Thread: Need advice

I am fairly new to this, but I have had great success shaving with a straight razor. I recently purchased a Norton set and another razor (Boker Silver Steel), honed it using Lynn Abram's circle method and then finished it on a kosher coticule. Here are my questions: my coticle is short, only 4", there is a significant amount of lateral motion to complete an "X", is this coticle too short? Will the lateral movement affect my razor negatively? Also, if I want to go with a Naniwa stone (12K), I read that is is possible to use the Norton lapping stone to lap it, but should I really choose something else to lap it? Thank you!

I would give the 4 inch Coti a little while first before buying another stone. It is pretty short, but you can get used to it and just do a few more strokes. Key is keeping the razor flat on the stone, weight of the blade pressure only and making sure you are getting the entire blade across the stone on your X stroke. Try a light slurry for a few strokes and then just water and see how that works for you too. I like the DMT 325 for lapping both Naniwa's and Norton's.

Have fun.

Wow, thank you Mr. Abrams. So there is no harm in the razor having so much lateral movement in relation to the forward movement? I figured that I would have to use a few extra strokes and did do that. Also, thank you for the advice regarding the lapping stone. I was going to try the Naniwa as a finishing stone as you seem to be very fond of it. Thank you again.

There is no harm at all in the lateral movement from using a shorter stone. As Lynn said, the most important part is keeping the blade flat on the stone while you do it without applying pressure.

Thank you very much for the valuable advice. I had one more question regarding stone maintenance. After using the stones, is some rinsing all that is required? I have been reading on this forum that some people lap their stones prior to each use, is this excessive? Is there any other maintenance needed for honing stones other than a rinse and occasional lap? Thank you, last question, I promise!

A quick lap under water after honing wont do any harm. It'll help clean the stone of any residue and keep it flat for the next use..that's what I do anyway

The coticule should be harder than the synth stones, so it won't need lapping until it becomes dished, the slurry stone also helping to keep things flat there. With the synth stones, one trick I've learned from Stuart at toolsfromjapan is to lay a straight edge across the diagonals of the stones, and then try to slide a 1/1000" stainless steel feeler tape under the rule. If the tape slides under it, it's time to lap the stone. This occurs more frequently with the bevel-setters, which are softer. The tape can be obtained from McMaster-Carr.

If I were using a 4 inch coti I might try holding the coti in my hand. This position may help it be a bit more intuitive when you X stroke the whole edge.

Smooth is more important than flat, especially with a 4 inch stone. With the Coticule you will be or should be raising a slurry prior to honing and that will keep the stone flat and smooth. A diamond plate is the tool for that and credit card plates can be purchased for 12-15 dollars.

A Coticule is an interesting stone that can almost do all, but for the skill of the operator. If you master the Coticule you will learn so much more about honing than using synthetics. Don’t get me wrong, the 12k is a great stone and almost foolproof, but there is so much more to honing than dragging a blade on a stone, X amount of times.

You have the Coticule, learn it you will be a much better honer for it… and have a lot of fun acquiring new skills.

Well, I made a mistake, my coticule is actually 3"x1.5" (it did seem really small). I may try a Naniwa 12K just to compare as I find this topic very intriguing. I wish I had purchased a larger coticule, though I do think that I got a nice edge the last (first) time I honed my razor.