Thread: Coticule and what i think

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Bingo excellent point.
You don't know what do you miss. if you have never tried anything else how can you (doesn't matter me ) could make comparison?
Go head get high grit hones and hone couple blades and compare the edge then you will talk differently.

That may or may not be true, and I would like a higher grit hone anyway. I have used razors that have been finished a few different ways, and I think the edge I got of the coticule is pretty damn comparable.

I can get a BBS, irritation free, nick free shave off a coticule - that suits me. It is only curiosity and price that tempts me into getting a higher grit, and odds on I will just get paste.

Originally Posted by Chimensch

I'm just saying that if you start with a shave ready razor, you can maintain it with a barbers hone or a coticule. Why is that controversial?

not for my face
I've gotten shave ready razors form 3 members, two were honemeisters
2 of the three were nowhere near sharp enough
I'm not going to name them, and I'm not complaining
I can't get my own sharp enough for me either without paste

Originally Posted by Lynn

You are trying to get in the middle. Sorry. And you know it. Many of our members do not buy new razors right off the bat and if you are not clear as you were above, they see that you are successful with a barber hone they buy one. Sorry again, but you are giving your opinion above about what you think something will do and not your personal preference.

There is no controversy in this matter other than what you are making of it.

Thanks,

Lynn

I actually started honing on barber hones I got from Tilly and kept using them until just this week.
Ebay specials even. (plus sandpaper)

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

Many people get themselves great edges and shaves from a coticule. I however have never experienced this. Several razors I have tried from members experiences with honing, we no match for my beard, couldn't even give me one pass without enduring pain and burn.

THANK GOD SOMEONE ELSE SAID IT!!

this whole time I thought my honing sucked
I bought a microscope
hones
and hones
and paste and BAM!

I can only shave off .5 diamond or cr02
I CAN NOT SHAVE OFF A COTICULE
PERIOD
no ifs, no ands, no buts

and I sure as hell can't shave off a barber hone
the ONLY exceptions are a green coticule or escher (not sure what it is)
and an old wedge off a Swaty
but only a couple of razors of the green one and only one off the Swaty
that is 3-4 out of more than 500 I have handled

Most of us who have been doing this for any length of time probably started before this site existed and without any mentoring of any kind. We either bought what we thought was a "good" razor off Eboy or bought a high dollar TI or Dovo we thought would be shave ready. Then we found out we had problems. Then we started buying all kinds of vintage hones and pasted strops and sand paper and films and new hones and natural hones and you name it including honing during a full moon and during the solstice and crawled our way from one to another until we figured out which hone worked and which didn't and what techniques we had to learn and which razor seemed to prefer one thing over another.

My point here is everyone wants the ultimate solution, the perfect formula and they want it now and they want it easy. "well son just buy hone x and do x strokes and you will have the ultimate in sharpness before you know it".

There is no easy solution. You need to learn and you need to figure out for yourself which hone or hones give you the result you need given your skills, the condition of your razor and your patience.

We can help you by nudging you in the right direction but ultimately it's up to you. If this thing was as easy as pie we wouldn't need honemeisters and restorers and guys like Glen and Lynn would be working in the tool dept. at their local Home Depot.

So for anyone to make any claims about any hone is just one guys opinion and it might be very valid for him but may be invalid for you. Many opinions about a hone may be more valid or it may not be.

Just things to think about.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

My point here is everyone wants the ultimate solution, the perfect formula and they want it now and they want it easy. "well son just buy hone x and do x strokes and you will have the ultimate in sharpness before you know it".
There is no easy solution. You need to learn and you need to figure out for yourself which hone or hones give you the result you need given your skills, the condition of your razor and your patience.

Thank you, Thank you !!!!!
Huge plus 1 here

Originally Posted by Lynn

You are trying to get in the middle. Sorry. And you know it.

There is no controversy in this matter other than what you are making of it.

I think that threads get heated and people get offended and leave when posters start making personal comments like this, that atempt to characterize the other person's motives.

Now, I am neither the first or last person on this forum that has suggested that a razor could be maintained with a barbers hone, so I asked myself why you decided to single me out.

I have thought about your response to me for some time and I just want to go on record that I wrote you in a PM that I thought you were rude to Bart. In a PM and not in public. Then, shortly after, you are rude to me in public. Lynn, you have a special posiiton here as the founder of this forum and public criticism from you does sting. I think you should keep this in mind when you lose your temper.

Originally Posted by Chimensch

I think that threads get heated and people get offended and leave when posters start making personal comments like this, that atempt to characterize the other person's motives.

Now, I am neither the first or last person on this forum that has suggested that a razor could be maintained with a barbers hone, so I asked myself why you decided to single me out.

I have thought about your response to me for some time and I just want to go on record that I wrote you in a PM that I thought you were rude to Bart. In a PM and not in public. Then, shortly after, you are rude to me in public. Lynn, you have a special posiiton here as the founder of this forum and public criticism from you does sting. I think you should keep this in mind when you lose your temper.

I never once in my wildest imagination thought that I would ever have reason to thank you.

Originally Posted by JMS

I never once in my wildest imagination thought that I would ever have reason to thank you.

Well, perfect as I am, I do screw up once in a while ... but don't count on it ever happening again!

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

To dig the ground with spoon to make a grave will take some time. you will need to use shovel instead of spoon.You know what i mean.
Right tools won't hurt .

This is true!

And I guess everyone approaches their razor differently when they set out to hone, but I like to examine the edge and see what needs to be done to make it shave ready before I begin. If there is no damage to repair then I do not mind using the coticule with slurry then using the blue whetstone and then finishing on the coticule.

That is to say: if I am burying a small fish, a spoon will suffice. Maybe someday a superhone will come out that makes my DMT obsolete, but it will still retain the same usefuless today as it will then. I don't think synthetic hones take away from what the coticule can do, and vice versa. Like you say, there are simply different tools for different jobs, and it is most efficient to use the best tool, but not necessarily the only way to do it or the most enjoying way!

- Lee AKA Honesheister AKA Coticulee

I have dmt 4k 8k etc plus my blue and yellow i brought yellow first because i read you could achieve a very fine edge so i thought great one hone will do the lot I honed on yellow with slurry tpt felt great shave was bearly shavable i could'nt understand why i then did more research and found 100 laps on water made the razor shavable. then i got my self a blue and must say honing on slurry on blue straight to strop is shave ready. i keep trying with yellow slurry differant coticules but there's no dout about it the coticule with water is great for finishing and refreshing a razor.

The chap i brought my barbers shop from him and his dad before him did shaving back in there day he shown me how to sharpen and strop a razor 10 years ago and he had an old dished black slated based and yellowish top which i now no has coticule he just called it a natural stone and said all they used was very fine stones he said they sent them out to be regrowned if they needed them and he told me when i asked him they only used water i mentioned slurry and he did'nt no what i was talking about. I also mentioned pasted strop and he said yes we did and he also recalls treating leather strop with olive oil now and then. He also said it was 50 years ago since he had performed a shave he is now 78 and still cutting hair one day a week for me on my day off.

Originally Posted by gary haywood

honing on slurry on blue straight to strop is shave ready

I have shaved off of the blue but I cannot say I particularly enjoyed the shave. Finishing on even just a coticule improves the shave for me

It's cool to know you've done it!