Thread: Coticule

Thinking about getting a Coticule stone. What is the best brands stones to get affordability priced. And what are the the high-end cream of the crop brands. And color of stones for finishing blue, yellow etc. 8000 grit and above. I know since they are natural stones grits are not exact. Looking for quality consistency. Thank you for your time

Save your $. Coticules are hit and miss. I've got a few, and takes the right touch to make them pleasurable to shave off of.
YMMV

If honing is new to u, I'd recommend a synthetic progression 1,5,8,12. Get good with those before using a Natural stone hone .

I like using them, but you kinda need to tiptoe around their proclivities.

To wit, I only use two stones for everything up to finishing (after which is Llyn and DGS).
Both of these stones are beige on blue. One of the beige is a monster bevel setter. That's not what you expect when you go "by the book". Try that and you ruin a razor.

Synthetic is predictable at least.

I may be wrong but I think you are new to honing? If so, IMO it really is best to stick with synthetics until you are producing consistently good shaving edges, then consider naturals. Including natural stones into a progression when learning to hone can negate the consistency that synths provide. I started using natural stones before I had a handle on synths and it was a mistake. Learning to hone a razor is not easy, there are so many variables. One variable you can remove is avoiding nats and stick with a set of quality synth stones.

Loves me some naturals. I surely do, like, go snitch them out of rock gardens and flatten them out to see if they will hone a razor. That said I have to agree with Mike. Learn on a good synthetic progression first. At least you know what you are going to get, what order to go in and how to use it. You can bank on it.
Don't get me wrong, be adventurous and hone on a brick if you think it will work (believe it or not I've tried it). But learn to hone on synthetic first. you'll have a better handle when you do decide to try the natural stones.

I am just curious and trying to soak up all the information I can. Just looking at a bunch of different aspects and personal views.

No need to be defensive
All your last questions on the forum are valid, and actual questions that every one of us had at a time. (*)

Hones are pricey, and a lot of us have spent entirely too much on them.
The advice given here is "best bang for the bucks". Results guaranteed. Like, if it doesn't work, it's not the stone, it's you.

But then I do understand that it's no fun. Why come to straights if it's to go right back to industrial things ?
If you absolutely want to start with natural stones, start with a low cost finisher from a reputable seller. In France I'd send you to Nicolas Rollins's "Shadows", I'll pretty sure all the folks here can point you in the right direction.

And if you absolutely, desperately want a coticule, I can vouch for Ardennes Coticules. They are close to what's expected. (Mostly because they set the expectation I surmise).
Again I can vouch just means "someone on the internet says". YMMV like they say
But please bear In mind in that case : the beige is a soft stone, easily ruined. You don't want an expensive paperweight.

And who is to say that Japanese synthetics are even worse ? I've interned in a ceramics firm in Japan, I can attest of the same craziness as the one they have with folded sand iron.

(*) That being said I'd advise to group your questions under fewer topics, it's actually best for everyone as, on our side we can understand your expectations better under a same umbrella

Originally Posted by Cattleman02

I am just curious and trying to soak up all the information I can. Just looking at a bunch of different aspects and personal views.

So, let me put another wrinkle in your thinking about honing stones, especially about coticules. There are many people that own expensive stones and they use them to produce a great shaving experience. There are some, (like me), that don't have any expensive stones but can still produce a great shaving experience for themselves. It's all about you and what works for you. It's all how you go about it and knowing how to produce a quality bevel. If you do that the rest is just a polishing process on the edge. Stropping calms the edge and produces comfort. It's really that simple! Don't over think the process.

You really don't need all those high dollar stones to produce a sharp comfortable edge and get a great shave, but again, it's all up to you! What will YOU accept? Have fun, learn, and be content once you find your groove!

Nice suggestion.

What would be a cheap honing setup that you would recommend?

Originally Posted by Johntoad57

So, let me put another wrinkle in your thinking about honing stones, especially about coticules. There are many people that own expensive stones and they use them to produce a great shaving experience. There are some, (like me), that don't have any expensive stones but can still produce a great shaving experience for themselves. It's all about you and what works for you. It's all how you go about it and knowing how to produce a quality bevel. If you do that the rest is just a polishing process on the edge. Stropping calms the edge and produces comfort. It's really that simple! Don't over think the process.

You really don't need all those high dollar stones to produce a sharp comfortable edge and get a great shave, but again, it's all up to you! What will YOU accept? Have fun, learn, and be content once you find your groove!

Naniwa 1000/3000
Naniwa or sharpton 8000
Naniwa or sharpton 1200

Not that cheap ? Yes I know. Costs less than trying enough stones to find your groove though. (And definitely cheaper than some JNats, that have become so expensive that Iwazaki is rumoured having stopped using them and using synth instead)

I mean off course we would all love to find our hones on the cheap. But to do that you need to know what honing is, and to understand honing you need hones and the loop is closed

Edit: I was curious, and on this side of the pond there is actually a trustworthy "cheap" all natural brand new stones set being sold. Would not apply in the US though, because just the port would be killing the deal.

So the cheapest I could find is approx $200 which is about the price of a set as described above.

The only thing cheapest (not Chinese, Chinese is too cheap and therefore horribly expensive) would be a full progression sold in BSD I suppose. And even then...

Damn them pebbles ain't coming cheap anywhere

Edit 2 : to clarify, you can always find a $5 (*) hone (**) on a flea market or in classifieds and so on, but even if you can identify it, it will only be a hint about its gritt. Only honing can tell you where it fits, and without that information, what you have is a $5 doorstop
(*) Or "oh... I also have a whetstone, since you took the razors, you can take it"
(**) And why not in the end a $20 set