Thread: Coticule lapping

Originally Posted by basil

ok so here is my little project.

Im just about to start so here is my coti. its a nice little one 6x1.5

But as you can see in the second pic it looks like the stone is chipping for some reason is this normal?

And from the third pic you can see how the stone is slanted. when i first got it it had this slant in it but i made sure it was lapped flat even with this slope. but now im going to take the slope out just because it makes it a bit harder to sharper my straights.

Anyways here are the before pics ill post some new ones soon.

the slant is normal. the chips not sure as picture hard to tell you could round corners off. i use my dmtc325 for lapping and have used 600 wet and dry. so long as the markings don't catch blade i wopuld'nt worry about it.

Originally Posted by gary haywood

the slant is normal. the chips not sure as picture hard to tell you could round corners off. i use my dmtc325 for lapping and have used 600 wet and dry. so long as the markings don't catch blade i wopuld'nt worry about it.

im lapping as we speak but its going slow.

as for the chips they were noticeable as i ran my hand over it so a blade for sure would suffer from it.

also there is alot of the coti dust. is there anyway i can soak a linen strop in this to use it as a paste?

Originally Posted by basil

also there is alot of the coti dust. is there anyway i can soak a linen strop in this to use it as a paste?

There should be no dust as lapping should always be done wet. Have you read the Lapping 101 guide in the Wiki? You should.

Originally Posted by Utopian

There should be no dust as lapping should always be done wet. Have you read the Lapping 101 guide in the Wiki? You should.

sorry i am doing it wet.. i guess coti slurry you would call it, i still dont know all the terminoligy:P

as for the chip im not sure... i only noticed it when i took my coti out the other day to freshen my baldes

If a stone is not already flat I would start with a diamond hone or 120 grit sanding paper. Lately I've finished a few on 1500 and 2000 grit but a coticule should be fine when finished on 600 or 800.

I wouldn't worry about the chips or cracks you see. Just make sure the surface is lapped and the edges are beveled. I have one stone that has a lot of small cracks that can be felt but it's not an issue during honing. But if you really think the razor can get caught in it you can try smoothing the edges of the chips or cracks.

You can't reuse the slurry because it will be mixed with small particles of the sanding paper.

The chips look exactly like the ones I am experiencing with my (green) coticule. It´s hard to tell by my picture, but I think you will see what I mean.



My chip actually got worse from lapping. First it was just a little nick, but during lapping a bigger chunk broke out of the stone.
It seems like there are veins running through the stone. These are very light whitish lines. Normally they don´t affect honing, but unfortunately such a small vein was running at the edge of my coticule and just broke off. That´s probably what was happening to you.

I did not manage to round it off completely, not do I want to lapp off 1mm of valuable coticule.

When honing without tape I can feel the imperfection on the spine of the razor.
If honing with tape, I feel none (wich is very important) and get very good results.

So I guess if you chamfer the edges and round off the nick with sandpaper,
you will probably be alright

Do you have any idea what caused the chipping?
Did it occur during honing or lapping?
I've never seen such chipping on any of my coticules.

Personally, I would not lap away the slant. It shouldn't be an issue for a hand held hone, and given the size of yours, that's how I would use it.