Thread: Creating a slurry

Any reason why I should not use a coticule to create a slurry on another? I have two. If that is not something I should do , is an arkansas stone a good stone for creating a slurry?

Martin

If you're in to creating a slurry, that's exactly what you SHOULD do (use a similar stone rather than a stone of dissimilar grit). Many people buy the "cotigura" stone which is just an extremely small bout of yellow coticule to create slurry on their yellow.

Please post your experiences with the slurry. I'm interested in your thoughts on this in relation to how you feel it affects your edges.

Chris L

Will do. I have sharpened some with just water. I'm going to try a slurry and see if it makes an appreciable difference. I've seen both opinions expressed here.

For what it's worth, as I'm a newbie honer too, the slurry cuts WAY faster. I've experimented with honing on dry blue and yellow, then with slurry, with fast results with the slurry. I used to think this whole slurry business was just weird, but I'm a believer now.

Sharpening with only water will create a tiny amount of slurry anyway. The more slurry you create, the better the cutting. It's proportional.

If my razor already has a good edge and I only want to prolong its shaving lifespan before the next honing session, I might give it 20 or so laps with only water.

If I have just set a bevel on a DMT1200 > Belgian Blue then I will create plenty of slurry on my coticule to get it closer to the 6000-8000 grit that the blue is. Then progress to using it with water and then finally my own little tip of using the coticule dry just before stropping.

You could think of it as - a coticule with slurry @ 10,000 grit and with only water @ 12,000 grit. Of course these figures are just used to create a picture.

Hope this helps.

I pretty much agree with everything that poona posted, but I have two minor disagreements. My coticule is hard enough that it generates no slurry when used with plain water unless I use TONS of pressure. I think this varies from stone to stone.

Also, I find the coticule with a heavy slurry will sometimes just completely dull an edge. If there is a small problem with the edge, like a dull spot that I missed on the DMT, I'll sometimes whip up a slurry on the coticule and hone just that spot with back-and-forth strokes and a little pressure. This takes off metal very fast, sometimes I think almost as fast as the DMT 1200. The slurry gets black.

Usually at this point I find the edge is properly set but it seems really dull--it won't shave arm hair at all. Dropping back to the Belgian blue for a few laps has it popping hairs again without trouble. I don't understand why this happens, but I've seen it over and over.

To address your original question, the only reason I can see for not using a second coticule to raise a slurry is that you're wearing out an expensive hone. A cotigura is pretty cheap--$15 or so--and lets you save your coticule for actual honing. But then again, it'll still probably outlast you by a couple hundred years...

Josh

I must get a pic up of my cotigura. It is almost double sided. One side is quite a light shade of brown/red and the other is the normal yellow.

Yours the same?

Mine is the same color all the way through--creamy yellow.

Josh

I agree with Josh here, be careful not to create a
slurry that is too heavy -- I've also found that it
can dull razors. A nice light slurry from a few strokes
of the cotigura is just the ticket!

- Scott

Originally Posted by Quick Orange

For what it's worth, as I'm a newbie honer too, the slurry cuts WAY faster. I've experimented with honing on dry blue and yellow, then with slurry, with fast results with the slurry. I used to think this whole slurry business was just weird, but I'm a believer now.

Just curious.... What kind of stone do you use on the "Blue" to raise a slurry? or, do you?

Steve