Thread: Stupid honing question

Did you finally get a coticule?

I got my BBW/Coticule yesterday from Fendrihan.

I'm starting to think that my coticule might not be the best finisher out there. It seems like it could be more of a cutter than a polisher.

When I hone with slurry the slurry turns dark pretty quickly

Originally Posted by Dups

I'm starting to think that my coticule might not be the best finisher out there. It seems like it could be more of a cutter than a polisher.

When I hone with slurry the slurry turns dark pretty quickly

One doesn't rule out the other.
There are only small differences in Coticules for finishing. (they're almost all excellent)
There's a lot of difference for speed.

Bart.

Originally Posted by Dups

If I have a razor with a nice equal bevel...How often would I have to 'reset' the bevel.

In the field of "bevel work", I use 3 definitions in my personal train of thoughts.

1. bevel (re)buiding.
Restoring old razor sometimes calls for the complete removal of the original bevel, due to corrosion, or a frowning curve in the edge, or large chips missing, among other issues. It requires very coarse hones and a few dedicated tricks.

2. bevel setting.
Dialing in a bevel with flat panes and correct angle during the first honing of a (new) razor. This ideally requires a hone in the 1K region. As I stated before, fast Coticules are fully capable of doing this line of work.

3. bevel correction.
As soon as a razor stops responding to doing touch-ups, it's always going to be in need of a "bevel refreshment". This might be minor, if touching up was done with a method that didn't introduce convexity. Multiple touch-ups on pasted strops, can introduce significant convexity, due to give in the leather and/or slack in the strop. The amount of steel that needs to be removed from the cheeks of the bevel can take quite a bit of work, certainly on wider bevels.
A lot of well-used razors I see, have series of small nicks at the edge. I think it's naturally occurring damage, building up shave after shave. Honing them out, I also consider "bevel correction".
Bevel correction ideally require hones in the 1K to 4K range, depending on how much steel needs to be removed. Many Coticules are very capable of meeting the requirements.

Obviously, there's some overlap in my definitions.
Sometimes bevel correction requires 30 laps on a Coticule with slurry, sometimes it takes many hundreds.
A complete bevel has a nice clean straight (or fluently smiling) edge and shaves arm hairs very well. All it needs is a bit of extra keenness and a finishing smoothness of choice.

I've tried to address this topic in a Wiki article:
Bevel-setting in theory and practice - Straight Razor Place Wiki