Thread: 12000grit and coticule for touching up my daily use goto razor

Will starting with 12000 and finishing on the coticule be enough to maintain my razor. How do I know I need to make a new bevel? I always tape when I hone.

It depends, on which “12K” you have and the condition of your razor.

If you are using a 12K Super Stone that would be fine, using a Coticule may dull a 12K edge.

Coticules come in a variety of grit ranges, as they are natural stones and because of the slurry can be one of the most difficult stones to learn.

Best to start here and read the wiki on “What Hones, pastes and sprays do I need?”

When your razor begins to flag, look at the edge with magnification, inspecting for damage. Chances are, if you are new to Straight Shaving, the edge has been damaged, usually by improper stropping.

Then, do what the edge needs, usually just a touch up, on a pasted strop or a fine finishing stone, like a 12K super stone. If you jump in and start honing without knowing the condition of the edge you may be compounding a problem that will then require a complete bevel set.

If you have a Chinese stone, it may or may not be 12K or anywhere near.

Find a local mentor in your area for some hands on coaching to speed up your learning curve.

i bought a nani 12k to use as a finisher !! then got into the coticules , i had all my razors upto the 12k , once i figured out the coticule i found the 12k edge to feel to "sharp" and crisp , i now just stop with the coticule ... but if i was to use both the 12k i would use after the coticule

As has been said Coticules can vary in quality quite a bit. I think in general they tend to be in the 8-10K range. For some time my Coticule was my finisher and it does a very good job. Once I got the naniwa 12K and then the Gomyuko 20K it was pretty much put into semi retirement.

Originally Posted by Chet

Will starting with 12000 and finishing on the coticule be enough to maintain my razor. How do I know I need to make a new bevel? I always tape when I hone.

I use this method from time to time. Nani 12k followed by 20 laps on my lv with lather. The coti really dials in the smoothness. I cant vouch for others naturals. You can dull an edge with a coticule, this is a sort of pyramid so may pay to try 10 strokes at a time between shaves. You can always do a few 12k strokes if you go to far.

Joe

Joe

Originally Posted by Chet

Will starting with 12000 and finishing on the coticule be enough to maintain my razor. How do I know I need to make a new bevel? I always tape when I hone.

so you will start on 12k and finish on 6-8k?

Either one should be enough really.
Provided that you have the skills to get the most out of either..
That said, your Coticule might not be your cup of tea regardless of skill.
Some of them are wonderful finishers, but not all of them.

Give all four options a whirl and see what you think.
Each of them on their own without the other, one following the other and vice versa.

Yea, that’s what’s crazy about some naturals. Like the ark in another running thread.

While the Coticule and the Ark may have conventionally low grit ratings… in skilled hands they are capable of a much more refined edge than the rating of the stone.

In the case of the Coticule it is about the slurry and the stones ability to release slurry that both make it difficult to use and give it the ability to produce a fine edge (too much slurry is self-defeating). Coticules are not splash and go stones, generally. There is a ton of information written on the Coticule, read as much as you can, if you want to lean the stone.

As Birnardo said try it, document what you did, make slurry, how you produced it, how many laps and with what, thin, count the drops. If it works for you try to re-produce it.

It is… how we all learned.

Some cotis slurry dull, some don't? There's a ton of ways to use them. Learn YOUR stone, romance the stone. Its a zen thing.
I can put an exceptional edge on a razor with most of my coticules most of the time. When I get it bang on exceptional becomes stunning, they are amongst the best edges out there. I have some razors that will always hone well real easily and others are real SOB's even on synthetics. This is why I don't engage in that debate. It's a blade/steel/hone thing and knowing how to get the mix right, but most of all it's about the honer. To me honing is an art, I will concede that most anybody can do a good job with the newer synthetics which is pretty fool proof, but I want me some fun.

Not sure if it's the best idea, but this is what I'm thinking of doing to my razors.

I'm going to box them up and send them to be honed. One time I will ask to finish on a 12k and in a couple months later refinished on a coticule.

This way I get a bevel correctly set and I see which edge I like best without having to buy two stones.