Thread: Any body have any experience with Coticule?

There is a chap down the road from me with quite a few coticules which he uses for honing, and he thinks there the best thing since sliced bread, anybody have any experience with these?

Thanks.

I have one and I have used it but I prefer a finer finish - they vary quite widely and my stone is just not as fine as I like.

-john

I have none, but I typed coticle in the search box at the upper right corner of this page and it returned 10 pages of links to forum discussions and articles about coticles.

I can't think of anything better than sliced bread.

Maybe a Beefeater Martini with blue cheese stuffed olives.

Originally Posted by scs1980

There is a chap down the road from me with quite a few coticules which he uses for honing, and he thinks there the best thing since sliced bread, anybody have any experience with these?

Thanks.

My take is that Coticules are cool hones. But they are far from the best thing since sliced bread. Some are better than others, but overall there are better things out there.
Alot of members here use Coticules, they are pretty popular hones.

Originally Posted by mainaman

My take is that Coticules are cool hones. But they are far from the best thing since sliced bread. Some are better than others, but overall there are better things out there.
Alot of members here use Coticules, they are pretty popular hones.

I agree - there is this "mystique" that surrounds the coticle but it's a rock that varies greatly and at it's best it's a 12K. I'd say mine is more like an 7-8K and that's from extensive microscopic examination of honed edges. The particle size also varies widely on one single stone - so you get a mixture of deep scratches and fine ones on the bevel. If you like the edge go with it but there are certainly smoother, sharper edges to be had with both other naturals and modern synthetic stones.

-john

Out of the half dozen or so I have had I think I had one that could really be consider a great stone. The rest could put a decent edge on a razor but I like others better.

I have a few and I'm convinced that it's best usage is smoothing scratches from a finer synthetic.
That is: I hone till naniwa 12k then few very light strokes on coticule (whatever vein) and it's done. I can hardly get better with jnat and escher on most steels.

In the 1980s I used to go to barber shops and inquire of old pro barbers whether they had any old straight razors they would be willing to sell. This in North NJ, USA. I'd bring a few with me to assure the old fellows I was a bona fide collector and not some nut who wanted to cut throats. I became friends with a few of them and before long my interest extended to their hones. Aside from the barber hones we all are familiar with all of them used coticules with hot lather from their Lather King machines as a vehicle.

I did not learn to hone with the few coticules I bought from those guys, @ $20.00 per copy, because having been shown to use no more than 5 x strokes, weight of the blade, "or you'll lose the edge", I didn't push the envelope further at the time. Fast forward to 2007 when I began learning to hone through SRP. All of the hones those guys had were the 5x2-1/2 with "Made In Belgium" stamped on the side. If they had others I didn't see them, and I assume that must have been the default size sold by the suppliers of said hones.

Back in those days I was told, the barber suppliers had panel trucks go round to the barber shops with all the kit they might need, from strops, razors, coticules, to hair tonic, scissors and what have you. Anyway, after years of honing on many coticules I've come to the conclusion that those fellows wanted a hone that would provide a smooth and 'safe' edge. Not as 'crisp' as what a 12k naniwa superstone, or a 20k Suehiro will provide.

Shaving another man's face, one after another, they wanted an edge that would get the job done with the least risk of leaving a nick. IMHO that is why those particular guys used the coticule, and that is why we find them to be as they are, compared to the aforementioned stones.

Coticules are, to me, a hit or miss stone. But they are expensive for what they are when they are of some size and quality.

Someone gave me a deep rock coticule a while ago, unused, for helping them sell off their frictionite collection, and I got another higher dollar coticule from a member on here, disburden. Those are the two that I have that are good. The rest I've gotten rid of.

The deep rock is the size Jimmy mentioned and on the sticker, it says "for the select barber trade". No surprise there, I have no idea what else it would be useful for. My deep rock is actuallly a fairly aggressive stone, and the other one that I bought here is very fine used properly, and can make a bright polish that is keen. They make a fantastic combination.

I keep the deep rock stone because it was a gift, and the other stone because from my experience, I'm afraid it would cost me a lot of money to find another one as fine. I've got no love for the new stones, they make me want to find my japanese stones.

Jimmy is probably right that the best way to use any of the more coarse versions is a few strokes at a time so that they are working the bevel and keeping the edge thin, but not getting all the way to the edge. Generally, that's a good policy with any stone that can't create a good edge due to being a little too coarse.

They are beautiful looking stones, though, I think that's a large part of the draw to them.

What I'm getting at with all of my comments is that they are a stone I'd experiment with after I already had something else that I could rely on. You could have to go through several of them to get one you like, and keep in mind that coticules are like other natural stones, there have been some mined that are not intended for razors, or that are not appropriate.