Thoughts on the new les lats?

[Christian1212]

Had a shave with the les lat side and it was a very pleasant shave! It doesn't seem to be as fine as my 5x2 but it was definitely a good shave. I would say it is probably the 2nd finest coticule I have honed on and decently smooth. The razor was a nice Japanese hollow ground I have that always takes an edge easily. The razor was originally honed 2k 6k yellow with slurry to water (then shaved with that) and then I used the hybrid side until it had good stiction and shaved with it.

Not sure if I would recommend the les lat stones for the price I paid unless you knew coti edges were for you and you wanted a (most likely) winner of a stone. Not really sure if it is going to be a keeper for me just because of the current coticule I have. Will do a good bit more testing and post a video or 2 of it. Cheers

 

[dankolov1]

Had a shave with the les lat side and it was a very pleasant shave! It doesn't seem to be as fine as my 5x2 but it was definitely a good shave. I would say it is probably the 2nd finest coticule I have honed on and decently smooth. The razor was a nice Japanese hollow ground I have that always takes an edge easily. The razor was originally honed 2k 6k yellow with slurry to water (then shaved with that) and then I used the hybrid side until it had good stiction and shaved with it.

Not sure if I would recommend the les lat stones for the price I paid unless you knew coti edges were for you and you wanted a (most likely) winner of a stone. Not really sure if it is going to be a keeper for me just because of the current coticule I have. Will do a good bit more testing and post a video or 2 of it. Cheers

In my experience with Les Lats, I initially couldn't get a decent edge off of the hybrid side until I had lapped it with my Atoma 400 and polished the surface up to 2000 grit sandpaper. Then I surfaced it with the slurry stone. Some people even burnish it afterwards with a cheap blade before actually honing on it.

Once it was ready to use, I was able to get phenomenal edges out of it. I wouldn't worry too much about the stiction thing. That certainly might happen if you are honing under running water; but then again, not every type of blade will stick... the heavier grinds probably won't stick. My smiling blades also don't stick.

I would probably avoid chasing stiction with running water in the first place, and just apply some soapy water on the stone and do a good few hundred laps on it. Most finishing coticules are quite slow on water, so if your blade sticks under running water after only 20 laps or so, there is a good chance the razor is under-honed.

That's just my experience, however.
YMMV.

Dan

 

[Christian1212]

Ended up giving the les lat a few more test. I used it to follow a 12k synthetic and jnat edge and had pretty good results. I also did a test where I took a good edge from my current coticule and did some water only laps under running water with the les lat. Edges did get better and the yellow was very fast. In the end however I felt like my current coticule had a better finish and I probably wouldn't use the lat much.

Overall I would say definitely a great choice for anyone who doesn't have a finishing coticule. If you did already have one though then not sure I would recommend. I sent the 6x2 to another good home though where it will be enjoyed more there.