Thread: Which colour of coticule is the most suitable for Unicot?

I'm so excited to try those methods of honing with just one coticule, from bevel to finish. But I've read that the pinker or cream coloured ones are faster cutters and therefore softer. On the other hand, the greener it gets, the harder it is and better for finishing purposes, if I get it right from all that reading!

Should I tell to the vendor to pick up for me one bout with a particular colouration , that would be more efficient for 1 stone honing use? I mean, of course a faster cutter like pink could speed up things, but I dont know if it could give such a good polish in the end than a green could.

If that helps I rotate some TI's C135 for my daily shaving and they will go on that coticule.

Thanks for reading this

They all work fine, as far as which one is better I don't know, it's really a matter of preference. Check out the superior shave and take a look at the small sizes available, they're affordable if you want something cheap and small enough to hand hone on. I usually prefer bench size hones...

Coticule layers all act different, some act fast on slurry, some slurry on slurry. Some are fast on water and some are slower on water, etc. I would recommend one that's either fast all the way through or slow all the way through so you don't have a bipolar stone which can make what you're looking to do difficult. When I first started and I tried to hone on a coticule alone I had a lot of difficulty because my stone was from the La Nouvelle Veine layer and it's a very bipolar layer, super fast on slurry and extremely slow on water so diluting to reach the right "keenness" was almost impossible for me until I found tricks to make it work. Looking back on it I would've just used that one as a finisher to polish the edges I already honed on another stone.

As long as the layer you pick is consistent all the way through from slurry to water, either on the fast side or the slow side I think you'll be okay as long as you practice but it does take patience to use just a coticule.

That makes sense. I'll stay away from bipolar. As long as I know that i can reach a satisfying, smooth edge that I'm looking for, it will be a pleasure to slowly find those tricks needed for that individual stone.

For a newbie like me, of course I could get good results faster with other stones and still enjoy coti's shave friendly edge by using it only as a finisher but its the whole thing of using only one natural stone from A to Z that charms me, you know. My synthetics will be on standby, in case they need to jump in and save the situation I tell you that!

I was aimming for a pretty big bout to place on the bench. That european vendor has some coti's cutten by size (6x3 and so) but that structural anarchy of the bouts makes it even more charming for me.

cheers

Try a bunch of different things when you get it and see what works best for you after practicing other methods. I use different approaches then anything else published to get results I want and thats for all my hones, including my Eschers and Jnat stones. If I want to use a coticule for a finisher I use a big one, 2.5x8 inches or my long vintage one and I use lather on it or water, sometimes even oil. It's all what you like to do!

Lot's of us use two, one to start, and one to finish, When I use a Coticule, which is rarely, I use a Dressante, pinkish looking coti to start, and a La Nouvelle vein to finish.
Just like you said, some are better cutters, and some are better finishers. Could I use just one to do the job?, Sure, but It takes a lot longer. You may not have to worry about selection. Pink coti's have always been hard to get. You may want to check and see what your vendor has available. I've also heard these stones have drastically gone up in price, by as much as 50% in some cases.

Also, Just get to learn your own Coticule. There's a sizeable learning curve for each stone. Each performs differently. As previosly stated, I don't use any specific method, nor should you. Performance varies greatly with blade and stone. You'll find they work great on some razors, and not so great on others...Good luck....

I think you are going to find that the TI razors are going to guide your stone/hone selection a bit more than you think.. Not only the TI brand, but the C135 in particular tend to run pretty hard...

In general and this is by no means set in stone (pun intended) the harder the steel the softer the stone to finish it..

As to what Coticule will do that for you and bring out the best edge I could not answer that, Any Coticule would not be my choice of stone/hone to bring out the best edge on the TI C135 steel...


The more important aspect would be what the guys have already said, learning what the stone you chose is capable of doing in combination with your razors and your face

Apparently today I am feeling grumpy, if not old. The following is a curmudgeonly rant, and probably should only be treated as such.

It's amazing how coticules have gone from being coticules to La This and La That in the past year. Sure, there used to be the Deep Rock and Old Rock in the past, but for the most part they were all just coticules. Now that they've decided to start naming the rocks, they can create hype associated with each rock in the same manner as has been used with JNats for a longer period. Some Asagis are crap for honing. Some are amazing. Same thing for Kiitas and other JNats.

By the way, it's the same thing for coticules. They are rocks. You are going to take your chance with it no matter what its name is. The only way to know how your rock works is to use it.

To go along with what sixgun said, the C135 is some hard steel. If you are an accomplished honer playing with the coticule as the one hone stone will be cool. OTOH, if you are learning it will probably be frustrating unless you get lucky and get an exceptional rock. I would suggest at least a synthetic bevel setter in the 1k range.

Something like a Norton 4/8 would be advisable too. If you can get them sharp and shave ready with that combination you're ready to try the unicot/dulicot systems. Not that you can't learn on the coticule but it will be more difficult IMO.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I think you are going to find that the TI razors are going to guide your stone/hone selection a bit more than you think.. Not only the TI brand, but the C135 in particular tend to run pretty hard...

In general and this is by no means set in stone (pun intended) the harder the steel the softer the stone to finish it..

As to what Coticule will do that for you and bring out the best edge I could not answer that, Any Coticule would not be my choice of stone/hone to bring out the best edge on the TI C135 steel...


The more important aspect would be what the guys have already said, learning what the stone you chose is capable of doing in combination with your razors and your face

Glen, I see your point thats a good thing to consider! Maybe if I could get a softer one should help speed up the procedure a bit, considering C135.
To be honest with you, I was encouraged to use a Coticule according to a veteran in SR's that I know here, he claims that all his coticules can set a bevel faster on his TI's and Le Grelot's than his Naniwa 1k and other synthetics but it took plenty time & effort of him to get there..

Originally Posted by Dalton

Glenn, I see your point thats a good thing to consider! Maybe if I could get a softer one should help speed up the procedure a bit, considering C135.
To be honest with you, I was encouraged to use a Coticule according to a veteran in SR's that I know here, he claims that all his coticules can set a bevel faster on his TI's and Le Grelot's than his Naniwa 1k and other synthetics but it took plenty time & effort of him to get there..

I would seriously question that statement, in fact I bet anyone out there, on any forum out there, that hones on any Coticule, a beer of their choice to a race against me, to a set bevel, on any razor they chose, any time they chose to step to the plate...

I get to use the Synthetic of my choice of course...


In the US we tend to call this a "sucker bet"


Also to really answer that, I would say speed is not all that important anyway, even to somebody like me that hones professionally... Some razors take longer some take less... The problem arises with the evenness and consistency of the actual bevel set, nothing more than that... My statement never said that you can't do it and that it won't work "OK", my statement was that a Coticule would not be my choice of stones, if I were targeting shaving with a TI C135 razor....