Thread: Belgian coticule, clarifications

I.ve been doing some test on 10 differant razors using bbw/yellow both light slurry test shaving then adding 50 laps yellow water test again, also bbw slurry yellow water and one razor all with yellow starting heavy slurry diluting with a couple of drops of water once diluted 100 laps fresh water. I have found the all slurry honing ok but a bit inconsistant ading 50 laps on plain water does improve, bbw slurry / coticule water does seem to work very well and consistant may take a couple of trips but thats normal.

I honed an old razor with heavy ish slurry for 200 laps shaved my arm and it shaved but grabed alot and i could tell it would'nt shave my face i diluted with 3 drops of water every 10 laps like bart recomends. It took a while to dilute, then i did 100 laps on clean water. shaved arm again dry with out whetting and it was a big improvemant i though this will shave.Stroped on linen then litigo then cowhide. Passed hht very well Test shave was perfect smooth and plenty sharp for my fairly strong beard. So to me it proves that lightning the slurry on yellow works i no heavy or medium slurry will not give me a shave ready blade. This is where i was going wrong. still experimenting .

Originally Posted by Bart

It seems to me that the Coticule with water is still abrasive enough to improve, or at least polish the edge without dulling it.


Bart.

Like you, I think that that applying grit rating to the Belgians is a bit useless. However, I've noticed that you always (correct me if I'm wrong) talk about finishing with water. On mine I find that the finest finish (confirmed today) is on dry. Once the water is pushed off by the edge like a film, I go dry and the edge is great. Do you think this is just my hone (or me)? I only ask because I've noticed that you rarely, if ever, talk of dry honing on a coticule and I'd like your opinion.

Originally Posted by AlanII

Like you, I think that that applying grit rating to the Belgians is a bit useless. However, I've noticed that you always (correct me if I'm wrong) talk about finishing with water. On mine I find that the finest finish (confirmed today) is on dry. Once the water is pushed off by the edge like a film, I go dry and the edge is great. Do you think this is just my hone (or me)? I only ask because I've noticed that you rarely, if ever, talk of dry honing on a coticule and I'd like your opinion.

Hi Alan,
you could very well be right about dry honing. I have tried it only once or twice, long time ago, when I was still a complete honing rookie. At that time I got nothing beneficial from dry honing, but nothing negative either.
While I don't have any objection against the edge it leaves, I personally do not like honing on dry stones. (I once jokingly stated that I like it as much as dry sexual intercourse) I rely on the behavior of the wave of fluid in front of the edge and the way it runs up the edge during the honing stroke, to finetune my honing stroke. I usually perform a few slow strokes paying carefull notice to the wave, while I store the motion in muscle memory. Then I speed up the strokes, but I regularly slow down to see if I'm still doing fine. Especially on smiling blades and on slightly warped blades, I find this very helpful. But it has become a strong habit, and now I find honing on dry hones a bit awkward.
But I would surely welcome to read about experiments done in this field, and you won't hear any objections from me, for the simple reason that I don't know.

Next honing session, I'll allow the Coticule to run dry by the end of the finishing, I 'll see if that changes anything for me. Thanks for bringing this up.

Kind regards,
Bart.

Hmm, some interesting stuff here.

Garnets are one of the very common minerals and there are almost infinite varieties of them coming in different xtl habits. depending on the type they can range in hardness from the upper 6s to around 7.5 on the mohs scale. Also remember that our coticules are metamorphic stones which means they are subjected to intense heat and pressure. I doubt those nice textbook xtls would survive in anything close to original shape. They are probably very deformed and depending on the amount of heat and pressure the entire character of the garnet can change to a different substance (but that's a different story). I would think the size and concentration of the xtls would matter more than the xtl habit it has. I have not seen any studies showing dodecahedrons are any softer or harder than say cubes or octahedrons.

Originally Posted by AlanII

Like you, I think that that applying grit rating to the Belgians is a bit useless. However, I've noticed that you always (correct me if I'm wrong) talk about finishing with water. On mine I find that the finest finish (confirmed today) is on dry. Once the water is pushed off by the edge like a film, I go dry and the edge is great. Do you think this is just my hone (or me)? I only ask because I've noticed that you rarely, if ever, talk of dry honing on a coticule and I'd like your opinion.

I dont think I'd consider that a dry hone, it's damp, water is still doing stuff.

do you go <10, >20? after it flashes

xtls? xtls habit?

Please illuminate the non geologists among us.

xtals ---crystals I am pretty sure. Thanks for the information Kevint. The problems with the crystals being fractured, would it not cause a problem with honing if there were sharp edges? Are the edges rounded because of the heat under formation? Sharp edges are not good from what I have read. Sharp edges would gouge the metal, like for instance, diamonds leave a harsh edge on the blade because of their very harsh edges.


Richard

Originally Posted by kevint

I dont think I'd consider that a dry hone, it's damp, water is still doing stuff.

do you go <10, >20? after it flashes

Dry in the sense that I dry it off on a towel as near as I can.

And yeah, more than ten but fewer than twenty, about twelve?

Originally Posted by AlanII

Dry in the sense that I dry it off on a towel as near as I can.

And yeah, more than ten but fewer than twenty, about twelve?

that is quite similar to what I've tried. A few light laps to finish off; using the same previously wet hone. I could never decide if the dryness helped or if I had simply finally reached an acceptable count. It did not seem to harm anything. Now it is beginning to become a long time since i did more than a touch up where i am a little scared to grab a truly dry hone. I've had good results with soapy water

This dry technique is reminiscent of a something similar that Glen (gssixgun) posted not long ago in reference to the Norton 8K here . Not quite the same thing but I'm interested in trying it with a coticule. I just can't bring myself to hone absolutely dry.