I don't know if this is true. I've heard the blues are very slow. Plus if the coticule is a 12K like Lynn says, it's not likely to be faster than a fast 8K, like the Norton. But I think it's all besides the point. As I see it the main reason for using the coticule is to get a finer abrasive than the 8K, so it has to be slower, and we expect it.Quote:
Originally Posted by jmorehead
I have to take this with a big grain of salt. First of all, how do they know they're removing less metal at the level of fineness of a 12K? You couldn't even tell in a microscope at 200-400x. In fact, if you look in a microscope at a lot higher magnification, every 12K stone will produce 12K scratch lines about 1 micron in depth. The scratch lines are where the material is removed. So, how could two stones with the same scratch pattern remove different amounts of material? A coticule (1 micron grit) will remove a lot less material than an 8K norton (3 micron grit) only because of the difference in scratch size. But if you could get a 12K Norton (or Shapton) they would be the same.Quote:
The answers I got were yes it IS noticeable and in addition, a lot of the older guys who are really into this said that the natural stones [get this] "tend to remove a lot less steel to get the edge" as compared to the man made stones that require more steel to be removed.
Assuming the metal removal were less, It would make no difference for all the guys here who use pyramids and wear down their razors unnecessarily at 4K and 8K.Quote:
I suppose that this is where the added price justifies the stones. If you are removing less steel to put an edge on your $200.00 Dovo, thus making it last longer, well... herein lies the justification.
Let's face it, any 12K barber hone or 1 micron paste will do the same thing. This is just another one of those luxuries that we allow ourselves (me included).