Thread: Coti vs japanese comparison

I'm working on a goofy project, I have my grandfathers coti (well, mine now ) and my Oohira japnese hone that both seem to be about the same lvl of polish. I know the cutting medium on the coti's are rounded and polish extreamly well and have a great shave off them. I'm currious of the edge off my Oohira is the same or not.

I have of late been doing a few laps on the Oohira than a few off the Coti and a few laps on Cro2 leather. I've been playing with the idea of not using the Cro2 leather and try a shave off the coti just to see what it's like. Using the same razor, than going off the Oohira to see if there is a difference. I know that my use of the Oohira to Coti to Cro2 leather keeps my edges nicely. I'm currious if I'm overdoing it or if this progression is what is needed. I wish I had 2 razors that where exactly the same to test side by side. Even the ones I have (Robesons) that are from one line of manufacture have to many variables between them.

Has anyone (I'm sure someone out there has) done anything like this? My Oohira hone cost me $50 so I'm sure I can get a finer stone, but my current line up is set by the all powerful (empty) wallet... So I'm using what I have.

I'd love to read about anyone elses experiments and what they came up with.

Well I had the chance today to use the coti solo on a Henkels 112, It took alot of will power NOT to run through the Cro2 leather.

I was very happy with the shave and it was smoother than anticipated. So next I will have to hone up and finish off the Ooohira hone to see how that feels.

Now one thing I didn't bother with was the number of strokes I took. As I never really woried about it much. I use a glass to see how the edge is forming, I stop when the edge is done. At least I have an idea of how long it took and I'll see if the Oohira hone will do the same.

I don't have any experience with the Japanese hone but I like the shave off a coticule after stropping. Sometimes I follow the coticule with an Escher and that is even smoother IME. From what you posted it sounded like you're shaving off of the hone with no stropping ? I think KevinT has posted that he has done that. Personally I like to hit it a lick on the strop after the hone. Sensitive skin y'know.

Oops ya regular stroping, like 10 to 15 laps. I don't see running 60 plus laps on the strop, seems I need more polish if I have to go that far. Could be wrong but I just never thought my edges needed more that 20 laps on the strop.

Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

Oops ya regular stroping, like 10 to 15 laps. I don't see running 60 plus laps on the strop, seems I need more polish if I have to go that far. Could be wrong but I just never thought my edges needed more that 20 laps on the strop.

Maybe you're right. Give the 60 & 60 a try though and you'll know for sure. Works for me. Here is a thread about thebigspendur's grand experiment. There are links to the original threads within.

I did around 50 laps one time (lost count a few times...) and saw no difference, to me. I tend to do 5-10 when setting up, shower, than do 10 or so again and shave from there. Happy with the results, but I'm a weird one and tend to not follow and known bell curve

Interesting experiment you got going there!

I did a small honing experiment/project this winter to try to figure out what hones gave me the most comfortable shaves, without the use of pastes.

The 4 finishers I have are:
6x2 Coticule from Howard
Shapton GS 16K
Spyderco UF, lapped with a DMT 1200
Nakayma Maruchi

The razors used:

Boker Extra Hollow ground
Wostenholm Pipe Razor 1/2 hollow
J. Rodgers Wedge
F. Reynolds Hollow ground for barbers use

The idea was to rotate the razors through the 4 finishers to try to determine which finisher I liked best.
The way I did it was to hone all 4 at the same session and then shave with one razor for one week (7 shaves) before going to the next razor and a new finisher. After 4 weeks I dulled the edge on the razors
and honed them up again using a Norton 4/8K and a different finisher. This is not a very scientific experiment as the number of shaves with each razor is low and 3 of the 4 razors are old Sheffield razors, with the Boker being the exception, but they are my favorite razors and I know they all shave well.
The razors was stropped 30 on cotton and 50 on red latigo on a TM Originals strop before each shave. I judged the edges based on how the shave felt and for how long it took before I could feel the stubble on my chin.

The results of this experiment was as follows:

1 Nakayama
2 Spyderco UF
3 Shapton GS 16K
4 Coticule

All of the finishers gave me a good shaves with the Nakayma and the Spyderco UF being the best for me.
It should be mentioned that I didn't use the same number of laps on each hone, so the speed on the hone isn't a factor here as the UF is a slow hone and I've read post from very experienced honers stating they get inconsistent results from it, but for me it has turned out to be a great hone.

i had to teach me somehow. evaluating the honed edge seemed like the place to start; elsewise how can i know my strap improves / or that i am trying to improve the "best" edge I can get?

I cant do detailed experiments because I am too biased or because i cant do exactly the same prep every day

If all you are trying for is a great shave adding so many steps before testing the result is far too confusing for me considering I never get the exact same shave twice. paste confuse by covering possibly incomplete honing.

I get an awesome shave with just a BBW and Coti, then strop. I've never used paste, but I know the honemeisters I use do (either when I get a new razor, or when I occationally mess up my bevel and need to be bailed out), but I really do like the edge better when I rerun it through my BBW and Coti...

-Chief