Thread: Combo coticule conundrum

Out of interest, how big is it?
I'd lap the yellow side, or better still get someone to cut the yellow side flatish, then glue the cut off's to some strong stone. I'd then just lap the blue side the best I could, not perfectly flat but just flat enough to be a stable base.
Very nice find, even if it is just a collectors piece.
M

You ARE lucky! Nice find and great price. You're fortunate in that it looks like they used the blue side more than the yellow side. The dishing in the center of the coticule is a problem and you'll just have to figure out whether you want two really flat stones or one flat, but thinner stone. In truth, if it ends up being really flat at .35", that's not bad at all. Coticule never gets really thick as it is found as veins in the blue rock. It cooled quickly and that's why the crystals are so small and it's a finer grit. I flatten coticules on a DMT 325 grit Coarse continuous diamond stone under running water in the kitchen sink. It's always sad to see coticule washing down the drain so flatten only as much as you have to. Your photo of the lighter areas surrounding the dish illustrate what I tell folks when they're flattening stones. Just look at the lighter area and keep flattening until it's uniformly light. This goes for new coticules fresh from the quarry too as well as Nortons and other stones.

I checked the thinnest point with the blades of my calipers, and then subtracted .025" just to be conservative, to get my max thickness after total lapping.

The overall dimensions of the stone are 5.39" x 2.2". Not too bad huh?

I am definitely going to mount it to glass, I will look around and see what kind of waterproof adhesive I could use.

I have been lapping with the DMT coarse, but it's slow going. Since I am currently using Spyderco hones, and am happy with the results I get from them, this is going to be a hobby stone anyhow.

If you guys have any other ideas, just chime in! I appreciate any suggestions, big or small.

Update: I lapped it flat on the yellow side and took it for a test hone (water only, I have enough rough stones).

Not bad, but not as fine a finish as the Spyderco UF. It does give a lot more feedback, but I'm not sure I like that.

With the UF; I can really feel when the edge is ready to test shave, almost like the hone feels...softer?

and the razor slides lightly over the hone so I can use a superlight touch.


I dunno, I will have to play with this coticule for a while before I make any decisions. It's so neat, I really want to use it

It's funny about the spyderco UF.

I tried one before they became fashionable and reviewed on the shaving forums. I was comparing it against my coticule.

I took it back to the shop for a full refund. For me it didn't compare. Maybe they have improved them.

What I didn't like was the lack of feed back, the final edge was not to my liking and for me at least not as sharp as the coticule. It clogged with metal shavings far too quickly for my liking and didn't self clean. At the time it cost $150. All in all, not good at all in my opinion. For the money I didn't think it compared with a coticule and I regarded it as a very expensive polishing hone. I actually got a better polish from a three line Austrian swaty baerbers hone which cost me $5.

The coticule on the other hand has a many advantages.

First and foremost it is a very flexible stone.
Used with slurry from a small rubbing coticule it will cut quickly at about a 6000 to 8000 grit level. Used without a slurry but just clean water it will polish at about a 8000 to 10000 grit level.
It polishes a blade leaving a grippy sharp edge. Not the smoothest but a good balance between grippy and smooth. 50 laps on a leather strop by somebody who knows what they are doing is usually sufficient extra polish to satisfy the most fastidious shaver.
It is also self cleaning and the face refreshes constantly in use. It's easy to lap.
For the last two centuries it has been acknowledged as a superb razor hone.

It has one disadvantage and that is because of its scarcity, it is quite expensive. Mind you so are the spyderco's.

Anything a spyderco might do in the right hands, can be achieved by running the blade across a newspaper or a chromium oxide pasted hone. I just don't see were this ceramic brings a new dimension to razor honing. I also think at the $20 it would be an expensive polishing option.

Just my two pence worth.

Well, I really don't think you need to mount the stone on anything. As long as you don't drop it on a tile floor or something it should be tough enough to be used on both sides without worry.

As for comparing to the UF, a big factor is that natural stones can have a good bit of variance from one to the next, so it may be that yours is on the lower end of the polishing spectrum. But you'll really have to use it for a while before making any conclusions like that.

Originally Posted by English

It's funny about the spyderco UF.

I tried one before they became fashionable and reviewed on the shaving forums. I was comparing it against my coticule.

I took it back to the shop for a full refund. For me it didn't compare. Maybe they have improved them.

What I didn't like was the lack of feed back, the final edge was not to my liking and for me at least not as sharp as the coticule. It clogged with metal shavings far too quickly for my liking and didn't self clean. At the time it cost $150. All in all, not good at all in my opinion. For the money I didn't think it compared with a coticule and I regarded it as a very expensive polishing hone. I actually got a better polish from a three line Austrian swaty baerbers hone which cost me $5.

The coticule on the other hand has a many advantages.

First and foremost it is a very flexible stone.
Used with slurry from a small rubbing coticule it will cut quickly at about a 6000 to 8000 grit level. Used without a slurry but just clean water it will polish at about a 8000 to 10000 grit level.
It polishes a blade leaving a grippy sharp edge. Not the smoothest but a good balance between grippy and smooth. 50 laps on a leather strop by somebody who knows what they are doing is usually sufficient extra polish to satisfy the most fastidious shaver.
It is also self cleaning and the face refreshes constantly in use. It's easy to lap.
For the last two centuries it has been acknowledged as a superb razor hone.

It has one disadvantage and that is because of its scarcity, it is quite expensive. Mind you so are the spyderco's.

Anything a spyderco might do in the right hands, can be achieved by running the blade across a newspaper or a chromium oxide pasted hone. I just don't see were this ceramic brings a new dimension to razor honing. I also think at the $20 it would be an expensive polishing option.

Just my two pence worth.

I would estimate the UF at around 15k, the chrome ox is about 60k. Apples and oranges!!

Anyhow, I will log some more time with the coticule and see how it goes; I'm not makin' any serious judgement one way or another till I use it for 2-3 months.

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

Well, I really don't think you need to mount the stone on anything. As long as you don't drop it on a tile floor or something it should be tough enough to be used on both sides without worry.

As for comparing to the UF, a big factor is that natural stones can have a good bit of variance from one to the next, so it may be that yours is on the lower end of the polishing spectrum. But you'll really have to use it for a while before making any conclusions like that.

It does have a fitted wood box that came with it, I may just keep in that. I am unwilling to do anything permanent yet. Hell, I have nothing but time!

Please keep in mind that this is my unscientific honing experiences.

I've had and used the UF for about 7 months, and the coticule for about 2. For magnification I only use a 30x loupe so I won't claim that I know every detail regarding these hones.

My loupe shows that the UF polishes better than the coticule, and the UF egde feels sharper, but the shave I get from the coticule is better. It's this observation that leads me to thinking there might be something to the theory about a toothy edge.

One trick I 've just started using is to add a drop of dishwasher detergent to the water on the coticule, it seems that the edge gets sharper/more polished from it, and the water flows nicer over the blade during honing.

One thing I know fore sure is that the coticule requires a bit of experimenting before it reaches it potential, so you might consider experimenting a bit more with it.

Edit:

Just realized that I've spent to much time typing, and that your going to experiment some more with the coticule.

Don't stick it anything, that blue side looks fab!!!!!!