Thread: Adventures with a new hone

Every Coticule is different and unlocking it's secrets can be hard. i use mine the same as you do as a finisher only and can get a very superior edge out of mine

Originally Posted by rodb

Every Coticule is different and unlocking it's secrets can be hard. i use mine the same as you do as a finisher only and can get a very superior edge out of mine

I'll second that. Mine was a bear to figure out. I'm still not entirely sure I've got it pinned down, it's always a work in progress but I've also determined mine is best used to simply finish an edge. Not nearly as Keen as any of my synthetics/barber hones that could be used as finishers. But it gives a damn fine shave. Close and quite comfortable. When I get it right I can easily see why some would favor a coticule edge.

You guys are killing me here. Im not at home long enough to figure mine out. Maybe in a month or two.

Originally Posted by Straightandproud

Well I have been enlightened.

After several days of scraping my poor old Genco across this pretty little yellow rock I have finally achieved a fantastic edge.

Decided to ditch the Unicot /Dulicot technique and use my Coti as a finishing hone. Killed the edge and re-set the bevel on Norton 1K. Refined on 4K / 8K and popping hairs as usual. Then, laps on linen and leather and on to the Coti. No slurry stone was used and the stone was rinsed free of slurry every few minutes. Then, an interesting thing happened about 15 minutes into my coti session. I started to experience a hydraulic type suction between the razor and stone. The coti was then picked up and held under running water as I honed. The slight suction turned into a heavier suction and the pressure was decreased. After a few minutes the razor began to skip across the stone and it became difficult to keep the razor on the stone with light pressure. The clouds parted and a ray of sunshine came upon me as I realized that I had finally "maxed out" my coti.

Linen to leather and copious amounts of Tabac lather yielded one of the best shaves I have experienced to date. Plenty keen with a smoothness that I have never experienced. I am a believer!

This beautiful little La Veigniette has found an honorable place in my hone drawer. Attachment 274535

Congratulations.
You did several things right after your first post.


Best thing you did is use that coticule as God allmighty intended it to be used...as a finishing stone.

Not all coticules have work well on slurry.
The garnets/spessartite cristals in some coticules are not perfect dodecaedrums....they are irregular shaped...especialy in softer stones that autoslurry...they were formed in lower pressure and the cuartz was not under enough pressure to form regular shaped garnets.

So these tipes of coticules usualy experience slurry dulling....
Especialy if used with circle motions.
Under magnification you ca see that the scratch pattern is not uniform and deep scratches alternate wit a uniform background of lighter scratches.
Also scratches paralel to the edge are present....
These irregular garnets roll between the bevel and hone affecting the apex of the edge....whatever you do on this kind of slurry you will not be able to form a sharp edge although the slurri cuts fast.
So that's slurry dulling explained.

Coticules that exibit slurry dulling should only be used with x passes and slurry avoided.
Best results are obtained in 75 -150 passes under running water or with honing oil....light pressure x passes.

Some coticules are blessed with garnets that are dodecaedrical in shape... and of similar size....
These are the gems that work any way you use them...circles...dilucot...elipticot...x passes...plain water...
Usualy these coticules are hard...they dont autoslurry in normal conditions.


The second best thing you did is finish under runnig water...
A soft coticule will release those garnets ... those garnets are gonna hurt the edge.

If you wash those away...the only thing that has contact with the bevel ar the partialy exposed garnets in the stone's calcite binder.
so o matter what shape they have...only a part of them is exposed and they doo theyr job like sandpaper or a diamond plate.

The stone let's you know when it's done if you do it right....once you get the sticky feeling on the coti you normaly should realy ease up on the presure and give it just a few more minimum presure light gentle strokes under running water...

That should get you an easy HHT 3-4 off the stone.

Oh and if you ever want to microbevel a coti edge....Never use slurry....it ruins all your work.

Glad you got to max it out so fast, few people master coticules ... let alone that fast. You should be proud!
Congratulations!

Originally Posted by Gasman

You guys are killing me here. Im not at home long enough to figure mine out. Maybe in a month or two.

I am not yet completely competent with this hone, but what lead me to begin to understand it was the idea that I needed to stop counting laps and start feeling the razor on the hone. This particular Coti says "STOP" when it has given what it has to give.

Originally Posted by ovidiucotiga

Congratulations.
You did several things right after your first post.


Best thing you did is use that coticule as God allmighty intended it to be used...as a finishing stone.

Not all coticules have work well on slurry.
The garnets/spessartite cristals in some coticules are not perfect dodecaedrums....they are irregular shaped...especialy in softer stones that autoslurry...they were formed in lower pressure and the cuartz was not under enough pressure to form regular shaped garnets.

So these tipes of coticules usualy experience slurry dulling....
Especialy if used with circle motions.
Under magnification you ca see that the scratch pattern is not uniform and deep scratches alternate wit a uniform background of lighter scratches.
Also scratches paralel to the edge are present....
These irregular garnets roll between the bevel and hone affecting the apex of the edge....whatever you do on this kind of slurry you will not be able to form a sharp edge although the slurri cuts fast.
So that's slurry dulling explained.

Coticules that exibit slurry dulling should only be used with x passes and slurry avoided.
Best results are obtained in 75 -150 passes under running water or with honing oil....light pressure x passes.

Some coticules are blessed with garnets that are dodecaedrical in shape... and of similar size....
These are the gems that work any way you use them...circles...dilucot...elipticot...x passes...plain water...
Usualy these coticules are hard...they dont autoslurry in normal conditions.


The second best thing you did is finish under runnig water...
A soft coticule will release those garnets ... those garnets are gonna hurt the edge.

If you wash those away...the only thing that has contact with the bevel ar the partialy exposed garnets in the stone's calcite binder.
so o matter what shape they have...only a part of them is exposed and they doo theyr job like sandpaper or a diamond plate.

The stone let's you know when it's done if you do it right....once you get the sticky feeling on the coti you normaly should realy ease up on the presure and give it just a few more minimum presure light gentle strokes under running water...

That should get you an easy HHT 3-4 off the stone.

Oh and if you ever want to microbevel a coti edge....Never use slurry....it ruins all your work.

Glad you got to max it out so fast, few people master coticules ... let alone that fast. You should be proud!
Congratulations!

I just read this stuff 9n the coticule.be site. It does make sense. The issue is finding out what your coti acts like then go with it. At least this was my understanding of what i read.