Thread: Advice on purchasing a coticule

I plan on giving it another go this evening, so I'll see how it feels on the stone and see if I notice the difference.

After reading up on how to use a coticule properly and watching some videos from Lynn and Glen, I reset the bevel and then moved on to the norton 4K Then moved on to the 8k. After that I went to the coticule for final polish. I used the nortons first since I know those pretty well. Raised a slurry on the coticule and went to honing lightly first with elipticle circles, and then regular x strokes. Diluting the slurry about every ten passes. I did about 60 passes on it. Then went to the balsa strop 10 passes on the crox. 10 passes on the iron ox side, stropped on linen then leather. Shave test time. The edge was greatly improved. Good smooth shave with only a little irritation on my neck. So now I have it to a better shave with this razor than with my normal progression. For some reason the tatricer razor has always been a little stubborn at taking an edge which is the reason I decided to practice the new stone on it. So I guess it's time to try some of my other razors out on it.

Originally Posted by Dieseld

I'm not saying that my razor "stuck"'to the stone. But it did seem to have a bit more "friction" to it. I guess that's the best way to describe it

When I used the stone last night I did feel what you are saying on it grabbing, it is hard to notice though. Since the feel is so slightly different.

I'm glad to hear the stone worked out for you and you got a nice shave.

Yes, you really need to pay attention, and you can feel it. But to me, when using any stone, you should be aware of the feel. Or you might just ruin your hard work. Or even worse, your razor

Isn't CrOx and FeOx cheating a bit!? Sorta kidding, but congrats on the success.

I've been woring with mine for the passed week or so. I think I'm seeing improvement. I spent a LOT of time gently scrubbing the honing surface with the slurry stone that came with it. That actually didn't seem to change much though it did move in the right direction. I think cleaning the surface with a flat Arkansas stone helped the most.

I was actually trying to work out which is harder, the hone or the slurry bout. I think the stone is the harder of the two. Maybe that's why rubbing it with the slurry stone didn't help much? The fine yellow dust was from the sLuray stone not so much the coticule.

The Germania Cutlery Works razor I've been using as a test blade is currently sitting with a kasumi edge (for lack of better term). Which is a bit weird, but also a vast improvement over the deep stria I was seeing previously. It doesn't seem to want to bring the bevel up to a polish, which admittedly has me apprehensive about the test shave. But I did a dry patch test on my cheek and it wasn't too bad. There may be hope yet!

Good to see you are making progress with the hone. I would try more passes and see how it goes. Or, hone past the coti on synthetics and then go back and finish on the coticule. For example, hone out to a 12K edge then mellow it out on the coticule after and see if you like it.

I know it's been referenced before in several other threads but here again is the Napoleon LeBlanc essay on honing. The whole thing is interesting and on pg 15 he talks about coticules. https://archive.org/stream/essayonba...ge/n0/mode/2up

Says something like when the edge is ordinarily dull you should do 75-100 passes on an 8-10 inch coticule, more passes for a shorter hone. That's for full hollows, I assume even more passes for thicker grinds. Also mentions honing with lather. Now, I've heard what we would call slurry being called lather in some older publications (as in "work up a nice lather with the rubbing stone"), he could also mean actual soap lather, I'm not sure.

When working on a coticule with slurry and diluting to clear water I will sometimes finish with a drop of dish soap in the clear water and very light pressure. For light pressure, and I can't remember the video I saw this in, if you balance the hone in your hand so almost half is out past the tips of your fingers, then hone on it, that's near about how light the pressure should be for razors. I do this sometimes to remind myself, reset my feel so to speak, especially when coming all the way from a bevel set situation where I might have used a little more pressure/torque at the beginning.

There's a ton of tips for coticules out there, some will work for you and some won't. Continue experimenting and really get to know that hone. Good luck and have fun!

I'll do a test shave tomorrow. I did 125 passes give or take on pure water, no lather/slurry. That's kind of why I'm surprised by the kasumi-esque look, with that many rounds I would have anticipated a more refined polish.

This stone is all kinds of weird compared to everything else I've got experience with.

Well Marshall the two oxs may be cheating a bit but I took that tip from glens video. But under the loupe it didn't do much difference on the polish of the edge. And the slurry bout I use was a coti also, came free with it, and does produce a lot quickly. And I'm guessing that's where the fishing comes from on all the used ones I had looked at. But it does seem to be one tricky stone. But I have found out it likes to eat the tape up very quickly.

xiaotuzi the only 12k I have is a cnat which seems to put a good edge on, it is really hard and slow. I could also try that and go back like you said, because the coti does look like it produces a smother finish on the bevel. And I will continue experimenting on this stone so I can figure out its full potential.

Dieseld I have found how quickly one or two mis-strokes can ruin the edge.


Thank you guys for the tips and encouragement that you have given me, I'm really enjoying trying to learn this stone. Patience, practice and time.

Mine also came with a coticule slurry stone. I think TSS sells the same one you have Paul.

I'm still learning my stone as well, but I can see a lot of potential out of just one stone

I was just kidding about the Ox's, what matters at the end of the day is a close, clean, and comfortable shave no? How that result is achieved isn't important, as long as the rest falls into place.

I think I'm starting to zero in on the 'issues' revolving around mine a bit better. The slurry stone that came with it is of course coticule. It is softer than the base hone, and the particulate is not as fine. I determined this by rubbing the slurry stone on my Cnat to build up a slurry, then honing on it for a hundred strokes or so. Then I did 50 or so on the Cnat to polish up the edge a bit and make the deep stria stick out more against the polished background.

Then the Cnat got washed off, and the experiment was repeated with the coticule hone. It took about 3 or 4 times as many laps just to start seeing slurry, and the stria analysis showed it is much finer. It also cuts slower than I expected it would.