Here we go again... coticule thread

[PA23-250]

I really like finishing on lather after water. I've quit using it dry as I don't get much feedback that way. I agree w/ Bart about it being like dry sexual intercourse!Not that fun.

I'm also playing around w/ using a bit of pressure on water after coming off the slurry (similar to when starting out on slurry), then backing off to normal pressure as soon as I feel the edge start to bite. Feedback is great. From there, light->ultra-light laps on water & 10-20 ultra light laps on lather to finish. Did the trick for a nice Sheffield wedge I got @ an antique store the other day. It atea 2-day beard (the hardest for me) even after I'd applied way too much pre-shave oil--to the detriment of the shave.

They also had a Dubl Duck, but the scales touched the blade enough to make it sing when opened. The blade was straight, though.

[blade13]

PA23-250 - I am after a 8 x 3 coticule as well. Would you mind telling me where you sourced yours from? Thanks mate.

[radaddict]

...They also had a Dubl Duck, but the scales touched the blade enough to make it sing when opened. The blade was straight, though.

If I may take a few steps left of the topic of this thread for a moment...

Warped scales are rather notorious on Dubl Ducks I believe. Sometimes you can straighten them out with a bit of gentle heat and cautious persuasion. Of course you can always re-scale a blade in good shape (well, I suppose you could re-scale a blade in awful shape too, but what would be the point). So, you may want to go back and get that Duck. Dubl Ducks in good shape should never be allowed to languish and an antique shop.

We now return to your regularly scheduled topic - the coticule I believe.

[PA23-250]

Blade13: I got mine from Vintage Blades. They're all select grade, med-soft, hand selected by Rob @ the quarry for use on razors.

The Duck blade was straight w/ no corrosion @ all--they were asking $70 for it. Is that price OK, or should I try to talk them down a bit? (It's a Goldedge, FYI)

Now back to these Belgians!

[radaddict]

Blade13: I got mine from Vintage Blades. They're all select grade, med-soft, hand selected by Rob @ the quarry for use on razors.

The Duck blade was straight w/ no corrosion @ all--they were asking $70 for it. Is that price OK, or should I try to talk them down a bit? (It's a Goldedge, FYI)

Now back to these Belgians!

$70. for a Goldedge, depending on hone wear etc., may not be bad IMO, but I would certainly try to bargain them down on the price. You may want to raise this as a separate topic so this thread doesn't get sidetracked. That way folks with more experience than I with Ducks can chime in.

In an effort to make this post relevant to this thread... I have a new coticule waiting for me on my doorstep (also from Vintage Blades) that I intend to use to tune up my DD Goldedge. Info in this thread (and others) contributed to my decision to buy one.

[Bart]

I'm also playing around w/ using a bit of pressure on water after coming off the slurry (similar to when starting out on slurry), then backing off to normal pressure as soon as I feel the edge start to bite. Feedback is great. From there, light->ultra-light laps on water & 10-20 ultra light laps on lather to finish.

That's an interesting approach. SRP member Rajagra (if I'm not mistaken) mentioned something similar a while back. He (and I too) believes that the blade would flex a bit under the pressure. When you release the pressure, it flexes back on the very tip, which allows that tip to easily gain additional sharpness. In its very essence, the trick with the layer of tape aims for the same: to divert all honing power to the very tip to the bevel, exactly where the sharpness resides.
I think it's a sound idea, and when I find more time, I surely am going to experiment with it too.

Best regards,
Bart.

[PA23-250]

Just test-shaved my TI--one of the closest shaves I've ever gotten from it, entirely without pasting! When shaving though, it was weird: it felt very smooth, but "less sharp" than before. In fact, I could see more stubble remaining after each pass, which lead me to do too much touching up--to the point where, w/ synthetic stones, I'd have irritated myself severely. Here the bay rum burnt a little more than usual, but it wasn't that bad. (The smoothness of these edges continues to amaze me. My face feels great now.

(I later remembered I'd gotten a very close shave yesterday w/ my wedge, so that phenomenon is normal for me (the subsequent shave seeming less close while actually shaving.) After shaving though, it was BBS!
This was my always-wants-to-be-pasted blade, too. I'm starting to wonder if I actually need to use crox anymore... So far, the edges off the stone have been superior once I changed my technique slightly. We will see.

[gary haywood]

I can onestly say i get great shaves of the yellow coticules with ease due to barts methods. I tryed naniwas tonight for a change but now i'm use to coti i will stick with the belgiums. Just having to mess about from one hone to another then clean them up and put them back and noing which hone to go back to if the shave is'nt quite there at least with coti you can just go back to fine slurry and start again. Just orderd a very fast cutting coticule from bart he tryed and tested it so that should help set my bevels if needed.

[FloorPizza]

That's an interesting approach. SRP member Rajagra (if I'm not mistaken) mentioned something similar a while back. He (and I too) believes that the blade would flex a bit under the pressure. When you release the pressure, it flexes back on the very tip, which allows that tip to easily gain additional sharpness. In its very essence, the trick with the layer of tape aims for the same: to divert all honing power to the very tip to the bevel, exactly where the sharpness resides.
I think it's a sound idea, and when I find more time, I surely am going to experiment with it too.

Best regards,
Bart.

I found that using a bit of pressure then relaxing off to weight-of-blade worked very well on the Shaptons, too. Sometimes, it seemed like the Shaptons would just flat out refuse to start abrading a blade until you forced it to with a bit of pressure. After that, you could relax to zero pressure and the Shapton would give you great "OK, I'm still working here" feedback until it was done, at which point you'd get the same "nothing's getting done here" feedback you got at the start. That was one nice thing about the Shaps... great feedback.