Thread: slurry honing

I no most guys use the yellow coticule for finishing with plain water.And slurry to cut a little faster when needed. paople say slurry can dull an edge and some say not. Does any one use just yellow with slurry strop and get a great shave ? i have found dense slurry on one razor to defanatly take the razor from shaving to not shaving. plain water did rescue it quite a bit, i have found extremly light slurry to not have that efect but after my bbw with slurry if i use yellow slurry i always think could egde of been better if i had just gone straight to plain water like i normaly would . i no bart does'nt recomend yellow with slurry unless setting a bevel.Question is does any one just use yellow full stop for maintanance with slurry or water etc.

I'm probably not the first one you wish to hear on this topic, but...
Yes I have.

Whenever I hone a razor, I nearly always do this:

1. Hone on slurry till bevel panes are straight and keenness has maxed out.
2. Dilute slurry with a few drops of water per 10 strokes, till it is completely washed down over about 100 laps.
3. 50-100 laps on Coticule with water.

Usually I stay on the same Coticule for all three steps, sometimes I swap between different specimens.
If the razor shows any response to the HHT after this, I'll strop it, probe again with the HHT (usually find improvement) and I'll test shave.

If the razor does not show any HHT responsiveness, I 'll continue with whatever progression I had in mind for that razor. Sometimes test shave shows only a very minor lack of keenness, in which case I perform about 10 laps on a loom strop with Cr0.
Some of my best shavers have not received any other treatment, not even the CrO.

The success rate is limited, it seems dependent on the Coticule, the razor and last but not least, how consistently I manage to do perfect and light strokes. When I go to the quarry in a few weeks, I silently hope to find some promising stones in support of this honing approach.

Bart.

thanxs bart i have tryed with light slurry on yellow and always finish 100 on plain water i always keep it light as possible. i strop and if passes hht then if not i'd probably go bbw then yellow water and test.It just put me off using slurry as first time i did it realy blunted my razor that was when i very first got my yellow and i now realize that the slurry was a little to thick which is easy to do with out realizing. now i just create slurry and dilute with water rub it around untill milky like real skimmed milk and it seems to be ok .

Yes, I certainly agree with you that the density of the slurry is correlated to the maximum keenness you can get off the hone.
I have also noticed that the honing speed diminishes, as the slurry becomes thiner. Because of that, I usually dilute it gradually, in the hope that I hit the desired keenness before my slurry becomes so thin that it turns the Coticule into a mere polisher.
I believe you know your particular Coticule well enough to know what the ideal density is for your hone and purpose. I find that an awesome achievement.

Great stuff,
Bart.

So from what you guys are saying, even for a touch up, you probably need to use slurry on your coticule to bring the edge back (A very light one)? I have a BBW and a yellow coticule so I am wondering what a typical touch up progression would be.

The options are:
Yellow with slurry dilute until clear with water and keep going about 100laps.
Yellow with slurry, then BBW slurry, then back to yellow with water.
and the final which is just water on yellow.

I also have a hanging strop with Cr0.

Originally Posted by Disburden

So from what you guys are saying, even for a touch up, you probably need to use slurry on your coticule to bring the edge back (A very light one)? I have a BBW and a yellow coticule so I am wondering what a typical touch up progression would be.

The options are:
Yellow with slurry dilute until clear with water and keep going about 100laps.
Yellow with slurry, then BBW slurry, then back to yellow with water.
and the final which is just water on yellow.

I also have a hanging strop with Cr0.

It's impossible to tell what the edge will need for a touch up. It depends on how far you allowed the edge to fall back. I also depends on the width of the bevel (smaller bevels respond quicker to less powerful honing methods). It depends on the amount of convexity that may be present, caused by performing touch-ups with a pasted strop, that are very effectively at first but become increasingly less effective as the edge becomes more and more rounded. Finally, for me personally, my abrasive beard always introduces a number of very small chips missing from the very edge, that build up shave after shave. Hence the dulling of my razors is in reality more a true deterioration than a dulling.

The best approach for reviving a dulling edge is to start with the most conservative option, in this case: a number of laps on a Coticule with water. If that doesn't cut it, you can try increasingly more aggressive options. Try postponing decent slurry on a Coticule as a last resort. Of course, if you spot "chippy" deterioration at the edge under magnification, you'll know you don't stand a change remedying that on a Coticule with water only... Estimating what to do, comes with experience. I beileve it often depends on the particular situation.

Bart.

Thanks for the response, Bart. I respect your opinions a lot as they're followed by light years of experience with a Coticule and a straight razor. What would you recommend as a half way point between a coticule with water and a coticule with slurry? I own a BBW as well (separate stone) so I am wondering if that fits into the mix somewhere, I know it is a slower cutter than a Coticule with slurry as I've seen you mention this before.

I love the results I get from my coticule with water and CrO strop but I know the paste will round the edge in time and I dread the day of that happening and not knowing what to do about it next.My beard is also very corse, maybe like yours. Can a BBW be used with just water? I never see this being mentioned like I do with a Coticule and water.

May I ask why you don't go up the progression to finer stones? Am I missing something? Is it a bad thing to go to like a 16K stone then pastes like 0.5, 0.25, then Chromium? I love using the Coticule with slurry because of the feedback and because of the way it hones by the time I hit the 16K the hard work is done.


Thanks,
Richard

the point of having a coticule is to be able to do the whole process on one hone set bevel with slurry and cut then polish with water job done that how barbers did it .

Originally Posted by Disburden

What would you recommend as a half way point between a coticule with water and a coticule with slurry? I own a BBW as well (separate stone) so I am wondering if that fits into the mix somewhere, I know it is a slower cutter than a Coticule with slurry as I've seen you mention this before.

Sorry for my delayed answer, Nick. It slipped my mind that I still needed to address your question.

You could look at "touching up" as a sort of honing in reverse. First you try the finisher, in our case, a Coticule with water. If that doesn't revive the edge, you can try again, reaching one step further back in your honing progression. That could very well be a Belgian Blue with a light slurry. I consider DMT-E / BBW-slurry / Coticule-water a very reliable honing progression. Another recipe I have very consistent results with is: Coticule-slurry / Chosera10K / Coticule-water. And finally, my favorite, not very consistent, but awesome results: Coticule-slurry / Coticule dilluting phase / Coticule-water.
I don't have a large personal collection, about a dozen. I know them well enough to tell what honing approach they prefer each individually. I often check my razors at the stereo microscope. If you could see me sitting here, you'd understand. My computer in the middle, on the left my scope, on the right about 5 boxes with each 4 razors (my 4 test Double Arrows, my dozen babies and a box with current honing jobs). In both drawers of my desk are the hones sound asleep. It takes me 10 seconds to take a razor and check it with maginification. It's not to difficult to estimate what to do, based upon such inspection, knowing that the razor has a good bevel to start with.

Kind regards,
Bart.