Bart i have to clear couple things i think

if person says blue is slate ?
and after doing so many laps in yellow coticle
what would you think

i thought in this situation blade is not ready to go to yellow coticle ,
now you are saying last sentences in your post
'Imo, Coticule-slurry is for bevel-setting"=I NEVER heart this
i always thought and had experience that you set bevel wtih 4k or lower
About going to use dmt 12000 the reason i said i thought again blade is not ready (not sharp enough=dull blade put on coticle and hone for days will not get sharp)then he has to go dmt and get edge ready which he could go to coticle.
about my coticles
i have seen coticle which will act 4k and i have seen coticle act 8k.currently i have coticle which is overhones blade and it is fast cutter natural combo.
COTICULE IS THE WORST STONE FOR NEWBY TO USE IT .Let me explain why?
New person doesn't know how should coticle act.as 4k ,8k etc

That is why new people confused about coticle(let me tell this i have seen adrenna always says let him know purpose of yuor purchase =for razor or chisel's etc =i do appreciate that.it helps a lot.
i did ask the person is your coticle for razor or not and answer was it is positive coticle meant to for straight razors.
You are right i do go to Escher after coticle because of i don't like to go pastes but i am sure if you go to chromium oxide after right coticle you will get great shave ready edge.i mean right coticle not 4 k coticle.

hope this clear's my thought and thank you for your open opinion i appreciate.



Quote Originally Posted by Bart View Post
Maarten,

It seems Hi_bud_gl and I have a different approach to using Belgian hones.

I'm not eager to start a debate on that, but he's advicing you to do things that are guaranteed to give me bad results on every single one of my Coticules. Maybe they're all for woodworking tools and Hi_bud_gl has one for razors. I have bought several "for razor use" at Ardennes Coticule, one vintage purchased of Ebay that came with a razor, and a bunch that I produced myself from raw Coticule that I picked up at abandoned Coticule mining pits. Apart form all that, I have used Coticules and Blues owned by other people as well. The method in my "Belgian Progression" article in the Wiki was not invented by me, but by David Polan (HeavydutySG135) and Josh Earl, both very well respected and longtime members of SRP. This method produces a good shaveready edge, that shaves close without pulling. I stand by that.

Don't expect that you can reproduce my results on the ERN. It took me 2 months of frequent practice before I managed to produce a decent shaveready edge, but that was because I had no real idea what to do. Today, there is much more information readily available in the Wiki. Once I could repeat myself in honing a basic shaveready edge, I very slowly learned to improve my results. My razors today are not a whole lot keener, but you can't expect to match that right away. Furthermore, I have more hones than you, and I know them better than you know yours.
Now, that said, let's get to work, shall we?

Did you "break in" your DMT? That is very important.

Is your "Blue" really a Blue? How do you produce your slurry on it? Does it has an ink-like color?

You can shave off your Coticule with slurry, that's a good sign. But you'll have a hard time making that edge keener without the Blue or even the DMT1200. I can shave off all my Coticules with slurry, but it pulls. With slurry they really max out at a certain keenness level. There's a bit of variance between Coticules on how sharp that is, but I have not yet encountered one that got the edge keen enough for an easy shave. Maybe Hi-bud-gl has one, but I doubt it. (I believe he goes to an Esher after the Coticule)
From where I stand, your razor is at "Cotiule-with-slurry"-keennes right now. You need to boost that keenness somehow. The Belgian Blue with light slurry has that capability. (It may sound odd to you, but also a well broken in DMT1200 has that capability). I suggest that you go back to the Blue (if it indeed is a Blue) and hone with the lightest pressure on a very thin slurry. Add water as soon as the slurry shows any sign of thickening. Add more water near the end. The Blue is slow, you're honing a wedge, you're not removing scratches, but you're actually refining a bevel, so don't be afraid to do many laps. Check with the TPT often. I recommend the HHT. If your own hair is thin, harvest a freshly washed strain from someone with thick hair. Save it in a little box. A small strain of hairs (length aprox. 6 cm) will last you many years. When I leave the Blue stage, I can pop hanging hairs, relatively close to where I hold them and I don't mind that I need to drag them accross the edge a bit, to make them catch and pop. When that happens, it's time for the Coticule with water. Shut down your brain and do 100 lightest laps. Strop 60 laps on clean leather after that. Try the HHT again. Should be no problem, even if you try popping them 2 cm from the holding point. Time to test shave.

I understand if you want to try other advice as well. There are more ways to skin a cat. But you have to realize that every time you hone on Coticule-slurry, you'll reset the keenness to a fixed level, property of your particular Coticule. This doesn't happen with water only. Imo, Coticule-slurry is for bevel-setting.

Bart.