Thread: Hone of the Day

Much like hard American steel, stainless likes the uniformity and fast-cutting of synthetics.

FME coticule and Escher have been a waste of time with them. JMO.

Maybe not the best pair but they sure do look good together.

Thanks for confirming what I have come to believe.

Back to what works best.

The infamous stainless Friodur with Coticule progression. This combination is now proven to give my best results with this razor. The La Veille Rouge de Regne (LVRR) is slightly convex and extremely fast for a coti. The edges it gives are keen and aggressive. My trusty little La Vieneitte is a proven performer. Kind of like a comfy old couch. It's smooth predictable edges are the result of a light, misty slurry that tames the aggressiveness of the LVRR and leaves that Friodur purring.

Great shave last night!

There you go! A fast-cutting hone!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Much like hard American steel, stainless likes the uniformity and fast-cutting of synthetics.

FME coticule and Escher have been a waste of time with them. JMO.

Making a mental note of your conclusion, Tom, since I had thought of running some stainless across the Jnats. Maybe I will have justification for keeping the SG20k after all.

Well, TBH, My only Coticule is an old rock. Works well on old Sheffields.
Naturals! You never know unless you try?

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Much like hard American steel, stainless likes the uniformity and fast-cutting of synthetics.

FME coticule and Escher have been a waste of time with them. JMO.

I pretty much agree with you Tom. Having restored and honed more than a few Americans these past couple of years, I find the consistency of using a progression of synthetic hones on these blades to be what works the best for me. Fast and predictable. The one caveat is that I have an extremely aggressive and fast cutting Coti that I almost always use to quickly set a bevel and then the blade goes to the synthetics.

Of course...on the Sheffield's I always finish with a Coti/ Escher combo. Works a treat on the softer steel!

I've been slowly experimenting with this Dovo razor, using different natural finishing stones. It's been interesting! Today I finished it on a coticule from Ardennes. Before this I finished it on two different Thuringians (a Celebrated Razor Hone and a Genuine Water Hone), and after this I have two other coticules and an Arkansas stone to try out.

Oh Joel! YOU are a glutton for punishment!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Oh Joel! YOU are a glutton for punishment!

Ha! Possibly.

I'm actually trying to just get to know my stones better, and in a somewhat systematic way (taking notes, of course). I now am able to get consistently keen and comfortable edges with a synthetic progression, so the natural stones are the next step I guess.

I kind of accumulated all these stones within a pretty short period of time, so I don't know any of them well yet (one of the coticules is a loaner from a friend). I figured I'd start with an "overview" of them all, which will hopefully give me an idea of which ones I enjoy working with or not (I already know I very much enjoy the Celebrated Razor Hone). After that I'll get more in depth with each stone.

I find it very fun and therapeutic! Just like the rest of this crazy hobby.