Thread: Bart's coticule-BBW progression

I read Bart's post a while back detailing his coticule/slurry - BBW/slurry - coticule/water progression. I have always used BBW/slurry - coticule/slurry - coticule/water followed by a few laps on a dry coticule and a few laps on a wet CH12K with great results. Except for one problem child . That particular razor gets shaving sharp but has never achieved the keenness of my other razors. So I figured, what the heck, I'll give it a shot.

I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Bart's progression (followed by 30 or so light laps on a wet CH12K) brought that problem child into its own. Pops hanging hairs even before I stropped it. It NEVER did that before. It usually needed a couple of laps on my chrome-ox paddle and the edge never lasted as long as my others.

Too late to shave test it today but it will come up in the rotation again tomorrow. Based on the preliminary feel of this edge, I'm sure it will do well. Thanks Bart!

You're welcome, Kelbro.

I hope the shave test tomorrow will confirm your honing success on the stubborn razor.

Concerning the heart of the matter, I have never encountered a Coticule that, with the use of a milky slurry, maxed out at a keener level than a Belgian Blue with slurry.
With slurry I really consider Coticules as bevel setting hones, and I use them for the same functions as I would use 1K or 2K synthetic hones, albeit they leave a smoother, but not sharper edge.
The Blue goes a bit further, as long as you keep an eye on the consistency of the slurry and not allow it to become mud-like.
The Belgian Blue is for its price (or maybe even because of its price) one of the most underrated hones. When you use it with water to finish an already very keen edge, you might be up for a surprise.

Kind regards,
Bart.

Cool. I may try that. I have followed BBW/slurry with a wet BBW but always continued on to the coticule. Funny, I never tried stopping after the BBW to give it a test. Just a routine (rut?) that I got into.

That's part of the fun that I have with the natural stones. They are constantly surprising. I only have three razors and if this particular damascus honed up as well as the other two, I might never have deviated from my routine. If the other two were classified as 99.5% sharp, this damascus never got past 98.5%. It has bugged me for a long time that I couldn't get it to shave quite as well as the others. It did well, just not as well as I knew it could do.

Fingers crossed.

I'll try to post up the results tomorrow.

Bam! That did it. One WTG. One XTG. BBS. It's there!

Great news... I'm very relieved...

Bart.

I still can't believe that the very night I finally decide to get a BBW and coticule, the prices jumped 50%. I'm so intrigued by the BBW and coticule I can't stand it.

I found a decent price on a coticule on ebay a couple days ago, but the seller had sketchy feedback, so I passed. Plus, I don't know if the coticule was "select" grade or not.

That was totally off topic.. sorry.

Glad to hear you got such good results with Bart's method.

Some steels and their heat treatments will also respond well to back honing. I've had a few razors I could never get really really sharp except for doing a few backward strokes. You can add that technique to your kit!

Originally Posted by Howard

Some steels and their heat treatments will also respond well to back honing. I've had a few razors I could never get really really sharp except for doing a few backward strokes. You can add that technique to your kit!

Howard

At what point in your honing do you consider back honing? Are there any clues you look out for which point you that way? And how does it fit in with the traditional method (i.e. typically how many back strokes before returning to normal, and do you do a backward X?).

Apologies, , but I'm intrigued and would to try it out.

Originally Posted by majurey

Howard

At what point in your honing do you consider back honing? Are there any clues you look out for which point you that way? And how does it fit in with the traditional method (i.e. typically how many back strokes before returning to normal, and do you do a backward X?).

Apologies, , but I'm intrigued and would to try it out.

I'm curious too...??