Thread: 20K vs 12K after dovo black paste

Originally Posted by gary haywood

I loved the 20k g and used it for 6 months
Shaving for 6 months of the 20 k.

I then switched back to a pure coticule edge

And I have to say the coticule edge was much smoother and kinder on my skin .

The more I make a direct comparison between the 2 during the shave, the more I agree, the Coti edge is truly outstanding, smooth and kind on the skin!

My 20K has been used a pre-finisher for my Coti edge testing, , seeing how incredibly slow some of my cotis are under running water, I can't help but think coming off the 20K gives me much easier results from the Coti. Using Cotis with slurry has never been my forte and I'm not inclined to use them like that anymore. I also do running water to reduce any auto-slurry and my edges are smooth and skin-friendly.

My personal preference for finishing is the Coticule.

There are some coticule s that work with dilucot
And a lot that just won’t work and it becomes hard work ��

Hmm, this is my final verdict

I changed my stropping technique a bit. With a bit of slack in the strop and more pressure on the razor and it did great things for my 20K finish.
Not something I recommend for beginners, but when maintaining the right technique it really smoothed out my 20K edge and made my La Grise a bit more keen.

My 20K felt like a top of the line Coti finish. Shaved easier than the La Grise and almost just as smooth. Pretty darned good.

I've been sharpening and stropping wood chisels, a completely different thing, but I noticed a big improvement in my edges after heavily stropping them.
I thought, aah what the heck why not try a more aggressive stropping technique with my razors and see how it impacts my edge. Contradictory to popular believe and common practice it doesn't roll the edge if done right and they came out better. A bigger difference than I expected.


To each their own, but there's a lot more 'power' in the stropping than I thought

I can't seem to make up my mind between these 2 stones as they're both top of the line finishers.

Depending on how fine your edge is at end game, it's very easy to do "too much " with a Gok 20k. Your heavy stropping could be repairing a slightly feathered edge. Dovo white paste on a linen strop can have a similar healing effect on the edge.

Lol. The 20k has simplified my honing in a major way. And I can’t say enough for how smooth the edges are. Everyone’s preferences are individual. But this one cured my HAD.

Possibly a feathered edge, I always strop on dovo white paste though. I do feel the leather "fixed" or added something for me, in any case shave was marvelous.

The 20K is incredibly smooth, but in a side by side comparison with a Coticule you can feel the difference. Although I feel that maxing out the 20K gets me very very close to a top end Coti finish.

The only downside with the Coti is that I sometimes get sloppy with technique and/or pressure

I’ve never had a coticule. I’ve always seen the as pre finishers. But I’ve read a lot about working the slurry this way and that. But I gave up on natural stones. Nothing I had ever used off of a natural beat out the synthetic line up I have. So why keep chasing it? Now I ask myself, what more do I want from my edges? Nothing really. So I stay in my lanes.

Originally Posted by TristanLudlow

Possibly a feathered edge, I always strop on dovo white paste though. I do feel the leather "fixed" or added something for me, in any case shave was marvelous.

The 20K is incredibly smooth, but in a side by side comparison with a Coticule you can feel the difference. Although I feel that maxing out the 20K gets me very very close to a top end Coti finish.

The only downside with the Coti is that I sometimes get sloppy with technique and/or pressure

There's no reason you can't mix n match eg I sometimes do 3 light strokes on a dry Jnat, a la barber hone, after I test shave the 20k. Just another way to tame an edge.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

There's no reason you can't mix n match eg I sometimes do 3 light strokes on a dry Jnat, a la barber hone, after I test shave the 20k. Just another way to tame an edge.

I tried this and it certainly worked! Wonderful edge.


All things considered, for me personally, I feel that adding a bit of slack to my strop while lightly stropping on canvas and with a bit of more pressure on the leather side really gives me a wonderful result on my 20K finish. There's something about that mirror polish finish and "straightness" in the edge from synthetics, the 20K really feels great while shaving and on the skin.

I take the comment about a feathered edge to heart, as that might've been the culprit. The stropping most likely cured this and the my 20K finish is now even smoother and skin friendly. And I very much love shaving with it.

Apologies for my long winded thread of trial and error, but I wanted to share some of my feelings with these stones.

I would certainly buy a 20K again if I had to do it over, as with everything SR related, you dial your gear in to what you personally prefer and enjoy and find a way to maximize your results.

I am a joyous daily shaver, something I never was before. [Switching over from cream to soap, getting a 20K, adjusting my stropping technique and fine-tuning my shaving technique for daily shaves really worked; I've always had problematic skin and never thought I could've enjoyed a daily SR shave]


Thanks for all the feedback, it's really been a trial and error thing to find what I prefer and what my skin reacts best to. Thanks!

I've really enjoyed following this thread. I'm a fan of both the dovo black and the finish I get off my coticule. I have no trouble getting keener edges with several other stones but never like the edges as much. Even coming off my thuri I inevitably end up going to the dovo black. Still, my favourite has become a finish off of the coticule dry with 10 or so very light laps on it which gives me the kind of keeness I want while holding on to that super gentle edge.