Thread: Experience with Naniwa + Coticule

I took up a couple of razors that I knew I had a bevel set on that were laying in boxes for maybe a year now. Because I had trouble on it in the past.

Simply put, I did a very simple progressions of Naniwa 8K -> Naniwa 12K -> Coticule under running water only until things feel "sticky"

It works like a charm and has consistently put the same edge on 6 different razors. It's not complicated and it didn't take long either.

It's not a new idea but it does a mighty fine job. Enough work on the 8k and 12k helped a lot, 12k might've been overkill before a Coticule, but made me reach that sticky feeling on my Coticule very soon.

It's not super sticky as other users have experienced where you can't drag the razor over the stone anymore, but a slight drag that you can clearly notice.
I'm using a vintage Coticule à la La Grise / Nouvelle veine. I do need to get that exact feeling / feedback from my stone / razor, but it's a guarantee for me for a good edge nowadays.


PS a quarter hollow vintage Henckels has blown me out of the water with its' buttery smooth edge, easiest shave I've ever had
An old Bartmann Manganese steel I inherited that gave me some trouble in the past honed up really sweet this way too.

Full hollows are nice, near wedges too, but I really love that quarter hollow feel
I have a couple of quarter hollow Grelots that need some love, I bet they'll hone up really well too.

I dont have any luck with a coti and only know what i read but, it seems that going from 12k to Coti might be calming the edge a bit. Lessening the keenness. But still, a little less than 12k is not a bad thing. Thanks for sharing. I might give it a try.

Tristan, I have a newly mined La Grise (4 years is newly...). It has a 'woody' feedback on water to match the stone's color. Not icy like my La Dressant, and nothing like my Cretan or Vermio (almost none). Does yours have any feedback? I'm not disappointed with the edge it gives, but since I've only honed with these two coticules, I thought I could/should ask if mine is much different from a vintage version. Thanks.

I also have a La Grise from a few years ago, the feedback is different though, it's definitely not the same mine / layer.

My vintage Coticule is more like honing on glass, zero feel and very very smooth and is smoother than my La Grise which has a little more 'feedback' although not much; both have a grainy looking Coticule surface

I'll soon re-finish one of the razors on my La Grise under running water and make a comparison

Out of all my modernly mined Coticules my La Grise is the smoothest of them all; but it's not as smooth as my vintage one.

Although many of my other vintage ones are not as smooth as my La Grise.

Given that my vintage one has been heavily used by myself, it is "glazed", that might help giving that tad bit of fineness, works like a charm though.

The Coticule from my great-grandfather that I inherited was glazed as well and SUPER smooth (I think it was also used with oil though), foolishly I lapped it and is a bit less smooth now
Not sure if that affects the results much, but it feels a but nicer for me to hone on a glass like surface


My La Grise has a Yellow Coticule layer - an orange layer - a BBW / blue / purple layer.

My vintage one has a yellow coticule layer with dark lines in it on the sides - and a regular blue / purple woodsy layer

Originally Posted by Gasman

I dont have any luck with a coti and only know what i read but, it seems that going from 12k to Coti might be calming the edge a bit. Lessening the keenness. But still, a little less than 12k is not a bad thing. Thanks for sharing. I might give it a try.

I first tried shaving off of the 12k, while a perfectly mighty fine edge, I knew I could improve on it as per personal preference by going to a Coticule.

I didn't loose any keenness though, I can't even tell that I'm shaving whiskers off my face with the Coticule edge. But it's smoother and more forgiving. I can do stupid things while shaving and get away with it coming off the Coticule.

While the synthetics give me little cuts on small imperfections on the skin, I don't get them with a Coticule.

I used to have a love / hate relationship with the Coticules, but synthetics -> Coti has been very good for me and foolproof so far

I often hone up to the 8 k naniwas shave if the 8 k for a while then add 30 to 100 strokes on my coticules with water only and it really does the trick I have done the same after 10 k naniwas I think if your edge is set the coticule takes the bite out of the edge and as you say no way of getting the odd blood spot

After finishing the same razor on a modern La Grise, I can't tell much difference.

The La Grise on plain water feels a bit different, I get more feedback from it, but still feels very smooth. My La Grise also feels a bit "rougher" / more texturized when rubbing over it with your fingertips compared to my vintage Coti.

It's much harder to get to the sticky feeling part and I only get a faint sensation of it on the La Grise.

But it leaves a fantastic shaving edge that is very capable whilst being very smooth and skin-friendly. It took a whole lot longer to finish on the La Grise.

I'd be extremely hard pressed to choose one over the other, but I might give a modernly mined La Grise the sliiight edge. Fantastics finishing stones.

The la grise can be very slow with water that’s what I have found .

Originally Posted by gary haywood

the coticule takes the bite out of the edge and as you say no way of getting the odd blood spot

It's a great stone, it's odd how well a Coticule edge done right works, it's the most skin friendly edge I have tried.
I really have come to like it more and more over the years.



I inherited my great-grandfather's Coticule, (along with his and HIS father's razor + strop, lucky me, I treasure them) and it seemed to have been heavily used with oil.
The texture of he Coticule was glazed over with oil, it was super smooth and amazingly fine, water would just bead off the stone.
The stone was also very dark and had been used heavily. I bet the Oil + steel particles made it a very fine hone.

The idiot I was, I lapped it, which looking back I wish I hadn't. As other things I wish I hadn't done with heirloom pieces, but live and learn, at least I lived.


Anyhow, next up I'm gonna try finishing the same razor on heavy oil.

I have tried Ballistol in the past, but it washes off too easily when compared to the state of my GGF's Coticule and seemed too thin in comparison, so I'm looking at using a heavier oil.

I've read about neatsfoot oils being used in the "olden days", so that's probably gonna be my choice of oil. It's thick enough, but also very slick.

I have some "rougher" Coticules that I'm gonna put a layer of neatsfoot oil on the surface and let that soak in for a bit as well, but that's another experiment.

My modern La Grise is smooth to the touch, even fingernail, but has some 'tooth' when honing. I get a similar scratch pattern with both of my coticules. And a nice friendly edge, provided the edge is set properly. When I choose to kill an edge and restart, the dilucot is hit or miss for me. I'm too stubborn to use synthetics and not yet ready to splurge on an Escher; an unfortunate Limbo to be in...