Thread: How polished should my edge look?

I think it will give you a different grit but am not sure exactly what the grit will equate to yet.

People use water on most natural stones or a light oil/kerosene where appropriate to help remove the buildup of "swarf". Swarf is the metal filings that result from honing and other junk stuff. If you like to hone on metal filings then go ahead and hone dry.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

People use water on most natural stones or a light oil/kerosene where appropriate to help remove the buildup of "swarf". Swarf is the metal filings that result from honing and other junk stuff. If you like to hone on metal filings then go ahead and hone dry.

OK, I get it now.

swarf = bad
slurry = good

It probably follows that it's ok to hone while slurring your words, but bad if you have just barfed on the hone.

YUCK!!!

Originally Posted by loueedacat

OK, I get it now.

swarf = bad
slurry = good

It probably follows that it's ok to hone while slurring your words, but bad if you have just barfed on the hone.

Well, last nights shave was not so good. I could not shave the whiskers off of my chin for some reason. My cheeks went great but my chin area did not shave. I think I am going backwards.I had to use my feather to clean up what my dovo could not get. I did 50 passes on my coticule with 35 on the strop. I suppose another 20 on the coticule couldn't hurt. I hope. Now,I have a nice irritated chin.

Good morning,

If the razor shaved your cheeks great then it should also shave your chin....if you are paying attention to the angle of the razor while shaving the chin.

20 more laps on the coticule won't hurt but it sounds like shaving technique now. Shaving the chin is a takes a while to learn. Keep at it.

That sounds encouraging. My toughest area is my chin. My feather seems to glide right through it though. Feathers are very sharp though and a different beast.

The first few posts in this thread give you an idea of wet vs. dry coticule for honing. Using lather should even be better, but I never did the experiment myself.

Using a coticule with slurry (instead of only water or lather) speeds up the honing process,
BUT it also DULLS the tip of the bevel. Not sure why that happens, but everyone that build some experience with a coticule will agree with me on this.

My guess is that the garnets (the cutting particles of a coticule) abrade the tip of the cutting bevel to a certain level, where it is strong (but obtuse) enough to withstand the collision with those garnets. After all, they are about 15 micron in diameter, while the tip of a shaveready edge is less then 0,5 micron.

Using the coticule as a polisher with only water, does not produce this effect, and leaves a great edge, as long as you reach enough sharpness at your lower grit hone.

Bart.

What do you guys mean by lather?