Thread: Getting higher HHT of Coticule

Dear Sharp Razor community,

To those of you who looking for a method for getting better HHT results of you coticule or just to thopse who like to try something different with you hone.
I've learned that with finishing hone in general but with coticules in particular the honing pressure is very critical to the progress of the edge.
The lighter the pressure the finer the results of the stone.

One of the methods I found being helpfull for me to control the pressure is described bellow.
I've also created a short video demonstrating it: https://youtu.be/Cg1VTa5oJbs

The coticule used is a vintage La Dressante, it's surface is lapped to have a gentle convexity from side to side which I've found being very practival for shallow stones.
Its small size of 12cm x 3cm feels just right for this finishing method, the lighter the stone the better you can control the pressure by this honing method.

OK, here is the how-to:

Hold your stone hand with palm up and bring 3 or 4 fingers together pointing up. The tips of the fingers doesn’t need to touch but to build a kind of „surface“.
Now put your Coticule centered on top of your finger tips. You will find you balancing the costly Coticule on your fingertips, so take care

If you’re feeling instabile or discomforting bring the fingertips a little away from each other to enlarge the surface contacting the Coticule.
Both ends of the Coticule are hanging in the air...

Once you feel good take your razor which need a final finish passes. If you razor does need more work than this method might be too time consuming.

Balance the razor in your razor hand and first just place it at one end of the stone without moving it.
You‘ll probably find the stone tilting. In this case lift the razor of the stone and try again. Your target is to place the Razor on the end of the stone without causing it to tilt.

I‘ve needed several attempts to achieve this stage.
Once the „first touch“ succeeded you can start performing the strokes. Very slow and gentle. In case you feel a disballance or discomfort lift the razor and try again.

Keep relaxed and concentrate on the tones feedback.
The time you'll start feeling an increase of the friction while doing the stroke along entire blade you are there.

After coticule I usualy perform 60-70 stropping strokes on linen belt and another 60-70 on a fine leather.

Happy shaving!


P.S. I'd like to post this also to a Badrger&Blade forum, but my account was banned due to I've happened to post a link to external Alex's blog which is again the TOU.
Communication to the site admin was failed.
Not sure what is going on there but seems like 0-error tollerance is applied there...

Nice stone in the video! That is my preferred coticule size. I will give your holding method a try. I'm always open to new techniques.

I find that adding a touch of soap on the coticule helps push the HHT further.

P.S. I'd like to post this also to a Badrger&Blade forum, but my account was banned due to I've happened to post a link to external Alex's blog which is again the TOU.
Communication to the site admin was failed.
Not sure what is going on there but seems like 0-error tollerance is applied there...

Hell, half the members of this forum have been banned from B&B, yours truly included. Some consider it a badge of honor. For that matter, I've probably been on thin ice here a few times. It's just shaving-people tend to forget that some times.

Nice video and thanks for sharing. Like you, I've been experimenting with my coticule lately. Pressure definitely makes a huge difference. You can do some fun things by selectively applying pressure but, at the end of it, as you say, light light pressure is how to get a great edge, at least in my experience. Have you tried honing with a dry coticule for the final edge? Certainly not everyone is supportive of it, but the best edge I've have got (off anything, let alone my coti) was from finishing dry.

Originally Posted by ppetresen

...
Have you tried honing with a dry coticule for the final edge? ...

Yes, I got very keen results from dry La Veignette.

Didn’t try the small La Dressante yet but will give it a „dry run“

Regards

Philipp

Even though it seems a bit risky, I do like the idea. It looks like a great way to practice/ensure minimal pressure strokes.

However, I've found that on pretty much all coticules I've used, minimal pressure strokes do little to nothing in improving the keenness of an edge (unless you perform A LOT of strokes, I guess). Rather, it increases the smoothness or shaving comfort of the edge.

Increasing pressure on water only is a tactic that has proven fruitful to me, although I wouldn't do that while balancing the hone on my fingertips; for my coticule's sake, my edge's sake, my fingertips' sake, my nerves sake and the general good of mankind.

Nifty trick though, I never thought of that.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

P.S. I'd like to post this also to a Badrger&Blade forum, but my account was banned due to I've happened to post a link to external Alex's blog which is again the TOU.
Communication to the site admin was failed.
Not sure what is going on there but seems like 0-error tollerance is applied there...

Hell, half the members of this forum have been banned from B&B, yours truly included. Some consider it a badge of honor. For that matter, I've probably been on thin ice here a few times. It's just shaving-people tend to forget that some times.

...and you're not missing anything!

Originally Posted by Pithor

... minimal pressure strokes do little to nothing in improving the keenness of an edge (unless you perform A LOT of strokes, I guess)
...

With my La Veignette and La Dressante i feel a change of feedback after around 50 - 60 strokes with this method. Sometimes more sometimes less and I am not exactly counting.

I do also refresh the stone‘s surface by creating a slurry and washing it off before putting the razor on it, have forgotten to mention that

La Veignette leaves larger scratches and I can see some swarf on the tissue afterwards. La Dressante is definitly finer and slower, I can see no swarf on the blade after running this method.

Originally Posted by Pithor

...
Increasing pressure on water only is a tactic that has proven fruitful to me...

Thanks for the hint, until now my scope was to find a way on how I can decrease the pressure. But actually its good to give a try with higher pressure...

Regards

Philipp

Well, I have a tiny La Petite Blanche and a Les Latneuses (the creamy side) that do actually refine keenness ever so slightly on water only, which is why I like them so much (even though that can be a tricky quality in its own regard). But it doesn't seem to be a terribly common feature in coticules in general.

By the way, the maximum pressure I exert on an edge while honing (especially in the finishing stages) is minimal, probably never more than when using a pencil eraser, if even that. But it's definitely something I use regularly when honing.

Best regards,

Pieter

Pressure of any note is something I really only use during the early stages of a progression, generally a bit of downward torque towards the bevel. If there are some odd spots I might use selective pressure along the edge to compensate for that. By the time I hit whatever hone I'm finishing with I start with just a hint of pressure and then slowly back off until my final strokes are just lightly gliding across the hone.

Interestingly, Philipp, Sham has a video on honing with an Escher where he does much the same thing as you in that he keeps it just barely balanced in his hand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0kLxgkOtM4