Thread: Advice on purchasing a coticule

What about the Superior Shave? I ask for Paul's sake and my own.
I will eventually try a Coti (and JNat) after I conquer my Nani 12K.

He's seems like a good dude from lurking on some other forums. I usually like to go to the source so Ardennes makes sense...just taking notes for myself while Paul is on his quest.

It would be cool to have the cash to start a "honing" club (I came to the game late but I think cuticule.be had that type thing going.
But I'm thinking like every stone of every nature for SR.
Pay like a low yearly fee, shipping to you and back for the stones, and replace any broken ones. Like Netflix maybe call it...

"HONEFIX"

Sorry to derail the thread. Had a back procedure and I'm on a Percocet high.
Jer

Honefix sounds like a good idea, but man that would take some serious cash to get that going. I'll check out the superior shave to see what they have to offer. But what I would really like is to have a place to physically look at the different items available. Only one store that I have been able to find here is the art of shaving.

If you go with Superior Shave be careful not to get a Les Petas as I know they had plenty of them. I've heard some people get good edges from them but the feel of the feedback (bumpy gravel) can be very off-putting and it's really different from other coticules so not the best to learn on.

I am kind of late to this party, but I thought I'd put my two cents worth in, just the same.

When I purchased my Coticule hone, probably some 15 years ago, I don't recall there being "grades" of coticules. As others have mentioned, yes there is variability from hone to hone and it's very much a crap shoot as to what you get.... Then there is the the issue of *learning* the hone you get.... Many a gent has given up on a hone, thinking it's no good, only to sell it off to someone else who takes the time and effort to learn the ways of that particular hone and they sometimes even exclaim it's the best hone they have ever bought! But, there is the chance that the hone can be a dog.... it's a natural stone, after all.

I was having a terrible time getting my razors sharp and smooth enough on my Norton hones.... the coticule I purchased instantly bumped those edges up for me.... then I started using Shapton glass hones and got better edges yet, the coti got placed on the shelf and gathered dust. Along comes a young fellow who wants to hone razors and I help him out a bit. He finds a small coticule in a fleamarket setting for $10 and says he's getting great edges from it. I gave him one of my junk box razors and asked him to hone it up on that coticule and let me try the edge. When I shaved with that razor..... well... the student surpassed the teacher, and gave me a new found respect for the coticule. I dug out my old coticule and this time I had something to shoot for and I was able to duplicate that edge.... but it took some figuring out and I could not use the method he used with his coticule.

Purchase your hone from a respected dealer, chances are it will be fine. As for grade..... I honestly do not know what I would do today, but I can say that the coticule I have, would not be rated as a select hone... it's rather dull coloured, not butter yellow like some are.


Good luck

Christian

If I were to buy another coticule, I would ask Ardennes for a standard size 7-9 bout, as rectangular as possible, for straight razors.

State side, The Superior Shave would also be a good option.

By the way, the 'super select' stones seem to be/have been all from the La Veinette layer, which is one of the more consistent, well performing layers. Which I suspect is why the called them 'super select', as they are quite sought after.

My first coticule was a la veinette, and I felt it was a pain in the ass to master. But then again, it was my first.

Happy honing and best regards,

Pieter

Originally Posted by dinnermint

As far as honing and the final edge, no difference. But being a natural stone, there is variance between stones.

Select and standard grade is based on looks. A select grade coticule will be free of "blemishes" or in clusions. I have not come across any inclusions that ever affect the edge.

I like Ardennes quite a bit. I have purchased 2 from them directly and 1 indirectly. All give fine edges, as do most of my vintages. Although the edge is a bit better with my modern ones, I specifically state in the comments/howw will yoiu use the stone; "stone will be used as a finishing stone for straight razors." How much of a difference that makes, I'm not too sure.

The same as the above. And when I visited Maurice, at the Ardennes last fall, he told me that in the old age, layers wasn't important. The best Coticule where the koscher ones. That meaning flawless and without blemishes.

Because the market today wants stones that looks flawless, Ardennes always try to put imperfections down, glued to the slate. That way all new coticules are koscher.

I have many vintage ones with incursions, and although it doesn't affect the edge, you can sure feel then when you hone. So I would go for a new one, not thinking much about layers.

I would avoid a hybrid as they don't perform as well as the rest. They are also more expensive because they are hyped. But not the best ones IMHO.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have a small 5.5"x 2.5" LV from Ardennes that has no inclusions and is pretty perfect, the slurry darkens very quickly but the edge is a tad to soft for me so it gets used very little, all, coti's are different and they all perform differently just like any other natural stone.

Originally Posted by dinnermint

As far as honing and the final edge, no difference. But being a natural stone, there is variance between stones.

Select and standard grade is based on looks. A select grade coticule will be free of "blemishes" or in clusions. I have not come across any inclusions that ever affect the edge.

I like Ardennes quite a bit. I have purchased 2 from them directly and 1 indirectly. All give fine edges, as do most of my vintages. Although the edge is a bit better with my modern ones, I specifically state in the comments/howw will yoiu use the stone; "stone will be used as a finishing stone for straight razors." How much of a difference that makes, I'm not too sure.

I could've just had a bad experience, because I did precisely that and my stone was a bear to learn. I asked for a hard stone (my preference) that would be used for finishing straights. This stone is soft and quite difficult to do that with. Perhaps this is because I ordered around Christmas rush, and I'm certain they were having a hard enough time filling orders much less being particular about what kind of rock was shipped out.

Or perhaps I still have yet to fully master the rock. It's a regular grade coticule, 175x50 mm. I've not used it in a while, I think I will pull it out and touch up my coticule razor.

My suggestion if you can is find someone selling a known good stone. That way they can also relay what method they used to get a good edge.

Originally Posted by Marshal

I could've just had a bad experience, because I did precisely that and my stone was a bear to learn. I asked for a hard stone (my preference) that would be used for finishing straights. This stone is soft and quite difficult to do that with. Perhaps this is because I ordered around Christmas rush, and I'm certain they were having a hard enough time filling orders much less being particular about what kind of rock was shipped out.

Or perhaps I still have yet to fully master the rock. It's a regular grade coticule, 175x50 mm. I've not used it in a while, I think I will pull it out and touch up my coticule razor.

My suggestion if you can is find someone selling a known good stone. That way they can also relay what method they used to get a good edge.

I decided to order one from Ardennes, a 150x40 mm. i did put that I was going to use it to finish straight razors, so hopefully they ship a stone that doesn't have as muck of a learning curve to it. But I gues a few of my razors will making more trips than usual to the stones till I get this rock tamed. Now for the hardest part, waiting for it to arrive! And also doing a lot of reading on how to prep it, and ways to get the best edge possible.

Thank you guys for all the input and knowledge that you have shared with me it was invaluable on helping me make my decision, and greatly appreciated!