Thread: Slurry Question

I have a natural combo coticule in the mail to me right now and was wondering:

If I don't have a slurry stone, are there any other ways to raise an effective slurry on the coticule? Wet dry sandpaper of a high quality? Anything?

I would love to buy one of gugi's combo slurry stones but don't have the paypal funds right now so what are my other options?

Is honing without a slurry okay? ( I am counting on this stone as my finisher).

Thanks in advance Guys!


-Rob

Slurry is not desirable for finishing. The coticule cuts faster with slurry. If you want to create a slurry a small pocket size dmt fine is good. If you are in the USA Howard at the Perfect Edge sells cotigura slurry stones for around $18.00 USD.

+1

The slurry will make the Coticule work like a 6k stone (removes steel as fast, but not at 6k coarseness), which is a great starting place for most razor touchups but isn't absolutely necessary.

If you just use plain water on the surface it's more like an 8k to 10k stone, and that is the preferred method of finishing with a coticule. (some coticules can be used dry with great results, others cannot for some reason)

I recommend getting a DMT 8C at some point to everyone who hones with natural stones, but it is not a necessity. It does make quick work of lapping and raising a slurry though.

I bought one of these just to try out: Coticule Slurry Stone - eBay (item 310017809218 end time Aug-22-08 18:13:31 PDT)
and have been happy with it so far.

This is a cheap but effective little diamond hone: The Ultra Sharp 6� Diamond Sharpening Stone (1200 Grit) - eBay (item 310061946944 end time Aug-23-08 17:46:57 PDT)
but it may be too small to be an effective lapping plate.

Howard, of course, has the best Belgian stones and is much repected around here.

Sand paper will work, but you'll have to inspect the slurry for an occasional particle coming from the sandpaper (use black sandpaper instead of yellow). It's not a big deal, if you use a good grade of sandpaper and a light touch.

The scratch pattern that a coticule leaves is the same regardless if you use it with slurry or water. Slurry is a multitude times faster, BUT it does not allow the edge to become sharper than a certain level. Even if you remove a lot of material, the edge will max out at that same level. If you gradually thin the slurry to almost plain water during the honing process, you can push that barrier a bit and get a keener edge. The final result really depends on the coticule.

Today, almost everyone uses the cotcule as a finisher, with water only. It does not show the above explained slurry-effect in that mode. Of course, you need the achieve proper sharpness with another hone, such as a Norton 4K or a DMT 8K before polishing that edge on your coticule. If you choose that route, you'll never need to raise a slurry.

Best regards,
Bart.

Lots of good info here as always!

I am going to use a norton 1k/4k to set and then sharpen the bevel respectively. I then plan on using the yellow side of the coticule to finish. I also have a CrOx pasted paddle, generally speaking would that be a good next step? (I know all blades are different which is why I say "generally") I have heard that CrOx isn't the way to go after a coticule but was looking for opinions.

thanks again guys!

CrO will polish any edge, it should work the same as it does with a blade sharpened on any other stone. But I don't use it very much, so I can't give a definitive answer.

Try shaving after the coticule (stropping of course in between) and if it's not up to your standards, hit the CrO.

Lots of options as usual, sometimes messing around for a while to find what you like is the best route.

I hone with the Norton sometimes followed by an Escher blue/grey, sometimes with Shapton Pro series all the way up to 30K and sometimes with a natural coticule. With the coticule I use the blue side first then the yellow with slurry and then with only water. Whichever hones I use I strop and shave. If after my first pass I feel there is room for improvement I hit the CromOx and the stuff is like magic AFAIC. The only reason I don't always use it is that I want to see how sharp I can get before resorting to it. As Shaptons website says you have to reach the optimun level of sharpness before moving up to the finer polishing hones. So I don't know that ChromOx would be effective if the edge isn't already sharp but it sure improves mine without question.

The big issues with knowing when to progress from one stone to the next has to do with removing the previous grits scratches before moving to a finer abrasive.

The edge is just about as sharp as it's going to get after about 4k, and from there on up the edge just gets smoother. It feels a lot sharper because of the decreased inconsistency (peaks and valleys left by the abrasives) of the edge.

CrO works so well and so fast because it mainly smoothes out the very edge of the blade, not the entire bevel like a stone does. At least, that's my experience with the stuff.

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

The big issues with knowing when to progress from one stone to the next has to do with removing the previous grits scratches before moving to a finer abrasive.

The edge is just about as sharp as it's going to get after about 4k, and from there on up the edge just gets smoother. It feels a lot sharper because of the decreased inconsistency (peaks and valleys left by the abrasives) of the edge.

CrO works so well and so fast because it mainly smoothes out the very edge of the blade, not the entire bevel like a stone does. At least, that's my experience with the stuff.

And here I thought I was crazy/using bad form when the edge looked more burnished than the rest of the bevel after usin' the ol pasted paddle!

It's nearly impossible to get a leather surface as flat and firm as the stone's, so the polishing is going to be uneven, to some degree, no matter what you do.

As long as you're not rounding over the bevel to a significant degree (like by using a CrO pasted strop with a lot of sag), the blade is no worse off then if you polished the whole thing. A paddle strop is my preferred strop for pastes, on the rare occasion that I do use them.

(On a side note; Tim Zowada's honing method mimics what happens with pastes, by using multiple layers of tape on the spine while honing. Your form/technique is just fine!)