Thread: Better edge from coticule than thuringian?

I have five coticule and three thuringians. I can get a shaving edge from them all. But two of my coticules give me edges that I find really sharp and smooth. It's probably down to my imperfect honing skills, I'm no expert. But I am curious if anyone else finds that they can get a better and sharper edge from a good coticule than a good thuringian? My best thuri is a barbers delight quality yellow/green thuri from hatzicho.

Side note, what do you use to stop the blade sticking to a thuri when honing?

Welcome to the forum Rog. Sharp and smooth are the keywords here.

I have tried many hones in my journey, ranging from cheap barber hones to exotic Japanese naturals and between. The coticule remains my hone of choice, so much that it is the only type of stone I have in my honing arsenal, safe for a chosera 1k for bevel setting.

If you have learned how to achieve a very good edge with your coticules, I say stick with it.

Cheers badgister, I'm just slightly surprised given all the rave reviews of thuringians. From my reading I would've thought that the coticule could be smoother, but shouldn't be sharper?

Rog, do not underestimate the effect of cognitive biases.

Thuringians are great hones, but the mind is a funny thing, and sometimes we think things are better because they cost more.

My la veinnette from ardennes is a special select that is my most expensive, so it's not that. I've done so much reading and thuringians get so much love.

Rog, what I am trying to say is that it can difficult to filter out the hype with a lot of what is written out there. The hone du jour changes over the years. Thuringians, especially of the Escher variety, fetch considerably higher prices than coticules.

That's definitely right. My reading has gone back through many years and multiple hypes. Guess I'm lucky I managed to pick up my thuringians for a decent price. No chance was I paying the prices that the labelled ones go for now. The yellow/green is from thuringian hones website, much better prices there when available.

I'm still going to play with them, but my two best cotis are well above them and will stick with them as my main finishers. Good talk, thanks.

I've got four Coties, all are different in their abilities.
I've also a lite blue, and dark blue, Thurigan.
And one, Non labeled, blue/green Escher.

All my Coties out preform the Lt. blue Thurigan, but only one will finish an edge that "I" favor.

But none of my Coties will ever compare to my Escher, in sharp and comfort.

The dark blue Thuri, will go beyond the Escher, in keenness and comfort, should I want it to.

So in short...all Nats are different, and can be more capable than others.

Same goes for Comparing Arks to Coties and Thurigan stones.

So comes the phrase from the movie, Conan the barbarian

"What is steel, compared to the hand that wields it"

Indeed, the hand that wields the stone is the most important variable.

Give the same stones to someone else without any knowledge of their monetary value and I guarantee you the favourites will differ.

In addition, a good stropping will often make the performance difference from one finishing stone vs another negligible.

I don't know that I want to say a better edge, but I consistently prefer the edge from my coticule than that produced by my thuri. With that said, it took time for me to figure out how to get the most out of that coti, and I more or less finish with very, very light strokes on it clean and dry. But that's just that hone. But when I get it all coming together it is just wonderful. My thuri doesn't see a lot of use these days.