Thread: Coticule driving me to drink!

Ok, if we're being honest it's not the coticule. I'd be drinking even if it worked without a hitch. But this thing certainly is giving me the run around:





Cotilcule is standard grade, 175 x 50 mm. So I picked out a Torrey straight as the test razor, honed it up on the Norton 4k/8k. Might not have been the best choice since it was an abused ebay find thats already worn down to 4/8, maybe less. First run on plain water, then shave lather, and the shave was a failure. But in the coticule's defense I was in such a rush to test the new hone that I missed some burrs on the edge.

No big deal, wore the burrs away on a Soft Arkie and reset the bevel on the coticule with slurry. That's half the fun of these hones right? Right! Bevel set rather nicely, diluted my way to pure water. Washed the hone and did some finishing strokes on just water, then shave lather. Shave test was a failure, tugging/pulling. Not comfortable.

Set it aside a few days, picked it up again last night. Close examination under 30x and 60x. No burrs, chips, anything else suspicious. Can't see where the planes meet when looking straight down at the edge. So that puppy should be set.

Slurried up the stone (I've been using the rubbing stone that came with it, similar piece of coticule) and went at it like setting the bevel again anyway. Just in case it wasn't set. Same process, same negative shave test.

Tonight I plan to hone the Torrey on my Norton set. If it still can't shave then the razor is the issue. If it can, then hopefully the razor and coticule just don't like each other. I've got another razor in better condition that I'll hone on the Norton 4/8 as well. Once I get it shaving off the Norton 8k, I'm going to try the coticule with it.

If the coticule wrecks that shaving edge I'm not sure where to go from there. I already lapped it flat with a worn diamond plate, then sanded the scratches out to about 1k. Aside from that the only thing the surface of that hone has seen is water, the coticule rubbing stone, a razor blade, and some shave lather. I could try burnishing it, but this stone releases slurry pretty easily so I don't have high hopes for success there.

With a milky slurry it takes 20 laps to change the slurry to a gray color. With just water I haven't really been able to see much in the way of slurry/swarf form. It does seem to cut fairly fast by my standards, but I'm used to extra slow naturals like the PHIG and Arkanstones. Under a loupe the polish looks less than 8k level, but maybe I'm just not spending enough time at that final stage? Could be over-estimating the speed of a coticule and assuming I'm done too early...?

Don't be surprised if it takes a lot of finishing strokes on plain water. I won't even start to test a coticule edge unless it's had a minimum of 60 laps on water - and that's for my faster stones. I have *never* been able to overhone a razor on a coticule with plain water.

But What A Lovely Lookin Stone,,,,,,,,,, Sounds Like You Gave It Your All ,,,,, Yep Cotis Can Be Very Frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Ty

I figured it would be high-ish, since it's still a natural. I'd say the last round I did a good 70 on water, followed by a similar number on shave lather. I only use about 30 more on the PHIG when I move to the water & lather phases...well, different hone, different strategy. It might need more strokes, but the first step is to set up a blade that shaves well to test with.

Just curious, was the PHIG not working well enough for you? Or was this (coticule) just for variety?

Variety/curiosity. Wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And things lined up rather well, I think Ardennes was having a seasonal sale, I got my bonus check, so I figured 'why not?' I think this was about what a Norton 4/8 combo runs before international shipping.

Very good advice given so far but I'm hesitant setting the bevel with a Coticule, I never had much luck doing that with mine. A 1k stone is ideal for setting bevels but the Norton 4k is also a very good choice, just may take some extra strokes. May I suggest checking out the following web sites:

www.coticule.be and checking out their honing videos as they do have one about setting bevels (I believe the Unicot Method) with a Coticule.
Glen's (gssixgun) honing videos at gssixgun videos | Watch gssixgun videos | gssixgun online videos | Download gssixgun videos | gssixgun live videos
Lynn's video at http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...-coticule.html

Hope this helps.

marshal, i am not a coticule expert and i really don't mean to discourage you, but: i have about 15 coticules, old an new, natural combos and glued ones, some from specific veins, some from abandoned mines. some of them ruin a decent edge before the blade touches the stone, with or without slurry. some of them produce mediocre edges. and only two or three may be called finishers, at least in my book.

and no, i don't take the "all coticules are great, you just have to use them the right way" as gospel. i love these stones for their variety, each one is a surprise packet. but i think coticules are like most other natural stones, there are good ones and bad ones. of course i might be wrong. however, there hasn't been an edge finished on a not so brilliant coticule that i wasn't able to improve significantly on a nice japanese stone.

regards,
hans

I've repeated this so many times that I'm going to abbreviate it ......... A La Veinette from Ardennes, an 8x2. That vein has the reputation of being fast. Plain water, a TI super gnome 5/8. Checking every 30 round trips, took 180 round trips to get an already shave ready razor to the level of sharpness I wanted. Whether that says more about the hone, or the honer, I leave to the reader.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I've repeated this so many times that I'm going to abbreviate it ......... A La Veinette from Ardennes, an 8x2. That vein has the reputation of being fast. Plain water, a TI super gnome 5/8. Checking every 30 round trips, took 180 round trips to get an already shave ready razor to the level of sharpness I wanted. Whether that says more about the hone, or the honer, I leave to the reader.

bad honer, good stone: bad edge
good honer, bad stone: average edge
good honer, good stone: good edge <--- JimmyHAD

hans