Thread: Burnishing a coticule stone

Hello everyone. I’ve recently purchased a LVRR cuticule. It was suggested that I burnish the stone before use so I would be able to get good honing results front the stone. I've never been able to find any information or instructions on burnishing a cuticule stone. How’s is this different from normal lapping? What kind of results am I looking for? How do you burnish a cuticule stone and what equipment is needed? Any information and advice is appreciated. Thanks.

In my opinion most coticules will gain little to nothing from burnishing. This is because most of them auto-slurry at least to some extent. For that reason they are constantly revealing fresh cutting particles.

I suppose that I should point out that I have no idea what your LVRR hone is as I don't care at all about vein designations. If for some reason your coticule will benefit from burnishing, then you can just rub the shaft of a screwdriver over the surface or hone a kitchen knife on it. Either should accomplish the burnishing you are seeking.

I don't like the shave off a freshly lapped coticule. I always lightly run a slurry stone over it before honing a razor for keeps. But, I do that with other types of stones also.

My understanding of coticules is the same as Utopian's. They don't seem like a hone type that would benefit from burnishing for the reason stated. I could see where they might be a little rough if you just lap them with 320 and try to take a razor to it, but burnishing as I understand it simply wouldn't work on a coticule.

Some days I feel like I really need to obtain one to play around with, but for the moment I'm busy learning the stones that I have on hand.

Wife got me a current production one for Christmas and here's the instructions I got from Jarrod "this looks to me most probable as "La Veille Rouge de Regne", they need to be burnished/polished (you will receive a flat hone, but the surface is rough not smooth), so use thick slurry and kitchen cutlery awhile until you close your eyes and run your hand all over and it feels buttery smooth and glassy"

My stone felt like a washboard when passing a razor over it and after running a knife over it a bunch- I could see pattern of steel stuck on it like on a new Spyderco UF. Under microscope I could see a landscape of peaks and valleys with the metal stuck on the peaks. I used a barber hone to slick mine by knocking the peaks down. I believe what is happening is that the binder in the 'valleys' is softer and when you slurry it erodes faster leaving the peaks. I've been using mine without slurry after smoothing it, i.e., water only. I intended to report when I have used it more, still figuring it out...

Also, when smoothed and with water only it put a fine shaving edge on a couple of Sheffield razors so far.

Originally Posted by KenG

got me a current production one for Christmas and here's the instructions I got from Jarrod "this looks to me most probable as "La Veille Rouge de Regne", they need to be burnished/polished (you will receive a flat hone, but the surface is rough not smooth), so use thick slurry and kitchen cutlery awhile until you close your eyes and run your hand all over and it feels buttery smooth and glassy"

My stone felt like a washboard when passing a razor over it and after running a knife over it a bunch- I could see pattern of steel stuck on it like on a new Spyderco UF. Under microscope I could see a landscape of peaks and valleys with the metal stuck on the peaks. I used a barber hone to slick mine by knocking the peaks down. I believe what is happening is that the binder in the 'valleys' is softer and when you slurry it erodes faster leaving the peaks. I've been using mine without slurry after smoothing it, i.e., water only. I intended to report when I have used it more, still figuring it out...

I have no problem with the smoothing of a rough honing surface. However, I don't consider this to be burnishing, which I consider to be the smoothing of individual pieces of the grit of an already smooth honing surface.

Semantics is not the issue of concern here though. If you have a coticule that has harder peaks and softer valleys, then that is a permanent issue for that hone and, if possible, I would ask to trade it in for another hone with a more uniform surface.

I agree with Utopian on this.
I would recommend new factory hones to be lapped to your liking as they are flattenned but not lapped to the level of our understanding and I can understand why. There are horses for courses and leaving them in that semifinished state gives us all chance to prepare them to our liking.

It seems to me that you are smoothing the stone not burnishing it. Working on the matrix not the garnets. The garnets are so small that they should feel smooth to your hand.

I'm going to echo what the other guys have been saying. I do not think it's possible to burnish a coticule due to the softness of the stone and the auto slurry as utopian mentioned. Smoothing the coticule after lapping on a diamond plate with the slurry stone is a common practice. Makes for a smoother feel while honing. There is some debate on if the smoothed out coticule leads to a finer edge but most do believe it does.

Let us know how you make out.