Thread: Belgian Coticule as a finishing hone

Originally Posted by Utopian

Perhaps a better poll queston might have been, do you consider a coticule to be an acceptable finishing hone? I suspect that is the true intent of the poll.

Yep! That's what I meant. I know that many here on SRP use higher grit Shaptons, Naiwas, Japanese naturals, etc, but I wanted to see how many of them thought that a Coticule was a good finishing hone, even if they personally chose a different finisher.

Personally, the coticule is not enough for me.

If I were on a desert island and the only finishing hone I had was a coticule, though, I guess I wouldn't complain too much.

Let me also say that I've only tried two coticules so far. Maybe some are much better than mine

Didn't vote because I haven't tried a coticule yet. I plan to try one eventually. I'm in no hurry as my current equipment gives satisfactory results. It is getting harder to resist...

I do shave off of a coticule and I like it. In thinking about the many responses to the many threads on this subject, one thought occurs to me. When you shave with one razor and one hone for a long time, you tend to adapt to the peculiarties of both and still get a good shave even though there are alternatives.

I have been shaving of blue and yellow coti and surley you carn't get much better. I also think the ch12k is exallant for a lot less money.

I voted no -- big surprise, right?

So far, my coticule performs best for me as a paper weight.

This may have been addressed to death already but I can't find it. I'm wondering if a good 30K stone would be a good substitute for a final strop. I don't mind the strop but seem to tear them up, but I do just enjoy putting a blade to the stone and was wondering if I could get equally good finishes from a stone as opposed to a strop before each shave?

I seem to have horrible stopping technique that no amount of practice can shake (SRD is almost a bi-weekly order for strops). So I'm assuming that after a few more months, a really good final (and very fine grit) stone may be worth the cost as opposed to dropping $25 or so every month for a new strop replacement slab-o-leather.

I voted no because the Coticule with slurry and dry are just steps up the chain to a keen edge. The Coticule is almost the bottom of the progression for me. I use the Coticule with slurry, 8K, coticule dry, 16K Shapton, 0.5 diamond, 0.25 diamond then 0.5 Chromium. Wonderful edge that is sharp and very smooth!

Take Care,
Richard

Originally Posted by AirColorado

This may have been addressed to death already but I can't find it. I'm wondering if a good 30K stone would be a good substitute for a final strop. I don't mind the strop but seem to tear them up, but I do just enjoy putting a blade to the stone and was wondering if I could get equally good finishes from a stone as opposed to a strop before each shave?

I seem to have horrible stopping technique that no amount of practice can shake (SRD is almost a bi-weekly order for strops). So I'm assuming that after a few more months, a really good final (and very fine grit) stone may be worth the cost as opposed to dropping $25 or so every month for a new strop replacement slab-o-leather.

You need to learn how to strop. A 30k hone is not a replacement for a strop!

This may sound stupid, but you are doing the stropping motion and leading with your SPINE and not the edge (as you would with honing), right? I can't imagine anything else in the world you could be doing to the strops that would require a new one every two weeks!!!! Even when I was a newbie I only nicked my practice strop a couple times Just keep the spine on the leather at all times and go light and slow... the edge should never be digging into the leather.

I'm saying yes and no, depending on the stone. My best results are from using my larger (and pinker) stones and then finishing on a yellow/green hard, narrow natural bbw/coti combi which I bought a few years ago.

Who knows why? It could be the stone, the garnets, the narrower width, my own imagination... All I know is if I polish with the yellow/green after honing with the pink, it's best. T'other way around and it's not as good.

So yes and no.

(You know, all you guys still hotly debating the coti's benefits or flaws... you're ALL correct. That's the thing about these damned stones, they're unpredictable. But when you suss out the right progression and combination with what you have, it can be such a great buzz. And that's the fun of it for me. If the fun ever runs out, who knows? I may decide to find much more reliable hones to use, and that would be fun too I suspect. Can we just stop trying to pigeonhole the coti as this or that, good or bad, 8k or 12k, dodecahedrons or footballs, or whatever please?)