So, I ordered my very first straight razor honing stone from Ardennes. I got a select plus La Veinette after much research on this forum. My decision basis from what I gathered was that it could possibly be a 1 stone solution being able to go from bevel setting to finishing. That is what got my attention as I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, even though I heard coticules can be a little finicky? anyways, my one and only straight razor, a Ralf Aust that was honed by Maggards shaved decently well, but I wanted to see if I could improve upon the HHT lvl. Straight from maggards Id say it was HHT-3, where hairs would catch on the blade then pop off. So I proceed to gamble on the shave ready blade and start my 1st honing session.
1st edge maintenance honing session: So I got a small coticule, a 150mm by 40mm. in hindsight, I wish I would have gotten a 50mm or 60mm. The reason being, when trying to do X strokes on it, I had a real hard time keeping the blade level with the thin hone and often could feel uneven pressure along the edge. I went slow and deliberate, light pressure, with running water and about 50 laps. After a good stropping on the canvas and leather, I achieved...drum roll, HTT-3. Ok, well I guess the stone is able to keep my straight razor shave ready, but, I wanted to achieve something sharper because going against the grain was not that comfortable as I would like. Maybe it was of the uneven pressure or technique, I am not sure.
2nd edge maintenance honing session: This time, I decide to try oil, baby oil was the only thing available, so I drop a few drops onto the stone, and this time, I go even slower, and since the hone was just on my desk this time, I used 2 fingers and did x strokes in 1/3s, but not in one single motion, but I had to do 1/3 of the blade at a time, tip, then pick up blade, go back to the bottom, then push middle, then go back to the bottom of hone again and do the heel area, because I was using 2 fingers held near the cutting edge while slowly pushing towards the spine, the same direction as if stropping. I did this reaaaally slow and did about in my estimate 30-50 laps? after wiping the blade down and stropping on leather, skipped the linen this time because I forgot. I did maybe 30-50 laps on just leather, but this time again, really slowly. 1 lap being about 2 to 3 seconds. I think I may have gotten sloppy with the stropping the first time so I wanted to narrow down the variables.
Drumroll, I do the HHT and to my complete surprise, I would say I achieved HHT 4.5? with about 15-20mm of hair hanging from my finger I slowly lay the hair on the blade, and instead of that very noticeable catch and pop. there wasnt really a catch this time, but it kind of slightly pops/falls down on the other side of the blade, the shorter that length of hair got, it started to just cut the hair in half then it would just fall from the other side.
I raised my straight razor into the air and praised the honing gods. It was the echoes of coticule praise in these forums that made me bite on purchasing a coticule, and I am so glad I did. I know exactly what I did, and it may not be the most correct of efficient way to hone, but I know I am able to repeat it and be able to create and maintain myself a shave ready razor. I just wanted to share my 1st experience honing a straight razor with you all and anyone who might be considering a coticule, just adding another success story of the coticule from someone who has basically no experience or skills in honing other than what is researched from this forum!
side note: also got my first brush and shave soap. proraso brush and haslinger soap, the sheep milk and lanolin one. The haslinger smells soooo good, I am addicted, its so subtle, and best way I can describe it, is its smells fresh? like so clean clothes out of the dryer? I am bad a describing smells.
1st edge maintenance honing session: So I got a small coticule, a 150mm by 40mm. in hindsight, I wish I would have gotten a 50mm or 60mm. The reason being, when trying to do X strokes on it, I had a real hard time keeping the blade level with the thin hone and often could feel uneven pressure along the edge. I went slow and deliberate, light pressure, with running water and about 50 laps. After a good stropping on the canvas and leather, I achieved...drum roll, HTT-3. Ok, well I guess the stone is able to keep my straight razor shave ready, but, I wanted to achieve something sharper because going against the grain was not that comfortable as I would like. Maybe it was of the uneven pressure or technique, I am not sure.
2nd edge maintenance honing session: This time, I decide to try oil, baby oil was the only thing available, so I drop a few drops onto the stone, and this time, I go even slower, and since the hone was just on my desk this time, I used 2 fingers and did x strokes in 1/3s, but not in one single motion, but I had to do 1/3 of the blade at a time, tip, then pick up blade, go back to the bottom, then push middle, then go back to the bottom of hone again and do the heel area, because I was using 2 fingers held near the cutting edge while slowly pushing towards the spine, the same direction as if stropping. I did this reaaaally slow and did about in my estimate 30-50 laps? after wiping the blade down and stropping on leather, skipped the linen this time because I forgot. I did maybe 30-50 laps on just leather, but this time again, really slowly. 1 lap being about 2 to 3 seconds. I think I may have gotten sloppy with the stropping the first time so I wanted to narrow down the variables.
Drumroll, I do the HHT and to my complete surprise, I would say I achieved HHT 4.5? with about 15-20mm of hair hanging from my finger I slowly lay the hair on the blade, and instead of that very noticeable catch and pop. there wasnt really a catch this time, but it kind of slightly pops/falls down on the other side of the blade, the shorter that length of hair got, it started to just cut the hair in half then it would just fall from the other side.
I raised my straight razor into the air and praised the honing gods. It was the echoes of coticule praise in these forums that made me bite on purchasing a coticule, and I am so glad I did. I know exactly what I did, and it may not be the most correct of efficient way to hone, but I know I am able to repeat it and be able to create and maintain myself a shave ready razor. I just wanted to share my 1st experience honing a straight razor with you all and anyone who might be considering a coticule, just adding another success story of the coticule from someone who has basically no experience or skills in honing other than what is researched from this forum!
side note: also got my first brush and shave soap. proraso brush and haslinger soap, the sheep milk and lanolin one. The haslinger smells soooo good, I am addicted, its so subtle, and best way I can describe it, is its smells fresh? like so clean clothes out of the dryer? I am bad a describing smells.