Thread: a few questions

All hones/stones I have seen for straights are wet hones.

so do you lather the stone with shaving cream as you use it?

Mark 1, Mod 0 water (in other words, plain water). Generally you soak them in water for about 5 minutes prior to use. Go to the Hones forum for advice on using them. You will find all the information you need there (and tons more)..

Are very versatile. You can use them with just water (no need to soak them just wet them on the surface). They can also be used with a slurry. Rubbing a piece of coticule stone on the surface of your Coticule hone will make a milky slurry of stone and water that can yield a faster cutting stone. Using less and less slurry can yield a stone that cuts slower and slower and polishes more. In this manner the Coticule can serve a large portion of the honing process by itself.

However,

It is a natural stone and as such all are different. You need to learn your stone or talk to someone who knows it well and get the low down on its particular characteristics.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

-Rob

PS- This could be helpful too:
Razor honing - Straight Razor Place Wiki






again, good luck!

Originally Posted by wuddup77

so do you lather the stone with shaving cream as you use it?

I used to hang out in a friends barber shop in the early '80s and the old barbers there used to use lather from the Lather King dispenser on their coticule. I only use water with and without slurry but you can definitely use lather and see how you like it.