Thread: Which Colicule could be used as a bevel setter?

you could also go for a 40 X 200 mm Belgium Blue Whetstone, it is thin, doesn't cost to much and it is long so you can make longer strokes which should make some difference.

there is also the La pyrenee glued to a BBW but they are sold a bit wider at 50 mm (I haven't used these myself)

I would still recommend you to get the Chosera and put it on its side if you realy want a thin hone, but if you are dead set on a natural bevel setter the La Pyrenee could be your hone

Same here, I've never found a natural stone under 3k stone that is better than the equivalent synthetic.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I honestly don't

I tried to make an all natural set up a couple of times, there is no doubt there are several ways to "Make Do" but the 1k-ish Synthetics are just so good at what they do that it makes it a niche / eclectic way of bevel setting not to use them..

Sorry

I hand one,maybe two, coticules that I would use to set bevels. And that would only be on a hollow ground razor. I'd never try it on a near wedge. You'd be there for days on even the fastest coticules.

Id go with a chosera. But if you are set on a coticule a hybrid Les Lat, La Dresssante, or La Veinette would be good options. Manganese lines normally relate to a fast stone but they are natural stones so results will vary.

I have a La Veinette that is very fast on slurry but is a super fine finisher on water. But out of the 100 or so coticules I have owned I have only had 2 that act like this.

Get a Chosera and a coticule and that will be all you need.

Honestly I'd use the edge of the Chosera. But if you want a natural bevel setter, I'd ask Alex Gilmore at thejapanstone.com to cut me a 1" wide piece of fast suita and I'd use a diamond plate to slurry it to get dense slurry. A fast piece of suita slurried this way is capable of setting a bevel even though it's pretty fine, probably about 4k synth equivalent. An alternative might be getting Dan's to cut you a 1" wide fast piece of Washita/soft Arkansas.

Cheers, Steve

What I am getting from this thread is "don't use naturals/Coticules for bevel setting". Use synthetics.

Is that about right?

It was just a thought........

I think what you're getting is that in the typical grit range for bevel setters, synthetics are easier, faster, and cheaper. You can set a bevel with a coticule and heavy slurry, but it might well take you 5 times as long. Why bother unless you just want to? A suita will work (I know someone who uses one at least sometimes for bevel setting) and be faster than a coticule. And cost more than the Chosera. A Washita will work, but be slower than the synth. I don't know about a custom cut, probably not too bad for an Ark.

Cheers, Steve

O.K., dta116 made me dig out a small Okuda suita and put it to the test as a bevel setter. The razor is an old Joseph Rodgers hollow that is a failed eBay purchase, well-worn but still shaves really well.

The razor was dulled on glass and tested via the cherry tomato to confirm the bevel was not set. The edge was dull. I raised a good slurry on the stone with the diamond plate, gave it two sets of twenty circles followed by 40 x-strokes. If the bevel isn't set, it's 95%+, again verified by the cherry tomato test. You can see the darkness in the slurry, which started out very pale.

So yes, a fast suita should do you fine as a bevel setter.

Cheers, Steve

Thanks Steve, that should work......

Dave

Originally Posted by dta116

What I am getting from this thread is "don't use naturals/Coticules for bevel setting". Use synthetics.

Is that about right?

It was just a thought........

That is the best way to go IME. After trying many of the 'usual suspects' I found the rumors that the Chosera 1k was hard to beat as a bevel setter were true. I have had quite a few coticules and only one was half decent as a bevel setter. It wasn't real good as a finisher. So, as the old saying goes, 'you pays your money and you takes your chances.'

With naturals as bevel setters it is more of a gamble that you'll find the characteristics you're looking for, unless you buy one from a trusted source who tells you the straight scoop on it. With a synthetic such as the Chosera there is no hit or miss, you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. I can appreciate the desire to do it all with naturals. I've 'been there and done that', but nowadays I prefer expediency to nostalgia.

I regularly use a coticule of one of the faster layers for bevel setting (Les Latneuses, La Petite Blanche, La Veinette come to mind).
It works perfectly.

However, when there is a lot of work to do I switch to a DMT. I haven't tried a stone faster than a diamond hone.