Thread: My experience with the BBW

I love all the feedback this thread got and I'm also happy that others also got good results this way

I'm also still experimenting with things, and would to hear how your Coticule dry did compared to the BBW dry.

I'm gonna try the BBW with more oil next

And I was thinking coming off the BBW and only do a very low amount of strokes, only a couple on the Coti to see if things smooth out a bit or not (as was said BBW for keenness Coti for smoothness). Although my BBW has been very smooth, I'd like to experiment some more with the Coti side and BBW dry and with oil. I've tried slurry and water in the past, while it has been good, I found a new method that seems to do the trick for me.


Thanks for all the feedback and the open mind fellas!

I took care of that last night, with another test blade.
I ended up with a wire edge from the BBW, removed it with some light 90° strokes, on my sweat shirt.
Then 20-30 X Passes on the Coti (edge leading) then to leather. Sweet shave this morning. Very sweet indeed.!

And yes...a might bit smoother than the BBW, but only by a small margin. A novice would not be able to notice the difference at all. But give it a try...let us know "your" results.

I took my good ol' trustworthy little Henckels razor previously honed on the BBW and took it to the Coticule, dry. All I wanted to do was very finely finish the razor.

I did about 20 to 30 regular x-strokes as well (edge leading) with very low pressure, just enough to keep the razor flat.

I have to say that this edge was indeed better, maybe not a huge difference, but an improvement no less!
It was smoother and still plenty sharp, it felt easier on my skin, it really feels like "butter".

I again shaved without prep, I just lathered up and commenced shaving; usually when I did this coming off a Coticule, it was missing a bit of keenness,
this time it shaved effortlessly as it did coming off the BBW, no pull whatsoever.
(Coming from someone with heavy whiskers, really tough whiskers shouldn't be a problem for a well honed blade as opposed to my previous honing experiences/troubles)

While shaving my usual self using scything motions, I made a slight mishap and cut myself .
I noticed it in my hand holding the razor that I did, but my skin didn't feel it cutting, of course the blood made it easy to tell.

I never really had this succes before from the Coticule side, I think that honing on the BBW did provide an apt keenness that I was missing before.
(Or at leas that my honing skill, experience / method couldn't reach before)
I also don't think the previous stone's influence is completely gone when you're using another one following it.
(Or at least not with a certain amount of strokes, of course this is one thing people using synthetics also advocate and see under a microscope, that it takes a while to completely remove all scratch patterns from previous hones)

I will hone the same razor on the Coticule side for about 100 laps or so next to see what that does
(I will also try to compare an edge leading vs edge trailing stroke),
but I have a slight feeling that it wil behave quite similar and likely be smoother. (I want to see if it remains as keen)

Coming off the BBW it was very sharp and shaving really well, I noticed that it was a little less easy on the skin if I compare it now to the Coticule's edge.
As previously said, I don't think a beginner will ever notice the difference either, but with a little experience and trying different hones, I could tell as well.

That said, this is the first time I got this great a result from my specific Coticule.

I'm very happy with the results and that I found a way to get to where I wanted to get.


TL;DR:
My experience so far: BBW dry was very keen and quite skin friendly -> Coticule dry following the BBW, just as keen and a tad smoother / more skin friendly. A++ shave.



PS: I forgot to mention that my Coticule is not freshly lapped and a little glazed

(With this experience I only mimicked what someone else has known and told me about a decade ago or so, haha, so Oops! Although I had tried this before, it never really worked then, maybe my honing and shaving skills have come a long way and those play a big factor as well)

I finished the razor on the Coticule side dry (allegedly a La Veinette), for about 100 extra laps or so, regular edge leading strokes.

That razor shaved easily and felt very skin friendly, although it also felt a little crispier and felt like it was less keen; hard to describe the feeling

Coming off the BBW it shaved "easier" but the Coticule made it more skin friendly, I basically could do anything without risking to cut myself; something in between seems to be a perfect match for me (minimizing my laps on the Coticule to smooth it out a bit, but not to much to lose the top shelf keenness)

I have Coticules that feel smoother than the one I honed on and will try another Coticule next to see if there's a noticeable difference in finish between different layers. (or at least to learn about what my preference is)

I'm taking it back to the BBW dry and finishing dry for 100 to 130 laps or so on another Coticule, a La Grise / Nouvelle Veine type stone.

After that I'll also try finishing on the BBW with oil and the Coticule with oil

Trying another Coticule, I don't notice that much difference, it might've been a tad smoother than the Coticule used before but the differences are very small.
(I did half-strokes and backwards circles to finish on the Coticule this time, I put more work on the Coticule this time)

The edge honed on the BBW or Coticule dry both feel quite alike, I don't discern much difference in the FEEL of the edge on either hones.

But, the properties of the edge does give me a difference.

A constant in these edges are that they are plenty sharp to shave my beard hair comfortably without any prep used and no tugging, they're both plenty sharp and both provide adequate smoothness as well.

The difference is that the BBW is keener and shaves a little easier,
while the Coticule feels a little less keen but is more forgiving.

With the Coticule finish I could use more pressure than you normally would and do more passes where still get a friendly feeling, the BBW is also skin friendly but I wouldn't get away with using too much pressure or too many passes with that edge, it's wicked sharp. The Coticule does feel a bit more "dull" while shaving compared to the BBW, while still being very sharp as well.

I'm really hard-pressed to choose my favorite out of the two.

In my limited experience as of now: for pleasure in shaving I'd like a BBW edge, for my skin's pleasure I'd take a Coticule edge.

In my country , the old barbers , aways use this trick .They use the coticules with lather , from the shaving soap or with oil - mashine oil They suear , in the coticules , as the best finishin stones , and aways use it with lather or oil .
I guess they find that , to gave best results .

I agree, this foolishness of a bbw providing a better edge than coti is crazy.

Well indeed some BBW realy smoothe the edge and gave very nice shaving feeling . I dont believe its foolishness. They are very good stones .

Originally Posted by RusenBG

In my country , the old barbers , aways use this trick .They use the coticules with lather , from the shaving soap or with oil - mashine oil They suear , in the coticules , as the best finishin stones , and aways use it with lather or oil .
I guess they find that , to gave best results .

Actually a very good idea, I've heard about this often about old barbers, definitely gonna give lather a go as well!

I highly suspect my GGF used his BBW the way you described, at first I thought it was slate when I got his Coti / BBW stone, but after lapping it unveiled a nice BBW side, ergo it was clogged with some sort of oil / lather residue

Originally Posted by ScottGoodman

I agree, this foolishness of a bbw providing a better edge than coti is crazy.

the BBW can get the edge side sharper than they coti side when used on water and soapy water. With that said, it is less forgiving and more harsh than the coticule side (which I've yet to get as sharp as the BBW side). The goal is to achieve the best of both at some middle point.