How often do you lap your coticule?

[BHChieftain]

Is there a nifty "test" to check when the stone needs to be lapped? or a general rule of thumb like after 1000 strokes or something like that? I'm currently doing a light lapping before every razor and wondering if that's overkill...

-Chief

[Slartibartfast]

Is there a nifty "test" to check when the stone needs to be lapped? or a general rule of thumb like after 1000 strokes or something like that? I'm currently doing a light lapping before every razor and wondering if that's overkill...

-Chief

I say it probably overkill... Are you using it with slurry?

[radaddict]

Is there a nifty "test" to check when the stone needs to be lapped? or a general rule of thumb like after 1000 strokes or something like that? I'm currently doing a light lapping before every razor and wondering if that's overkill...

-Chief

I don't know that I'd call it "nifty" or not, but you can put a straight edge across the hone to get a good idea whether it needs to be lapped or not. Put the straight edge across the width of the hone at several places, then do the same down the length of the hone and then put it diagonally across the hone (you may need some variation of this if your coticule isn't a rectangle).

[ben.mid]

There's not set number of laps. Each stone is different, as is the hardness of the steels they sharpen.
As radaddict says, a straight edge is a useful guide. Don't lap more than you have to. It wastes your precious stone.
I've lapped my BBW & Coticule once & i've had it around a year.

[JimmyHAD]

I tend to lap my naturals as little as possible. Like Ben I feel they are precious and like radaddict I use a straight edge every now and then. IME I can sort of feel when they need it by the feedback from the blade.

[Oldengaerde]

Idem. Needless lapping is waste of good hones. If you don't notice any impairment (or eg aberrant wave patterns) when honing, it's not necessary.

The main reason I lap my hones is to get rid of the scratches they usually have when I get them. If one takes good care of them after that initial lapping, what could possibly be wrong with the surface?

In the worst case, your honing is irregular and thus cupping will be a bit asymmetrical. But if you've got a regular Coticule this will take a looong time. And look at how the barbers of days yonder used their hones: more often than not cupped to the extreme - yet they got their razors sharp enough to satisfy paying customers. As long as the surface is smooth and regular, it should be fine.

[0livia]

Normally I run my hones over some w/d paper each time after a longer honing session, just to clean and to see whats up with them.
I'd have expected the coticules getting dished faster than they actually do.

[zib]

I'd say it's overkill big time considering, the cost, and the scarsity of these hones. Yes, The quarry is not pumping them out like they once were...Get yourself a steel ruler at home depot. It's enough. Put in diagonally across the hone and hold it up to the light, pressing firmly. If you see light, lapp it. if not, good to go...You also know your close when your DMT sticks to your coticule when your lapping suction = flatness....

[ben.mid]

Suction is indeed a good indicator. So are pencil marks that disappear!

[JimmyHAD]

And look at how the barbers of days yonder used their hones: more often than not cupped to the extreme - yet they got their razors sharp enough to satisfy paying customers. As long as the surface is smooth and regular, it should be fine.

+1, this is something I have noticed too. I once got a coticule and a razor from a barber's son. The barber had retired years before and twenty years after he had passed away the son sold the father's tools on ebay. The razor was shave ready to the extreme and the coticule the barber had used was dished.