Quote Originally Posted by JimmyHAD View Post
Thanks for another useful post Bart. Personally I find setting a bevel on a coticule a PITA . If that is the only game in town than so be it but having messed with a few razors and various coticules I decided that going through the extra time involved just to say that I did wasn't worth the effort. I'll stick with my 1 and 2K Shapton pros or my DMT 1200. I think you have a DMT 1200 too don't you ? A very efficiant bevel setter.

Yes, I have a DMT 1200, and it is an excellent hone. I have used it as my main bevelsetter for a long time. The last thing I want to do, with this thread, is to give the impression that I consider a Coticule better than most other hones. It is not better, but it does work for the purpose I suggest. People has been using it for several centuries to accomplish this tasks. It so happens that I have a fondness for these hones, and turned them in sort of a hobby. As a result, much - but not al - of what I have to share on SRP is related to honing on Coticules. If you're not interested in honing an entire razor on only one hone, I can completely understand that. But this happens to be my game and I love it .
If I ever came accross as if I find my game superior to any one else's, I sincerely apologise. (This last sentence is not directed to you Jimmy).

Another difference in our honing philosophy is when to apply the tape. Since the bevel setting is putting more wear on the spine than any other part of the process I prefer to tape from the beginning and set the bevel. I don't like the idea of the double bevel that would be the result of introducing the tape later in the process. I know that some feel it makes for a stronger edge.

Stronger or not, that's not my concern. The problem I had was that I can get more keenness if I can allow the Coticule -water only- to work on a rather narrow bevel. Some razors are extremely thin groung, so they have very narrow bevels. I started noticing that they could be refined on a Coticule with water, while wider bevel could only be polished by it, no matter how many laps. Taping after the edge has maxed out on slurry offers me precisely that: a narrow bevel, than I can allow to grow till the Coticule/water slows down and goes from refining into polishing. That delivers me the highest keenness I can manage off a Coticule so far. Sure I can also get such keenness of my Chosera 10K, but that would defeat the goal.

Like Lynn, if I understand him correctly, I prefer an edge that is keener than a coticule by itself will provide so I will typically go to the Escher or maybe the Shapton 15k pro to finish. The edge a coticule leaves is smooth but IME not as comfortable for me as that of the forementioned hones.
I too prefer a keener edge than a standard honing method on a Coitucle delivers. Why else would I come up with a method that aims at bridging what I call "the gap between Coticule use with slurry and its use with water". There are many hones capable to improve the keenness that a Coticule with slurry leaves. But I had not yet a good consistent method to do it without leaving the Coticule. I could do it sometimes, so I knew it was within reach. With the method that I presented in this thread, I claim that it can be done fairly consistently.

No one needs to try it if he doesn't want to...

Bart.