Thread: couticle or 12k??

Hello

I am new to wet shaving....and am researching what i will need to begin my journey into straight's as I currently am a DE user i have the pre and post shave system that i want...

i am wondering about what hones and paddle strops one should buy.

I am almost certain I will buy the Norton 4k/8k and possibly a 220/1k

however I am uncertain about the polishing stone.

Which would people recommend, a belgium Yellow Couticle or a chineese 12k.

I thought about the Shapton 16k but do not want to spend $300 on the Diamond on Glass Lapping Plate which is required to keep it flat.

Also. I read about people using CrO or Diamond spray but what type of strop do you put that on...

Or is a paddle strop with .5 diamond paste and 1.0 paste very similar.


Thanks for the advice

You're going to need something to lap the norton 4k/8k with. Whatever that "something" is can also be used to lap the Shapton, too.

I went with the Chinese12k and a four sided pasted paddle strop, with good results from both.

I would go with the Norton 4/8 and a D8C for lapping and for cleaning up serious chips. The 220/1000 is good for setting bevels but a D8E is probably more desirable from my perspective. Also the coticule is far more versatile. You don't need to soak it and it can be used with slurry for faster cutting or without for finishing.

Welcome to the world of straight razor shaving!

I'm a newbie too sort of but I'll just tell you what I think and what I use.

I have a chinese 12k, it's generally agreed upon that it is a great polishing stone. The coticule is also great however considering the price I think the chinese is great value. Check out Buy Natural Polishing Water Stone, Water Stones - Woodcraft.com

But also you want to get a hanging strop really, as far as I know the paddle strops should just be used for example for travelling as it's much more convenient.

And about the pastes I don't really see why pepole use it. I read somewhere that the pastes where really made for wedge blades and not hollow grinds. The purpose with the pastes is really to touch up blades and which in that case is better to use a polishing stone. chack this out abrasion, strops

Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

I would go with the Norton 4/8 and a D8C for lapping and for cleaning up serious chips. The 220/1000 is good for setting bevels but a D8E is probably more desirable from my perspective. Also the coticule is far more versatile. You don't need to soak it and it can be used with slurry for faster cutting or without for finishing.

But from what I know you don't need to soak the chinese either only use water on the surface, just like the coticule..and you can use slurry for the chinese too.

Originally Posted by Rawaz

But from what I know you don't need to soak the chinese either only use water on the surface, just like the coticule..and you can use slurry for the chinese too.

Just bought one from Woodcraft. The side of the box it came with says "soak in water for 30 minutes prior to use". It is true that the Chinese is cheaper then the coticule but the coticule is a far more versatile stone.

Arguably a person could get along fine with nothing but a good coticule. Also the Chinese has the reputation of being a very slow cutter. Not unusual in a finishing stone but just thought I would mention it. I haven't used mine yet.

One other thing, if cost wasn't an issue I would get the single grit Nortons rather the the combination stone. You don't soak the 8K and they are an inch thick so you can turn them on the side to hone smiling or warped blades. Versatility again.

I recommend get both and then if you decide you don't like one or even both, you can recover most or all of your cost through resale in the Classifieds here on the forum

Originally Posted by erictski

...Which would people recommend, a belgium Yellow Couticle or a chineese 12k..

I have both of them. I much prefer the Coticule.

Cheers,
Viktor

Norton 4k/8k, Coticule, then CrO...puts a wicked edge on my blades.

All hones will probably require being lapped before being used. The Chinese 12K is likely going to be a bear to flatten as it's hard ( I picked the diamonds out of one end of my DMT 8C by bearing down hard while trying to lap mine). Coticules lap more easily and are my favorite before doing a bit of polishing on a flat, not hanging, strop charged with either the Thiers Issard paste or Chrom-Ox. Nortons will require the lapping too. One can do it with wet/dry paper on a really flat surface, but the DMT 8C may be the answer to all your problems personal and scientific.

Honing can be an expensive thing to get into, but if you get a shave ready razor, touching it up may be the only thing you need to do and in which case if you deal with Howard at the Perfect Edge, you can get a coticule lapped for a $5 up charge. If you get into restoring old razors you'll end up with the whole panoply of hones, but with an already honed razor you can put off that investment a bit.

good luck,