Thread: Coticule

As Geezer mentioned a great place to look for Cotis is in antique stores and also flea markets. I found a natural combo Coti for a buck at my local flea market. I have a store bought Coti as well and would say my pedigree free stone is just as good. This is a cheaper option to enter the game, but on the other hand it may take more time. What are you currently finishing on? I must admit, I too had the Coti fever and bought the initial stone, but now I would never pay full price again. That's not to say they aren't great stones, but they are very popular and have always been popular. That means they are a lot easier to find hidden in antique stores. I may be wrong and this may be the usual mystical, mumbo jumbo of everything old is great, but I have read older quarried Cotis tend to be better stones.

Originally Posted by svcaramia

Um, which scotch works best for honing ? Single malt or blended ?

I go with single malt. Maybe Laphroag. But doesn't have to be fancy usually I will just go with some Glenfiddich or Glenlivet 12yr.

Again coti's are a very interesting stone. See if whoever you decide to buy from will do a return. I don't know if any of the main vendors do or don't do returns but you could always ask. I personally have found the creamy yellow ones with not much figure or anything work exceptionally well but I only have couple of them so maybe I just got lucky. But the one with the most figure variation in appearance is the coarsest of my coti's.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention something. I usually don't get into the vein names but anything that I have bought from the dressante vein has turned out pretty well. My best coti is a dressante. It has a nice but subtle touch of pink running through it that you can barely see when dry but comes out when wet.

I some times use a nice coticule before a clear piece of Arkansas stone.

though thinking about my Belgian stones I have this one that when it came off the ebay I thought it was to rough.
And never tried it but it does have a nice heavy weight. So in the morning I give it a little flattin and try it on one of my blades.
blue might be nice on this one it's so nice and shiny.

Different blades take to coticules better than others (or so I have found). The more "hollow" the grind, the better the coticule seems to work. My Ralf Austs and Boker Silver Steel are good candidates for a coticule honing...my Hart Steels and Zowada are not.

Setting a bevel can be done on a coti but it is far too much like work. I have a King 1k and Naniwa SS 1k for that task.

My best results have been starting out with a pretty milky slurry for about 50-75 small circles and 10-15 x strokes (each side), diluting the slurry just a tad and going another 20 or so. Then...I crack out a BBW for another 20-30 small circles with a light slurry and an additional 10 x strokes. Finish back on the coticule about 15-20 x strokes on plain water. Sometimes 5 or 6 x strokes on Welsh slate tidies up the whole process.

Please remember, this is only a guide with broad parameters. Even I don't necessarily follow the aforementioned laps all the time. Same with the BBW...on occasion I just cut the slurry some if I'm pressed for time. The BBW does seem to get me to the finish phase somewhat easier though.

Imo Howard at theperfectedge.com is the best guy to talk to. His coticules are the best Ive used.

I use mine as a finisher, with slurry.

Originally Posted by Airportcopper

I know absolutely nothing about coticules.. Was thinking bout jumping into coticules to finish on.. What should I be looking for ?? And what's a good place to start?

~~~my favorite veins...LPB, La Vienette, but that's me. I have three Les Lats, all work well, and have been a good vein too, for me. La Verte is somewhat hard and a good finisher. I think it's hard to tell you where to begin, which vein to start out with but if I were to suggest a vein...any of those that I have mentioned



this was my very first coticule (and a bout at that!) 3.5 years ago



I tried more after that one



funny thing is, I find I like to use the LPB more than any other. That's a les lat next to the LPB, also a very good finisher IMO, but like some here have said...you'll find some stones work best with certain blades, and why I keep more than one coti on hand, since I shave with more than one razor

others may have better and different ideas


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.