Thread: Coticule finish, sans slurry

Maetro Livi has a video in which he finishes with a coticule under running water.

This is really making me want to snoop around antique stores to find a coticule to play with. I typically use a stroke I borrowed from Gary Haywood:



I'm a bit more mechanical with it though. If I'm really trying to work through material, like bevel setting I'll do sets of 20 and check every 2-3 sets. Otherwise I'll typically do a 20/10/5/3/2 back and forth stroke pattern on each side, then follow up with 10-20 X strokes to cover any burrs that may have arose due to the edge trailing strokes. Then I'll check and see where I'm at. If I like where it is, I'll dilute the slurry. If not I'll run the pattern again. Typically I dilute by spraying a line of water down the center of the hone and possibly scooping some material off with a razor stroke. It's not as much a gradual dilution as it is dilution by stages: thick/milky - medium/almost milky - thin/can see stone through slurry - almost pure water but still some slurry visible.

I don't know how well this will work with a coticule, but it works very well on a translucent Arkansas with coticule slurry.

There is a really simple reason why this works...for some stones.

Honing under running water is a way to compensate for a friable stone which may realease larger particles that can be rinsed away by a water flow.
IOW you can finish a razor on a not very hard stone by honing under a tap. it will not make one iota of difference on an adequately hard & fine finisher.

A razor sticking to a stone means you have a polished bevel sticking to a flat stone, not necessarily a set bevel.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

A razor sticking to a stone means you have a polished bevel sticking to a flat stone, not necessarily a set bevel.

Agreed. But that sticky feeling is a good sign that the stone has polished the edge as much as it can. Makes it a good indicator when to stop and check with a loupe or hair test or something of that nature.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Agreed. But that sticky feeling is a good sign that the stone has polished the edge as much as it can. Makes it a good indicator when to stop and check with a loupe or hair test or something of that nature.

Possibly so or it could mean you've already honed past a good edge. It's not an absolute indicator to rely on.

Interesting...I'll have to keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by Dramadon3151

After a long and tedious chase to locate and purchase a coticule that I feel can finish a razor as well as any high end jnat, I finally found the one.
I used the stone with great delight, and produced edges that are supremely smooth, compared to the synthetic edges I am so used to. You can imagine my Cheshire lIke grin, as I shaved a full 3 passes with ultimate comfort.
After a while, I decided to look at the tube to see if there are any methods of finishing with a coti that would increase the keenness and still hold onto the smooth buttery feeling that we all love so much.
What I found was a method from a tuber named drmatt357. A finishing technique that uses no slurry, only honing under running water.
I went to the sink, and began the course. After only a couple of minutes I started to get a very sticky, squeegy like feeling on the stone. This, drmatt357 said, is what I'm looking for. Once I achieved this feeling on the hone, I did just a few more passes with little to no pressure at all, and went to the strop to align and clean it all up.
What I saw under the scope was nothing short of amazing. A bevel that is so highly reflective that if appears to be black, with little to no scratch pattern to speak of, and a dead even and fine straight cutting edge.

Now to the shave den....3 passes later, I have the smoothest and most irritation free bbs shave I've ever achieved from my own honing job. It's seriously amazing! I highly recommend that anyone who uses a coti to finish, check out drmatt357 on the tube, and try this slurry free method of finish. You won't be disappointed in the least!

To each there own, but the method you are advocating suggests that a coticule should be used as a finisher only. To me, finishing a razor on a coticule after a progression of synthetics is like reheating a pre-cooked tv dinner.

Unless there are chips on the edge, I like setting the bevel on the coticule with a thick slurry followed by dilution to plain water.

Slurry can be your friend.

Originally Posted by Badgister

To each there own, but the method you are advocating suggests that a coticule should be used as a finisher only. To me, finishing a razor on a coticule after a progression of synthetics is like reheating a pre-cooked tv dinner.

Unless there are chips on the edge, I like setting the bevel on the coticule with a thick slurry followed by dilution to plain water.

Slurry can be your friend.

Slurry can also restrict keenness. It's a double edges sword. the sharpest edges I can achieve have been made with a slurry free techniques.

Sure, which is why ultimately the finishing is done with water only. Slurry when used skilfully is what makes one stone honing possible.

Originally Posted by Badgister

Slurry when used skilfully is what makes one stone honing possible on stones that actually cut steel.

For the ymmv crowd. I've tried a coticule that produced zero swarf on a thick slurry in a reasonable time. I'd say it was the gentlest slowest stone I've ever seen. Definitely not a one stone honer.