Thread: What coticule to buy for a smooth edge?

La Grosse Blanche is called skin-friendly here:
http://www.coticule.be/the-cafeteria/topic/1727.html
A good source of information for those of you who want more information on the various coticule layers.

It sounds like you have come upon the conundrum facing every one who hones razors. How do you make a razor that is very keen without becoming harsh?

The answer depends upon several factors: the quality of the hone, the quality of your honing technique and also upon the quality of the steel in your razor. As you hone on ever finer stones, you make the edge thinner and keener, but at some point the steel becomes so thin that it begins to crumble. Also larger carbides in the steel may pop out leaving behind a jagged edge which feels harsh on the face. Some steels are better than others in this aspect. However, it is not enough to define the type of steel as the tempering process also plays a significant role.

I have a tough beard and very sensitive skin, so I am always trying to achieve a very keen, yet very smooth blade. Using the right finishing hone certainly helps as long as you have the proper technique for that specific stone.

Like many others with tough beards, I have found that
edges off a Coticule are smooth, but not keen enough for my beard. If you have a lighter beard, you may love a Coticule edge.

I find that I get the best edges by stropping on pasted strops with super fine abrasives: 0.50, 0.25 and 0.10 micron. I use CBN, but others use diamond pastes and sprays. Some claim that CBN edges are smoother than diamond edges, but I have not tried diamond, so I cannot confirm one way or the other. Diamond sprays are available in both monocrystaline and polycrystaline form. I do not know which is better.

If you can get a keen edge on your stones, then stropping helps smooth out unevenness in the edge that leads to a harsh shave.

It may not work with every razor. I have one that I can get keen, or I can get smooth, but I have never been able to achieve keen and smooth at the same time. I do not believe the steel was tempered properly.

For those saying that a coticule lacks the keenness found in other stones, that may be the case if you finish only on water. If you try soapy water, running water from a tap, talcum powder, oil, you'll find that you can get the edge keener beyond the natural capabilities of the stones themselves. It just takes a few of these tricks to do so, rendering additional stones beyond it, pointless.

@Ray: I have shaved off a coticule in the past. Looking for the holy grail I moved on to Eschers and Jnats. Egdes were getting sharper but now I have arrived at the point that I get a skinrash below the jaw line. So now I am sort of back to square one.

Pink coticules are going to be fast cutters that produce a keen and sometimes mellow edge, wood-grained coticules from the la grise vein are going to be slow, but produce mellow results. I'd avoid anything with a green or brown hue or coloration to it. Anything with black dots and lines are going to indicate a good, fast hone.