your answers!

That looks wonderful. Where did you get your glass from? My home depot is only selling super thin 3/32" glass which is better than nothing but feels flimsy.


Side note: I know I don't need it lol but the price is extremely hard to pass on even if I decide to resell it, does $65 for this Coti sound right? A hair under 7" long and a hair over 1.5" wide with a slurry stone

That price seems okayish. If it is a natural combo and the yellow layer is reasonably thick. Plus marks for coming with a slurry stone. A coti is by nature a slurried stone.

I actually regard coticules as a waste of time and money unless you are just really into the coti or naturals in general. It is kind of on the way from nowhere and on the way to towhere, if you ask me. But if it like syncs with you then there is really no viable substitute.

Me, I am thoroghly spoiled. NO WAY would I ever punish myself with a coticule edge. OTOH a coticule edge was quite a decent edge, back in the day. The day before, or the century before.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Steve, how did you cut your glass to fit the stone? Am thinking of a project using glass tiles, but curious about cutting the glass cleanly and to size.

Is that a tile or sheet plate glass?

Saw other post, thanks.

 

[ErieSurfer]

Side note: I know I don't need it lol but the price is extremely hard to pass on even if I decide to resell it, does $65 for this Coti sound right? A hair under 7" long and a hair over 1.5" wide with a slurry stone

Sounds reasonable. I've seen many smaller coticules priced higher without a slurry stone. If you choose to buy it, do so with the understanding that it is a natural abrasive and there is much variation in nature. The stone may be awesome or it could be a snoozefest. I recently had to adjust my own attitude toward a coticule I bought. There was a disconnect between what I thought the stone SHOULD be and what the stone actually was. My expectation was out of step with reality.

The other part of reality is that NO ONE knows if that coticule is any good if they haven't put steel to it. It is irrational to think that all coticules are some form of lesser abrasive that should be spurned. There are a couple thousand years of real-world coticule usage that say otherwise.

Anyhow, there are many paths to a happy shave and that coticule might be one.

The one piece of buying advice I will broadly promote is to purchase things that appreciate in value over time. Take a moment to consider the future value of the various abrasives that you have purchased and are considering for purchase.

Now evaluate that coticule the same way. Even with Ardennes Coticule putting new stones into the marketplace for several years, the prices on both new and used stones have increased significantly in the last 12 years. The day will come when that trend reverses, but there are no indications of it now.

 

[Steve56]

Steve, how did you cut your glass to fit the stone? Am thinking of a project using glass tiles, but curious about cutting the glass cleanly and to size.

Is that a tile or sheet plate glass?

Saw other post, thanks.

I took the stone to the glass shop and had them cut it to fit. That said, my friend up the road Mike actually did the glueing and sanded the sides perfectly flat

 

[Frank Shaves]

I think the biggest thing i struggle with is the hole pressure vs no pressure thing. Ive read some replies on this forum along with others as well as watching videos where people say to torque the blade when setting the bevel or pressure is a good thing but then i watch other videos that say "OMG NO PRESSURE *** WHY WOULD YOU USE PRESSURE" so its been a hit or miss area for me and coming from knives i know i have a tendency to use to much pressure as it is. Ive kind of stuck to using a little tiny bit of torque and heavier pressure at the very start of the 1k then lighten up as i go until im using nearly no pressure then i move onto the 5k. Does that sound like a good practice or no?

You need to use pressure. You just want to use the right amount of pressure. And the only way to learn is by doing.

Get yourself a couple of cheapo razors on eBay or Gold Dollars to practice setting bevels on.

And before long it will become more intuitive and you will develop muscle memory.

In general, you will want to lighten the pressure at the end of each step in your progression.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Firm pressure is a big time saver in setting the bevel. It is also necessary, for raising the burr, if you are trying to set the bevel with the burr method. But toward the end you need to lighten up. My initial bevel setting pressure is the loose weight of my arm, with the stone held in hand, of course. Then I clean up the burr ending with the weight of my hand. Then during the progression I gradually lighten pressure until it is only the weight of the razor at the 1µ stage. On the balsa, I am using less than the weight of the razor. YMMV. If you are doing it my way, then you are doing it that way. Your razor. You can do it your way or anybody else's way that you like.