Trying to go "all Naturale"

[sandbagger]

Ok I need some help,

Here is my hone set up

1k chinese
4k/8k norton
Coti
Dark blue Escher

I can produce a wonderful shaving edge with the 1k/4k/8k and finish with the Escher, it produces a beautiful buttery shave that I'm real happy with. now, maybe I should be happy and leave well enough alone but. I have a tendency to want more. So I thought what about the Coti followed by the Escher. However I can not seem to get a really good edge off the Coti, like I can with the 8k. I have watched the videos on Coticile.be but still can not produce an edge worth moving to the escher. Am I just impatient, or should I look for a new stone. Will the coti produce a superior edge to the 8k? Will it be made even better on the escher?

Thanks for the help.

Yours Truly,
The Frustrated Stoner.

 

[Seraphim]

blah, blah blah.....should I look for a new stone.

blah, blah, blah....

I edited out all of the useless parts of your post.

Yes, of course you NEED a new stone! It's pretty much the single reason the honing forum exists; to justify to one another the need to buy more stones/hones, etc, etc.

You have our blessing, go forth and spend, young man!

 

[sandbagger]

Love it you, enabler you. but then ole mage what stone to get?

 

[Kentos]

Get a razor grade jnat and a full nagura set. That will keep you busy for months.

Or just perfect the edge on the Coticule.

 

[Shmu]

I edited out all of the useless parts of your post.

Yes, of course you NEED a new stone! It's pretty much the single reason the honing forum exists; to justify to one another the need to buy more stones/hones, etc, etc.

You have our blessing, go forth and spend, young man!

You're dangerous!

 

[sandbagger]

Is a Coticule really that hard to master? will it produce superior results, I willing to work on it but will I get better results?

 

[O.G.]

Yes once ur able to max out the keenes on the coti your rarozsr shall be more than shave-ready. I only use coti's and only maybe probably want an Escher. Happy honing.

 

[hig789]

Love it you, enabler you. but then ole mage what stone to get?

How big is your coticule? Maybe you need a bigger one.

 

[Wid]

You should be able to get as good an edge from the coti as the escher and better the 8K. If not you're not maxing out the coti.

 

[sandbagger]

The Coti is a little small 3 inch x 4.5 so its kind of short. liked it because of the width. shortness might be a problem then?

 

[sandbagger]

Is there really a difference in the edge between a coti vs 8k if they are to be both finished with an Escher ?

 

[Wid]

You could, I would, use the coti as an intermediate hone. I'd be willing to hone a razor for you on a coti so you could see how a coti edge can be.

 

[jkh]

Your Coticule isn't too short. Coticules require some patience and practice. You might try some circles to take advantage of a shorter stone.

 

[hig789]

Your Coticule isn't too short. Coticules require some patience and practice. You might try some circles to take advantage of a shorter stone.

Or you could buy a bigger stone. Yours is a fine size....but a bigger stone is nice too.

 

[Doc226]

Is a Coticule really that hard to master? will it produce superior results, I willing to work on it but will I get better results?

Coticules can give wonderful edges, they take a little time to master. The mistakes I made was diluting too quickly and too much.
If you want to max out a coti, finish on oil.

You should be able to get as good an edge from the coti as the escher and better the 8K. If not you're not maxing out the coti.

+1

 

[sandbagger]

Thanks all, Ill keep trying to work it.

 

[paco664]

Is there really a difference in the edge between a coti vs 8k if they are to be both finished with an Escher ?

nope......

no matter what anyone says the only stone that matters is the last one to touch the edge........

 

[Krodor]

nope......

no matter what anyone says the only stone that matters is the last one to touch the edge........

Which makes it fun that I finished a razor the other day on a rock I picked up off the ground at work (honed with it after lapping it). Was free and worked reasonably well. THAT felt "au naturale" for sure.

 

[Gamma]

Is there really a difference in the edge between a coti vs 8k if they are to be both finished with an Escher ?

Yes/no/maybe/depends.
Try it - see what you come up with.

 

[danjared]

If you actually want to get the most out of your coticule rather than justifications for buying more stuff: Your coticule is perfectly capable of replacing every other stone that you mentioned having. Yes, this includes your 1k synthetic unless you have the very slowest of coticules. 3" by 4.5" is plenty big too. If anything, 3" is rather wide for a razor hone but usable in most cases, the exception being with warped blades. (A 3" wide stone better serves a woodworker than a razor honer.) Even 1" by 3" is fine with experience, although I personally consider 30mm by 100mm a minimum for comfort. You also don't need to hone on oil, wax, lather, hard soap, gum arabic, or whatever else some like to use to lessen the abrasion from the stone. All you need is the coticule, a coticule slurry stone and water, and perhaps a roll of electrical tape while you're learning. But, most importantly, it requires patience. Just focus on practicing and learning. If you don't think the edge is keen enough, you can always fall back to unicot. If unicot isn't working out, well--unless the razor has problems with its metal such as corrosion or a ruined temper--that's a sign that your honing stroke needs more practice, not a sign that you need a different hone.

If you feel the need for a lesson plan, you can follow what's written here:
http://coticule.be/straight-razor-honing.html
http://coticule.be/the-cafeteria/topic/235.html
http://coticule.be/the-cafeteria/topic/266.html