Thread: Using a Belgian yellow coticule to its fullest?

Originally Posted by Garrett

After using a Belgian yellow coticule with a slurry, should you use the yellow with only water before you go to either the pasted strops or a 16K stone? Does the coticule with water only make the edge smoother or does it degrade anything and mess up the next progressions?

When would you use the yellow with only water?

Thanks!

I dislike giving Coticules a grit rating, but for once I will make an exception. With slurry, most Coticules cut comparable to 1-2K synthetic hones. The edge won't be sharper than what's typical for those hones, but it won't have the roughness of most synthetics in that range. That roughness grabs hairs and skin pretty well, hence the 2K synthetic edge might even feel sharper to the touch than the smoother Coticule/slurry edge.

The Coticule with water is an ultra-fine polisher. I'm really not going to give it a grit rating. It does nothing for the keenness of an edge. It does not remove it, and it does not significantly improve it. It gives a unique polish that, for me, leaves an edge that really discerns extremely well between cutting whiskers and (not) cutting skin. I like the effortless action of an ultra-keen edge. I have a very coarse beard and I can only get smooth with such a very keen edge. With a Chosera 10K I can easily reach my preferred level of sharpness, but that edge slices nearly as easily through some of my skin papilae as it severs the whiskers. If I finish that edge on a Coicule with water, it shaves just as effortlessly, without the bleeding speckles and the skin fuzziness that otherwise occurs after a few shaves.
For a long time, my big challenge was to bridge the gap of keenness that lies between the Coticule with slurry and what I require for the finishing stage on that same Coticule with water.
Slowly diluting the slurry over about 100 laps, once the slurry stage has reached its peak, helps, but it gives very unpredictable results. Honing becomes a sport that way. On a good day, if I can completely tune in on very precise, yet swift and ultralight honing strokes, I can reach the edge I'm after. It is one of the most rewarding ways to have honing success. But my success rate, even on a good day is 1 out of 4. With razors that I know to respond well to this method.

It is easier, quicker and more consistent to use a go-between hone.
I already mentioned the Naniwa Chosera 10K. I can got to that hone, right off the Coticule with slurry, that I always use with the diluting slurry method, just in case...
Another viable option is the Belgian Blue with slurry. It will make the edge keener than the Coticule with slurry, and you can also do the diluting trick, once the edge maxes out on the slurry. Light strokes are very important on both the Coticule and the Blue, in my experience. The Blue won't make the edge as sharp as the Chosera, but it sure leaves a shaveready razor, once you finish it on the Coticule with water. In my opinion, the Belgian natural hones ask for rather high stroke counts: Slurry on the Coticule for as long as it takes to achieve a good bevel (in between 30 and many hundreds) + 100 while diluting (check for end keenness with TPT and/or HHT - it's possible to have achieved an awesome edge at this point, if not: 50-100 on the Blue with slurry + 100 while diluting, next 70 on a Coticule with water (add a drop of dishwashing soap).
You can also use any other hone that offers the desired keenness as a refiner before finishing on the Coticule with water.

To answer your other question: using a Coticule with water somewhere in the middle of a progression makes no sense whatsoever. It is a finisher. If you remove its finish with a next hone, you can just as well not use it at all. Allow me an example for further clarification: Imagine an edge off the Norton 8K. You can add extra shave comfort to that edge with a Coticule/water. Next you can make that edge a bit keener on a Shapton 16K. Whether you included the Coticule or not makes not the least difference for the end result. Now, lets go back to the same Norton 8K edge and finish on the Coticule again. It makes a tremendous difference whether you put the Shapton 16K in between or not. That's because the Shapton 16K has significant "refining" power and the Coticule with water has not.

Disclaimer: to make matters complicated, Coticules are natural hones and there are differences. Some Coticules are so soft that they generate slurry by themselves, during the honing. Some Coticules are slower than others. My explanation paints the general picture, as I perceive it. But in the end, everybody needs to figure out his own honing.

Best regards,
Bart.