Thread: Leo's Daddy Learns to Hone (picture heavy)

Nice post Leo's Daddy.

You've got me drooling over a coticule...and some hendricks.

Great PICS.

robert

What's that you say? You want to see more pics of the massive 7/8 stainless steel "inox" Pistachio Friodur as compared to the 11/16 Wonderedge?

Check it out:









Created, scaled, polished and HONED by the Great and Powerful Mad Maximilian, my hero.

More tomorrow, friends!

First, the pictures are a great help.

Your slurry is too thick. Milk, not curdled cream. The first picture showed a perfect slurry. Then you thickened it excessively. This dulled the edge faster than it honed the bevel.

There should be a layer of tape on the spine when you hone with the slurry. Where is it?


"When it starts to shave arm hair" is not the same as "when it is barely shaving some arm hair at a steep angle."

Read and follow the instructions more carefully. Milky slurry, tape (first one layer, then two), armhair test (= easily wiping hair away at the same angle you will be using to shave) only.

You said you would try the Unicot method one time. You have not done that yet. Correct the errors above, try it again, and post, please.

This is a good thread

Although, you shouldn't use the TNT after you finish honing your razor. TNT should only be used to determine if the bevel is set initially. Doing it later will only kill any edge you have on there.

@Bart - regarding the Unicot method, I know you say that at the end you put the secondary bevel on, but is this the only way you will get good results from this method? I've tried using the Unicot method, and didn't put a secondary bevel on the razor, but I did follow it up with my C12k, and then CrOx on the BBW (in a stropping fashion) and have gotten great results.

Was just curious if you had any info you could pass on about that Bart

Damn, you guys are quick with your replies! I meant Thumb PAD test, not Thumb NAIL test. Edited OP. Stupid mistake, sorry.

Originally Posted by pcb01

Your slurry is too thick. Milk, not curdled cream. The first picture showed a perfect slurry. Then you thickened it excessively. This dulled the edge faster than it honed the bevel.

Probably correct. I have nothing to say to this. I'm glad you liked my first picture! I'll shoot for that next time.

Originally Posted by pcb01

There should be a layer of tape on the spine when you hone with the slurry. Where is it?

Huh? Nuh-uh, dude, not with the Unicot method on coticule.be.

Originally Posted by pcb01

"When it starts to shave arm hair" is not the same as "when it is barely shaving some arm hair at a steep angle."

I clearly need clarification on this point, as I obviously didn't set the bevel correctly.

Originally Posted by pcb01

Read and follow the instructions more carefully. Milky slurry, tape (first one layer, then two)

Two layers of tape? Not on the instructions I'm reading. Maybe you're talking about a different Unicot method than is on coticule.be. I'm going to try the one-layer-tape method first I think. But thanks for your observation!

Originally Posted by pcb01

armhair test (= easily wiping hair away at the same angle you will be using to shave) only.

Bart, say something please. Did you mean when it FIRST starts to shave hair (like you wrote on top of your armhair test footage in the video), or when it EASILY shaves hair?

I (and likely all the other noobs) need better instruction re: how to tell when bevel-setting is complete. Please elaborate.

The Unicot directions I have, which I think were originally posted by Bart on this site, say to use one layer of tape with steps one and two (slurry, slightly diluted slurry), then two layers for the very dilute slurry and the water-only passes. Maybe the directions on his website differ.

I've given you my interpretation of what Bart meant with "starting to shave arm hair," I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean the blade is "thinking" about shaving arm hair.

At any rate, I'm sure he will post soon and offer his advice about your slurry, the arm hair test, etc. And I will certainly defer to his opinions.

I just re-read the Unicot directions I have. You are correct -- Bart does not direct the use of tape until the final two steps of the method.

I guess I need to back off telling you to follow the directions exactly when I have not been doing so myself!

At any rate, it is how I've been doing it, probably because I always use tape. It has worked well for me this way, but clearly you were doing it correctly.

You did everything correct, except on thing: You stopped on slurry too soon. Dragging it over glass twice, you've set back the edge more than necessary. No harm, but it just take a bit longer before the bevel is fully extended again.
It is a conditio sine qua non for having success with the secondary bevel.

I think it's a linguistic question. I don't speak English. If I wrote somewhere "as soon as the edge shaves arm hair", I meant (quote from my website) "Continue doing this, till the razor manages to shave arm hair. Only then, proceed to the next step." The stress is not on "as soon", but I rather meant not before you can shave arm hair along the entire edge. Certainly for a very first attempt, you can rather do a bit too much work than calling it good enough.

I realize you will not try it again, but regardless what you might try next: if there is the least indication that something might not be as it should be, then you must not move on to the next step. Wishful thinking has never honed a razor.

Those Dubl'Ducks are easy to hone, you will get it right soon enough. You've started a secondary bevel now. You either must do the next attempt with tape, or remove that double bevel. It doesn't take long.


Kind regards,
Bart.

Is it necessary to use tape, or can the whole process be done without any?

I have a coticule bout and a separate BBW, however no slurry stones. Can a BBW be used to raise slurry on a coticule and vice versa?


Thanks

Maurice

Originally Posted by Bart

I realize you will not try it again, but regardless what you might try next: if there is the least indication that something might not be as it should be, then you must not move on to the next step. Wishful thinking has never honed a razor.

Oh, I'll try again! This time I buggered up the technique, it was no failure of the technique itself. So I will try it again until I get it right. But I will certainly run it over a bottle again (once) and start from the beginning. I don't see any sense fussing with a secondary bevel that's set over a crappy primary bevel.

Thanks for your words of encouragement!

"Wishful thinking has never honed a razor". Heh. Nice one.