Thread: Coticule chronicles

I am not Josh, but IMO, if a razor is only dull in the sense that it doesn't shave optimal, then the coticule is what I use.

I'm with Bruno, who helped me figure this coticule thing out.

The coticule alone is great for quick touchups. I might try sets of 10 laps, and I'd probably end up doing 30 to 50 total.

Josh

Question for all:

I've got a little W&B 1/4 wedge where the bevel does not extend completely to the heel. As for my set up I have a DMT 325, Belgian blue/Carborundum combo, and Belgian Yellow coticule (w/cotigura). To extend the bevel and get this razor going how should I start?

Thanks in advance.

I would 1st check if the heel end of the cutting edge really gets into contact with the hone. If not you either want to regrind the edge and create a bevel along the whole length or if you don't want to do that use a narrow hone, say 1-1.5" width and see if that one manages to get you a bevel at the heel end. Of course you will have to start on a coarse hone and work your way up to a polishing hone.

OTOH, you can ask yourself if you really need the very heel to be sharp. Check while shaving with another razor whether you actually use its heel at all. I find I mostly use only the middle and toe end of the blade.

Good luck!

Kees,

Thanks for the advice. I went and checked (did the magic marker test) and the heel was not in contact with the hone. So, I tried the rolling X patters with a scything motion to make sure the heel made contact. The bevel didn't get all the way to the end but most of the way after a number of laps on the Carborundum.

I then did a number of laps on my Belgian Blue w/slurry, Yellow w/slurry, and Yellow with water, stropped and shaved with it this morning. Didn't use the heel all that much except going xtg on my chin. Shaved pretty well, and for my first real honing experience I am satisfied with the result. Still needs some work on the Yellow.

Thanks again.

OK, in keeping with the original intent of this thread, I'm trying another experiment tomorrow. (Not that I mind the hijacks at all--it was good discussion.) I thought I'd post now so I don't chicken out...

Someone recently said that the Belgian blue is roughly equivalent to the Norton 8K, and that guys on the German razor sites use it as a finishing hone.

Tonight I honed up a nice 5/8 W&B (which may make an appearance soon in the BST forum ) and spent a lot of time polishing the edge on the Belgian blue. I did more strokes with the slurry than I normally would , just to be sure I got rid of the coarser scratches. Then I let the slurry thin until I was honing on the stone with just water.

The razor passes the HHT, as they usually do for me at this stage. I stropped it up, and it's waiting for me to try it out in the morning. I'll report on the carnage tomorrow.

Josh

Josh,
I heard similar information and recently performed a similar experiment. The theory is that the edges produced from the courser stones (like a belgian blue, or Tam) will be stronger with less flex because of the deaper scratch patterns; however, they will also be a little less sharp. In my experiement I performed about 150 passes on the blue with slurry then went to the Tam for 75 passes with slurry and 25 without. I compared this razor to one that had been finished on the Norton 8K, then Coticule, then an Escher. Both passed the HHT very well and both shaved very well on the WTG pass. My shave test is really on the ATG pass though, and I can say that at least on this test I definately preffered the sharper edge produced with the coticule and escher. The razor that was finished on the Tam really did not provide a close enough shave going ATG. Obviously I still have a lot more experimenting to do before coming to a solid conclusion as to what I preffer, but these were the results of my first test. I also want to test an edge from the Norton 4K then the blue, and a Norton 4K then Tam finished edge; however, I am pretty sure that my tough beard likes the sharper edges produced from the finer stones. Looking forward to hearing your conclusions.

Thanks for sharing your experiment, heavyduty. I actually looked at this experiment from a different angle, and I'll get to that in a minute...

But first, I have to say this is one of the best shaves I've ever gotten. I was expecting to do my left sideburn and then finish with another razor. But after the left side of my face went surprisingly well, I decided to keep going. The first pass on my cheeks was really, really good--I got about as close as my first pass ever gets.

The real test, as always, is my chin. I always skip the WTG pass and go right to XTG, because it seems to cause less irritation for me. The razor handled my chin hair very well, although in a different way than the hyper-sharp razors I've been using. (I was able to do more passes from different angles without getting razor burn. It also took more strokes to get it clean.)

Even the ATG pass was nice. The sharper razors can sometimes catch and "bite" me, either nicking me or leaving an itchy welt like a mosquito bite. This razor did neither.

I have to say I'm pretty surprised by all this. I have never been able to get a comfortable shave off of the Norton 8K. It shaves but leaves a lot of irritation behind.

My thought in trying this was that I really seem to prefer a smoother edge than the Norton creates. If you compare the bevel left by the Belgian blue to one from a pyramid on the Norton, the blue edge looks smoother and the scratch pattern more uniform. Slurry stones in general seem to leave a smoother edge.

I don't think the blue edge is really comperable to a Norton edge; it's just different. I think the teeth are less harsh because the grooves are shallower. If I had to pick a grit, I'd say that the usual 6K approximation was a little low. It might be more like an 8K.

I'm planning to continue using this razor for at least a week to see how it holds up and whether today's shave was representative. Some variables that might have made today's shave better include a little extra growth (shaving on 30 hours' growth) and the razor itself, which is a nice little W&B.

It would be cool if the Belgian blue could function as a finishing hone for some guys, since it's less expensive than the coticule. (Howard just got in some Belgian blue/carborundum combo stones that might make great beginner hones. He's sending me one to evaluate and review. )

I'd love to have a few other guys try this out and report their experiences. Heavyduty, how do you think the Tam compares to the Belgian blue?

Basically, all I did was cut the bevel on my DMT 1200 and then polish it on the blue hone. (This blade had a 1/16" deep frown, so I removed that first, then reestablished the bevel with the DMT.) I did a lot of laps on the blue to make sure I got rid of the harsh scratches from the 1200--probably 100 to 150 with a thick slurry. Then I did maybe 50 laps with not slurry. Maybe overkill, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't raking my face with those deep scratches... I also did more stropping than usual, and I applied some pressure in the process.

This raises an interesting question for me: Why did I get such a nice shave from this razor and such a poor shave from the coticule with slurry? I think I have more experimenting to do.

Just a few thoughts,
Josh

I finish my razors allways after blue with a coticule and a pasted strop.
My intention was to compare Belgian blue to norton 8000 because I believe that blue is not a slow 4000, but a normal-fast 8000.
I dont like shaving direct after 8000 or Belgian blue.
The best comparition is to shave direct after blue and direct after norton 8000.
So i wait for your impression !

oh my post must be after heavydutysg135!!!