Thread: Salm Rock/Old Rock Coti's vs Other vintage Coticules

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I like their yellow color.

James.

Must be something in that James. I'm told yellow Jnats are most popular in Japan also.

But we all know red Ferraris go faster than yellow Ferraris

Yellow trans arks sell at a premium as well

Well undoubtably some enjoy the honing/stone collecting aspect of the hobby more than the instrument being sharpened. As for myself, I have always felt that honing is an accessory to straight razor shaving and not the other way round. Having said this, one of the caveats of using too many different hones is that it is akin to chasing too many rabbits. Ultimately it is how the razor performs after being stropped that matters most, and not the obsessive/compulsive practice of measuring minute differences in sharpness between hone A, B, C... That said, it is unfair in my opinion to dismiss the coticule as being impractical or too time consuming. Once you know what to aim for and you stick to one method, it becomes second nature and consequently less time consuming.

I have to agree that bang for your buck when it comes to Coti's, the 5"x2.5" is really nice to work with. I have another Pike 5" stone on the way this weekend that I'm excited to try out. I love my stamped 7"x2.5" Pike but it wasn't cheap.

Just a quick reality check. It is only about 350km from the mines of Thüringen to Solingen. Goods from Thüringen were shipped to the Ruhr area by the gigatons. Add the import tax for Belgian goods still in place back in the day.

Now, think.

How come so many Solingen manufacturers used to use Coticules (before the advent of readily available synthetic hones, although two still use them today).

Call me paranoid, but I get extremely suspicious whenever someone with a vested commercial interest in hones waxes lyrical about a certain (type of) hone. Especially when hundreds of advanced hobbyists get along only too well with the (typically much cheaper or much more readily available) alternatives.

And please bear in mind that still today, an 8k Norton and some Chromium oxide will make any razor fit for shaving, according to the one Honemeister.

Full disclosure: I own a "full set of synthetic hones", which I never use because I find switching between them and soaking them cumbersome. I also own one (1) Coticule, bought several years ago, which works for me. Last, I know several people who have used dozens or more Coticules without ever finding a bad one. Then again, they had no vested commercial interest in them, and therefore their standards must be a lot lower than... uhhh... or maybe not.

Yep, each to their own.

I love the argument that because my opinion is different to yours I must have lower expectations! That's a classic

Originally Posted by DaveW

No natural stone is too fine to maintain a razor - they all have reasonably large particles and can be made to release them one way or another.

wahh...did i missed something....seems that iam the only guy where this is working perfectly for me *laughs*

Originally Posted by doorsch

wahh...did i missed something....seems that iam the only guy where this is working perfectly for me *laughs*

No mate, it's working here too

Originally Posted by doorsch

wahh...did i missed something....seems that iam the only guy where this is working perfectly for me *laughs*

Like i said, if less keen is "better", then sure. Perfect.

I suppose one way to put it would be you wouldn't want to drive some massively powerful car that had twitchy handling every day, you would eventually just want to hop into something that can get you home with no drama. The coti edge is like a boxy Volvo with crumple zones and airbags everywhere.. I like the mellow touch of a well-done edge from a middle of the road coti, especially on Sheffield steel. Trans ark finish on a Sheffield is beautiful, but way too stressful given the price for one slip up. Other steel, like case or genco, or ti I tend to max out for all I can get.