Thread: Honing didn't go too well

Bram are you saying Ardennes Coticule sold you a stone with sawmarks in the working surface?

metsie, I started with an old razor and no stone. The previous owner had died and had been "shaving with a straight". Apparently i got the razor he wasn't using. It pulled. I put it down.

Later I bought Norton kit for my Japanese cutlery.

Then, at some point in time, I thought to put my razor on those rocks 1/4/8. WORKED!!! a little better, still not real good (i was learning to SR shave too). So i bought some more razors-old and cheap but in great condition. THOSE razors honed right up and I've been HOOKED ever since.

Also about then a retired barber gave me a Coticule. It took Glen's vids to teach me proper use of Coti. I'm a student of the GSSIXGUN school of honing.

AS YOU GET better at SHAVING, you'll learn much more about the edges you develop in honing. Each SHAVE teaches you better what is required to prep the beard and how to approach each section of your face. Each shave also educates your skin as to what is sharp and what is smooth. Your hands get educated too.

TOUCH/PRESSURE is
EVERYTHING
in shaving -and- honing.

All the resources for learning are laid out before you. Enjoy the ride.

You'll never forget the day, the shave, when you first get an edge velvet buttery smooth. Don't rush it.

Originally Posted by WadePatton

Bram are you saying Ardennes Coticule sold you a stone with sawmarks in the working surface?

what I call sawmarks might actually be marks from the flattening device the use, they are realy shallow and on a soft coti they are whiped of using the slurry stone without much effort

I have two, both came with faint sawmarks on it, the first one came from a shop in Antwerpen (Belgium). This stone is actually realy hard and it took some time before the marks faded, I recently found out that all the slurry came from the litle stone, not the hone, to my opinion this is the kind of coticule you want, great finish on water and if you want to speed things up using the soft slurry stone (which already shrunk a few mm in the last couple of months since I don't have a bevelsetter).

the second one is a Les Latneuses which came directly from Ardennes Coticule, the sawmarks on the normal side came right of within a couple of uses (this side has a bid of auto slurrying going on, it's that soft). the hydrid side I still haven't gotten lapped flat, already spend hours on sandpaper and I'm realy considering buying a DMT for this job at the moment.

Hi all,

I too am new to SR shaving and have started to learn how to hone. I first bought a Norton 4/8 and have practiced on this, have since got ambitious and bought a 1/3 to practice bevel setting, the thing I found was it can be addictive and I had to put them down for fear of habitual bad edges. I have since taken deep breaths and relaxed and learnt to become 'at one with the hone' and this has worked quite well, it does take a lot of practice and patience, but I have found that after all the research from books and the net you will find your own style and be comfortable with it. I use a brand new shave ready Boker as my benchmark and have bought many a vintage razor from e-bay to practice with. I wish you luck and happy honing