Thread: Coti breaking glass HELP

What's up ya'll?
Been off line for while...work is the devil's invention!

Anyway I finally got my synthetic honing to the point I decided to venture into naturals.
Gave Jared a ring a TSS and got a little bout (don't have the cash for a JNAT at the moment).

Well I'm on about my 6th day of fooling with the bugger. About midway through chasing a HHT I'm throwing the thing out the window.
OK not really but I do have to set it down and walk away.

Went back to Coticle.be and revisited some of Bart's old post and others. I'm close just not quite there (I get some violin string action, but no HHT love).

I am hooked on the natural feel and really can't wait to get my hands on a JNAT.

Any advice from you hone misters out there?

Thanks and be safe
Jer

Forget the HHT.

Have you tried shaving off your coticule edge yet?

Utoplan,

Yeah, I gave it a go. It wasn't a terribly bad shave. Didn't feel quite as comfortable as a finish off my Nani 12k.

I guess that's what I'm really chasing...the balance of keen and super comfy.

I figure there will be a good learning curve...just looking for little tricks.
I am enjoying watching my progress with honing and this is adding a new little dimension that I think if I get nuance of the stone down will be very enjoyable to hone with.

Thanks

I have tried several coticule edges and my preference is a JNAT edge, a coti edge is just not keen enough, I have had better luck with doing water only laps.

I am sure there are coticule masters out there that will put my JNAT edge to shame but I have never really had great luck with either a LG or LV stones so it’s always been a JNAT unless I want to play then I het out the small LV stone I have.

You could always try giving your best 12k edge then do some water only laps on the coti.

Unfortunately coticules all vary and when I buy one I ask Maurice directly for one that is good for razors. I ask for fast and fine and he hand selects. If you buy from a third party basically you don't know how the stone works until you use it. It's random.

That being said I am sure you can get a good shave but coticules are a different animal. With slurry they act like a lower grit hone....without they burnish without any cutting power, very slowly.

The slurry also rounds the bevel and the more you use it the more the slurry can dull, again this varies each stone.

Dilution helps bypass the dulling but you need to go by feel on when to dilute. The micro bevel idea (unicot it was called) was again another workaround to the rounding effect on the bevel.

Coticule garnet content can vary from 5-50% that's a big difference...They also can vary in size from 5 -15 micron. Again huge difference. Oil on finishing can fill the gaps on the higher micron stones and make the stone cut finer also.

For now I would hone on your synthetics and use the coticule as a finisher perhaps under running water to see if you can get a feel for the hone before using all the dilucot tricks and unicot methods.
You can always contact Maurice directly at Ardennes cuticle and tell him you bought this stone and you don't think it's good for razors...he will exchange it. It came from his mine.

Also the hht is very hard to pull off on a coticule for a new coticule user. The edges are not serrated like other stones.

Originally Posted by MedicineMan

Utoplan,

Yeah, I gave it a go. It wasn't a terribly bad shave. Didn't feel quite as comfortable as a finish off my Nani 12k.

I guess that's what I'm really chasing...the balance of keen and super comfy.

I figure there will be a good learning curve...just looking for little tricks.
I am enjoying watching my progress with honing and this is adding a new little dimension that I think if I get nuance of the stone down will be very enjoyable to hone with.

Thanks

How are you creating the initial bevel? A 1000k hone or the coticule?

I purchased a Coticule, just to see what folks were talking about. My Coti is a great prefinishing stone, but it does not produce an edge that is keen enough for my coarse beard. I also have a Nani 12K and it will produce a keen edge, but the edge is not smooth enough for my sensitive face. Fortunately, I have a couple of natural finishing hones that will produce a keen, yet smooth edge.

I do not have a JNat; but maybe some day I will. Just like the variations in performance of various Coticules mentioned in the above posts, everything I have read about JNats says that they vary in quality as well. People joke about the Chinese Guangxi hones being the People's Hone of Indeterminate Grit, but I am coming to the conclusion that the "indeterminate grit: part applies to nearly all natural hones with the possible exception, of a vintage Escher. Even the non-Escher Thuringians currently being mined seem to vary in quality.

I have a friend who had an Apache stone that gave great edges. Unfortunately, it broke and he was unable to replace it at the present time due to limited availability. So, he purchased an Okudo Tomae rated 5++ from Alex at JNS. However, he is struggling trying to figure out how to get a good edge of the JNat and he is not new to honing razors.

So in the honing world, there can be a lot of frustration as most of us have realized. So do not throw your Coti out the window; you will find a place for it in your honing progression, but perhaps not as a finisher.

lot of friends after a coti work ,have a green past ( Puma for exemple ) and leather finishing.
For information here it is a grits-board.



natural stones

sintetic stones

pasta

A strong violin on the HHT can indicate a good shaving edge, as the hair and other variables influence your end result; this is what calibration means in practice.

I get strong violin results on occasion and usually this means my edge is at least good.

Give it a good stropping on linen and leather and test again or just give it a go at your stubble.

Best regards,

Pieter

Thanks for all the advice guys!
I'm not going to say I hit the mark this morning, but the shave was super smooth right up there with some shaves off my RA that SRD put the edge on.
I used one of Bart's recommended methods off an old post and finished with running water; stropping- 30 linen/100-120 leather
Threw on some MDC that one of our members gifted me a chunk of (biker type dude that has a rep of frightening restaurant owners at meet ups )
HEAVENLY SHAVE finished off with some Clubman Spec Resv.

Nick-
I honed a little late last night using the method you recommended. It's up next in the rotation.

Thanks again gentlemen...always love the advice I get here.

Keep it safe,
Jer