Coticule slurry.

I've read multiple times that a slurry produced by a diamond hone is a more aggressive cutter. And in the past I've tried it and gotten my hones a bit faster and also coarser. But I've always assumed that was due to the surface of the hone being roughed up.

This morning I was playing around with different slurries on new coticule. and I noticed that a slurry made with a diamond hone was considerably faster than one made with a natural slurry stone. So I did a side by side comparison.

The natural slurry stone was a lot harder than the base stone so I know for a fact that both slurries came from the base stone.

First I made a slurry with a diamond hone. Made around 20 X strokes and took a picture. Then I rinsed everything under running water. Made a new slurry with a similar density. But with a natural slurry stone and made another 20 X strokes with some pressure. The difference between them was massive.

So I wonder what's going on in the slurry that's making such a difference? Am I fracturing the garnets or is there something else going on?

This is the one produced by a diamond hone after 20 X strokes
Attachment 224695
This is from the natural
Attachment 224696

I took 400x and 1000x photos of coticule slurry a long time ago. The diamond produced slurry was full of crescent shaped shards that I assume may be more aggressive than the pebble shaped slurry released by stone to stone rubbing.

That is kind of what I expected. But the funny thing is that it isn't happening on all of my coticules. I only have 4 at the moment.

With 2 of them the honing speed up like in the pictures above. One speed up a little. And one doesn't seem to change which ever slurry stone I use.

Making slurry with a diamond stone.
When I read this in the forums, shivers run down my spine
because the diamond is much harder than the garnets.
The result is that thin slices of garnets are shaved off.
When you look at the slurry under the microscope and the
effects on your expensive razor, than you get frightened.
The result is a distressed skin and there you have it ...
http://bosq.home.xs4all.nl/info%2020...whetstones.pdf

Page 17 has the pic
I still see this all the time. I have never done this I don't own a diamond stone. This is all from the article.

Yup, the only time a diamond plate touches my coticules is for an initial lapping, then they never touch a diamond plate again.

Are there any good places to get slurry stones from. I rase slurry with a diamond credit card, and I often think, I shouldn't be doing this. Gotta be somewhere to get a half decent slurry stone.

eBay has a bunch and Amazon sells them

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rideon66

Making slurry with a diamond stone.
When I read this in the forums, shivers run down my spine
because the diamond is much harder than the garnets.
The result is that thin slices of garnets are shaved off.
When you look at the slurry under the microscope and the
effects on your expensive razor, than you get frightened.
The result is a distressed skin and there you have it ...
http://bosq.home.xs4all.nl/info%2020...whetstones.pdf

Page 17 has the pic
I still see this all the time. I have never done this I don't own a diamond stone. This is all from the article.

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So because I start my honing with a more aggressive slurry I'll destoy my razor and get distressed skin? :) well shame on me.

I'm not saying ill raise a slurry with a DMT hone my razor on that slurry and call it a day. I just observed that a slurry produced by a diamond hone works a lot faster than the opposite. And I wondered how that might be.

And I guess I got my answer. Because it fractures the garnets in coticules. But are you guys not just a little curious to why this only works on some coticules? I am. And if anyone should know why that is I would be happy to know it.

Harry. slurry stones are a lot of fun. You should get a couple different ones to play around with. They all work a little different I get mine mostly from the german ebay and of course from the ardennes.

Ya, I need to look into it. I have a very nice boxed Coticule that I'd really like a slurry stone for. It is very aggressive when I raise slurry with my DMT card. First 2 passes always darken. I love my coticules, so a slurry stone is something I need to get.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mikael86

And I guess I got my answer. Because it fractures the garnets in coticules. But are you guys not just a little curious to why this only works on some coticules? I am. And if anyone should know why that is I would be happy to know it.

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I'm guessing that it's due to the differences in garnet size and density between individual coticules. Perhaps larger garnets fractured into smaller pieces show a more noticeable increase in cutting speed than smaller ones do. Here are photos of the surfaces of two of my coticules: a La Verte and a La Petite Blanche. The La Verte has much larger garnets and is a much slower and smoother hone than the latter. My guess is that slurry on the La Verte made with a diamond plate would in effect be more similar to slurry on the La Petite Blanche made normally. Perhaps when the garnets are smaller to begin with, the change in cutting speed when slurried with a diamond plate is less noticeable.

La Verte surface:

Attachment 224715


La Petite Blanche surface:

Attachment 224716

That sounds plausible. Thanks for the pictures I didn't know that the difference in garnets were that big.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Are there any good places to get slurry stones from. I rase slurry with a diamond credit card, and I often think, I shouldn't be doing this. Gotta be somewhere to get a half decent slurry stone.

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There is. My honing drawer. Next meet up I can give you one if you'd like and your DE's back. Haven't used them in quite some time.

Relevant to the topic of using a diamond plate to raise slurry I have too noticed that the diamond plate makes the stone more aggressive. This is not disputed by anyone. My theory is that as the razor is progressed through the slurry stages of honing that the stone smooths to a pre-diamond roughed surface through the burnishing effect of rubbing the steel on the coticule and the slurry dulls enough to get you to the same end result as if you had raised the slurry with a small bout of coticule.

I've shaved with razors off diamond and natural slurry without any noticeable difference.

Some would say otherwise.