Thread: Belgian Coticule as a finishing hone

I know, I know, this topic has probably been discussed many times before... but not in poll form!

Anyway, I was hoping to hear from the guys out there who use a Coticule as their finishing hone, or anyone who tried using a Coticule as a finishing hone, and decided it wasn't for them.

I do know about the varying hardness of these stones, I will assume that the ideal finishing Coticule would be a very hard, very fine stone.

I voted yes, but I only own a BBW/Coticule combo, and an Escher, plus my experience is very limited.

That said, I am not quite sure what you are trying to achieve with this poll. The number of members who own more than one finishing hone appears to be comparatively small, and out of those, probably not all are in a position to pass am empirically sound judgement. In my case, that would be because of lack of testing equipment (still looking for a cheap loupe), and experience.

My opinion is that you can definitely use the coticule as a finishing stone. But it will leave room for improvement. One of the cheapest improvements is Chrome ox from Chris on a strop.

The could not / would not are separate option imo.
I could use a coticule as a finisher. I did it for a while with good results.
But I would not, because I like my japanese stones better.

i voted yes because i do use bbw then yellow to finish leaves a very nice edge for any one.

Voted with no, because I just got one and its very small, so I'll most likely go the Thuringian route.
It is well possible though. Buddel honed the first lot of blades for me and he uses it as a finisher. His razors are beyond doubt.

I voted yes on that. Having a few options now, I do use the coticule as a finisher sometimes. Before I got those other options I certainly used it all of the time..

I can always count on getting a good shave after finishing on a coticule. Can it be improved on? Sure, but depending on the particular razor, it may not need anything else. Even if I didn't have a Shapton, a 12K Chinese, diamond and chromium oxide pasted strops, I could still hone and get a decent shave from (almost) any razor using a coticule/BBW alone. I choose to blame those few failures on the razor.
PS-I am NOT talking about setting a bevel, here.

A yes from me as well. I know there has been some disagreement lately about the final edge a coticule yields, but mine has produced nice, smooth and irritation free shaves.

I use it (if I use it) as an intermediate hone.

James.