Thread: Coticule methods not applicable to soft stones?

Did you try the Thumb Nail test on your Coti ????

I have owned coticule stones ranging from king 8k soft to black or translucent Arkansas hard. They really can be anywhere in between..

It sounds like you do have a softer one. I would suggest finishing under the tap.

Try not raising a slurry and using varying pressure to hone your blade. It will slurry itself. Just keep it wet.




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Nuggetz, there will be a meet-up on the weekend of October 29th only an hour away from you. You would be welcome to come and bring along your coticule!

If you do choose to come, and if you would be interested, please let me know and I could bring any number of coticules that you might wish to sample and compare to your own.

The info for the meet-up is HERE.

Some thoughts, based on my experience:

Just because a stone increases keenness on water only (i.e. shows signs of steel abrasion) doesn't necessarily mean it autoslurries. After having handled over a dozen of hones, I've only come across one that autoslurries a bit (with the kind of pressure used while honing razors), which I knew when I bought it.

If your edge gets less keen going from watery slurry to water only, that may be a sign of autoslurrying.

Hardness/softness of a coticule does not seem to be a reliable indicator of fineness or speed.

With enough pressure, pretty much any hone will auto-slurry (except maybe really hard novaculites).

Best regards,

Pieter

My definition of auto-slurrying was different than yours. Mine was to do fifty strokes on a coticule with light pressure and then to examine the honing water under low magnification. If the water had hone particles in it, then the hone was deemed to be auto-slurrying. If the water remained clear, then it was not auto-slurrying.

This was an arbitrarily designed test that I did several years ago but I suppose it is more objective than evaluating the resulting edge off of the hone.