Thread: How to use Coticule.

The last two post are well said and I believe expresses what Sham is saying and what I believe. My concern is the same in one instance and that's running the blade lightly across glass. I did that after checking the edge under 30X then after running the blade across a regular glass. There wasn't much difference at all.
I have one Coti that is soft enough to pass the test mentioned in the booklet where you use a fingernail and see if it leaves a mark. With that Coti water worked just fine in about oh 8 to 10 minutes I think it was. In other words what we would call a fast cutter. I was able to do a fair finishing job with light pressure. I still got the Escher out for the best edge:-)
I just wonder if some of these new methods don't wear a blade down rather fast.

Keep in mind the Coticule is a natural stone and as everyone knows it comes in different grades? Different grades alright or is it that as time goes on the deposit is producing inferior stones and those inferior stones have different characteristics which we assume are different grades.

Also keep in mind a classic Coticule is a very hard dense rock. If your talking a coticule you can scratch with your fingernail, in my book that a very different beast probably a stone that has really not gone through much of a metamorphism process. Also consider that a Coticule in many respects is a dual action sharpener. It's not just that it releases garnets but as you hone, the garnets that are exposed at the surface and within the matrix are also honing in a different manner than the loose stuff rattling around on the surface.

Personally I've always considered it a finisher and I use it with water and am very satisfied with the result.

well i have to say that none of my five coticules produce a auto slurry with just honing on water. infact out of all the coticules i have owned none of them have produced auto slurry by general honing on water.

i once set a bevel on dmt 1200. i then honed on coticule with water for many laps and the shave skiped across my face, it didnot workwith just water.

Unfortunately Sham, you are dealing with several people in this thread that their only intention is to sidetrack your thread,, They have no intention of trying what you are saying...


And as a Senior Moderator of SRP, consider yourselves warned...

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Go head test yourself and see what happens. good luck

For whatever it's worth, when I use slurry with my coticule, it brings my razors' edges to a certain level more quickly than when I don't. This level is duller than I would want to shave with, but sharper than a razor without a bevel

When I want to use the coticule to make the razor sharper than this level, I cannot afford to have much slurry, if any, on my coticule

Am I doing it right? probably not, but that's where I've settled with it

I tried this using a blade that shaved arm hair with just a little pulling. Not sure if that's considered as having the bevel completely set, but it was a lot more set than it would be after breadknifing.

I did regular honing strokes in sets of 100. The first coating of water lasted for 200 strokes, after which I added 2 drops of water every 100 strokes.

There was no visible slurry until about 250 strokes, when I noticed the water on the blade looked *slightly* milky. Nothing on the hone looked like slurry, though the water/swarf did get metal-colored.

After 500 strokes (roughly 15-20 minutes), I stopped and tested the edge. With the TPT, I thought there was a little improvement, but maybe not a lot. I tried a quick shave test (no lather or prep) on my sideburn and had to stop immediately since it just pulled. I cleaned off the coticule and did another 10 strokes with just water, but it didn't seem to help.

So not much luck today, but I'm going to try again tomorrow with my easiest-to-hone razor. It's also the last razor I did the dilucot method with, so I'll have an idea how it compares.

Random thought: my coticule seems to cut EXTREMELY fast with even a little slurry raised on it, but slow as molasses with just water.

Question: would it be most 'fair' to make the comparison by doing the same honing strokes as with the dilucot method (meaning down-and-back with a finger on the blade instead of normal X strokes)?

I decided to try some of my coticules for a mini experiment with a crappy razor. I did 20 diagonal chisel/japanese strokes (with pressure) on each side with several coticules with water.

16 coticules had visible slurry after 20 strokes on each side
1 had visible slurry after 40 strokes
1 had visible slurry after 60 strokes

The amount of slurry formed varied drastically among the hones, but the point is that all released at least some slurry within a reasonable time of use. With further use, especially in the multiples of hundreds of strokes described above, most (or at least many) coticules will develop a slurry with the pressure that would be used for bevel setting and sharpening.

I just want to say that even though I haven't had a chance to try this yet due to 13hr work shifts, thank you to Sham, for starting an interesting thread and theory. For me, there's sometimes a lack of forums started that urge new honers to try different methods that will open my mind to new horizans and this excited me when I read it. You're sort of a mentor to me,as well as a friend in my mind, and I appreciate everything you've done for me.

As far as autoslurry on the hone with just water..I wonder if using a new coticule from Ardennes or a vintage coticule is what makes a difference in this factor? For example how many of you that haven't had autoslurry are using old hones compared to new hones? I know some say coticules are all the same..but could it be a factor we don't see?
Maybe when I test this I will use my vintage coticule as well as my coticule from Ardennes and see if there is a difference.

Originally Posted by Disburden

As far as autoslurry on the hone with just water..I wonder if using a new coticule from Ardennes or a vintage coticule is what makes a difference in this factor? For example how many of you that haven't had autoslurry are using old hones compared to new hones? I know some say coticules are all the same..but could it be a factor we don't see?
Maybe when I test this I will use my vintage coticule as well as my coticule from Ardennes and see if there is a difference.

I only have one "new" coticule, a 3"x10" which I bought from Ardennes. It was one of the many that produced slurry in the first 20 strokes on both sides. The rest of mine are all "vintage." I'm not sure if there is any relevance given that they are all rocks of the same age.

Originally Posted by Disburden

As far as autoslurry on the hone with just water..I wonder if using a new coticule from Ardennes or a vintage coticule is what makes a difference in this factor? For example how many of you that haven't had autoslurry are using old hones compared to new hones?

Don't know if mine is vintage, but it's super pink.

(next to a much yellower slurry stone)