Thread: A Coticule Story.

Hey guys,
I headed to the barber shop today to get a hair cut. My barber is an gentleman named Mario. Mario is from Italy originally & has been cutting hair & shaving since the 50's. I always take photos of my latest acquisitions to show him. I usually give him a little history lesson on the gear, if I know it. Today I had no photos to show, so I settled down in the chair & he hands me an old box.

"This is for you he says." It was the below pictured stone. I tried briefly to not accept it & asked him if he knew what it was,,, as I did know. He smiled and said, "Yes,, it's from Belgium and I had used it to sharpen my razors since the 1950's. I quit using it in the 70's." I told him he should give it to a family member. He stated that they would not even know what it was used for, let alone appreciate it. He insisted I take it.







I noticed that the Coticule had a distinctive "dip/cupping" on one side,, the yellow side & the cupping progressed from nothing to the noticeable difference,,, only on one side. I was curious on how this happened. So I asked him to show me how he stroked the stone with his razor. He pulled an old razor from his drawer & held the stone in his left hand & slowly did a motion I was not sure of. I asked him if he had a name for that motion,,, he said 'It's called a figure eight." I had him do it several times; the razor never left the stone during the entire session,,,,he would flip the razor on it's spine as he got to the other side ,, then stroke back into a figure eight design.







I noticed that he finished each session by stroking or exiting the razor off the bottom of the stone. I brought this to his attention. He sated, ' The stone has a north and south. The edge that is facing "up" as you hold it in you hand is North. The edge facing down is South. You always hold the stone the same way, this is why it is shaped the way it is."
I held the stone for the photos at home, to help describe what he was telling me at the barber shop.



The scratched on the side is where he "muted" (he called it "round the points") on new razors when he got them.
He told me with a serious look, "Only use soap with it, no oil!" I smiled & told him I would never use oil on it.



Thanks for looking,
Hirlau

THAT is a special gift! Very cool, John. I would have loved to see him go through that hone. They were pros, back then!
Enjoy!

That is very much like the coticule my dad gave me from his barber school in Toronto in the 50's
I believe the bottom to be slate. It is an awesome finisher.
Congrats!
Mike

Originally Posted by sharptonn

THAT is a special gift! Very cool, John. I would have loved to see him go through that hone. They were pros, back then!
Enjoy!

He had to slow down the stroke quite a bit,, as I could not follow the blade as he demonstrated the first couple of times.

Thank you for explaining the strokes with photos! Many hones now in from the wild would serve to substantiate that method. I have a couple that obviously were well used by someone even to the point of breaking through the light layer into the base layer.
Thanks again!
~Richard

you're welcome Richard,,,,,

I'd love to see a video of his technique!

That's a pretty cool story. I like your new glasses.

Originally Posted by briancorneal

I'd love to see a video of his technique!

I will approach him soon with the idea of letting me video his honing, I'll let you know.

What an excellent story. I'd love to find an old barber like that and pick his brain.

You ought to take one of your razors and the stone to him and have him touch it up and see what they considered a good edge.....back in the day.

Great story!! ..... Lucky!!!

Howard