Thread: Trying to clarify my understanding

I'm actually thinking way ahead of myself here since I'm still very much a newbie and not yet ready for honing.

That said, I've been sucked into this hobby and, even though I might be a long way off needing/affording a hone, I'm already thinking about which ones I should get and in which order!

I've read through various posts and wiki entries and already learnt a lot. I've also watched plenty of videos, which have only served to increase my interest. However, I'm still a little confused on a couple of points.

One of the things I'm confused about is the coticule. Some people talk as if this is only good for finishing/polishing - is that correct? What about with a slurry? Would a coticule, moving from slurry to water via a medium slurry stage, get the job done, or would one still need a coarser stone and/or a finer finishing stone? Are coticule too variable between stones to be reliable?

I had been thinking of getting a coticule at some point in the future (mostly inspired by Lynn's video on using them) and then, when I'm better at the whole honing thing, getter a coarser stone or two for use before the coticule. Am I mixed up or does that sound like a reasonable progression?

I haven't used it for this purpose myself, but there are some who use the coticule for lower grit work as well as moderate to higher grit work. It is a reasonably versatile stone within its parameters. It will never be as good as a dedicated bevel setter, never be as fine as a dedicated finisher, but it plays around in that middle ground and can be made to work well in there if you dedicate the time and patience to learning how to get the most out of it.

So for a razor in good shape with an edge that maybe needs touching up or perhaps a little bit more work, a coti could be a good way to go. Other options include pasted strops, which can keep an edge shave ready (barring unforeseen disasters) for quite some time, or a couple of synthetics - eg a norton 4/8 and a shapton 16K.

All roads lead to Hone.

James.

Personally I would recommend a series of synthetics to learn on for consistency and ease of use. Another advantage is the huge knowledge base of stones with known characteristics on SRP. Norton, Shapton, Naniwa, among others. My first straight razor shaving experience began in 1985 or so. I bought 3 coticules from old barbers and got a brief honing demonstration from one of them. My inability to maintain the edges on the three coticules led me to give up shaving with straights and I just collected for the next 27 years until I found SRP in '07.

If I had an internet connection in '85 and the tutorials and vids available on SRP nowadays maybe things would have been different. That said, I still think the synthetics are better for a beginning honer. Get a coticule or two or three, after you've gotten good at honing your razors and then play.

If you can be inspired by Lynn's videos, I'd say get inspired by this one instead.