Thread: How do you use a coticule as a finishing hone?

I was going to sell my bbw/coticule because I rarely use it. But when I opened my draw of hones it sat there looking at me as if saying please don't sell me. So I have decided to keep it to use as a finishing hone.

So now I need to know, how do you use a coticule as a finishing hone and where will it fit in with my progression?

At the moment my progression starts with a 1k king stone for bevel setting. Then I go to 3k/8k Naniwa combo stone doing a pyramid. After that I do just five laps on a Shapton 12k. Would the coticule fit in after this or would it replace the Shapton? And how many laps?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Bear in mind here that my coticule is fairly small (6"x2") so I do more laps on it to compensate.

I always hone razors the same way at the start: Either 1/3/8/12k Naniwa or 1/4/8/16k Shapton depending on the grind of the razor, and then move on to my finishing stone. That'll either be the coticule, the Charnley Forest or the Maruichi.

On the coticule, I build a light slurry and do 20 laps, then I do 25 with just water. A bigger stone would require fewer laps though. I up the slurried laps to 25 on wedges as well.

That seems to work pretty well for me, and gives me a nice smooth edge. Then I just go right to the leather strop and test shave.

Hope thats of some help!

Nathan, it is time for a bit of experimentation. If you have some razors to play around with there are a number of ways to use that coticule. You could set the bevel on your 1k and do your pyramid on your naniwa combo. Follow that with the yellow with water only and do 30 strokes and see how it feels on the TPT and/or popping hair. If it doesn't seem to be getting better flip it over and do some laps on the blue with slurry until it will pop arm hair. When it feels right go back to the yellow with water only. Work with that until it is where you want to be.

Alternatively you can set your bevel on your 1k and then go to the blue with slurry followed by the yellow with water. Number of laps determined by how he edge feels on the TPT and arm or leg hair popping as you go. For yet another alternative you could do Bart's heavy slurry on the yellow to set a bevel and then continue, diluting the slurry as you go, until the edge is sharp and finished.

I have also taken a razor with the bevel well set on a 1k and generated a thin slurry on a coticule with a greenish hue. Worked on the coticule side only and diluted as I went and came up with a very fine shaving edge. Part of the fun of hones is discovery through experimentation. You have to give the hone and yourself a chance by getting to know them. For me that process is part of the fascination of shaving with straight razors.

I use mine mainly as a touch up hone. When the razor drags I do a few laps on the yellow with soap (mine is small so between 50 to 100), diamond paste and then leather. Sometimes I finish on the blue side (from 50 to 200) - I find the edge a little smoother.

Jimmy is right, it's really going to depend on how your coticule works; you'll have to play around to see. When I use mine, I use it with just water after my Naniwa 8k.

I am no expert at all. But my father shaves using a Wilkinson that is like a cutthroat DE removable blades job by Dunhill, he has a large Belgian stone and a Rubber with it, he sharpened my blunt Dovo with it by using the Rubber in water to build the slurry and doing strokes back and forth, unusually he lifts ( he sort of lifts it moves the slurry ready for the next stroke using the back of the razor and a sort of swirl to distribute it around the stone) the razor after the stroke using the back very quickly pushes the slurry slightly to the opposite direction so when he lays the blade flat it is running in to the slurry. He did this using lighter pressure, diluted a little water and used just water, it was slicing hair of the top of his wrist at this point, stropped it when I got home and its been shaving me for the past few months, I have purchased a Belgian plus rubber as my only hone. He learned of his dad who I imagine learned of his or the local barber!

I use slurry and finish on water only.
How many laps depend on the individual stone.

shapton 12k?

Depending on what I did prior to using the coticule, I either use it with slurry then dilute to slurry, or just with water. If I'm following an 8k, then I use only water, same if I come off of the BBW. But if I want to do more aggressive work with the coticule, then use a slurry.

But since you already have a line up of synthetics to use, and asked how to use a coticule as a finishing hone, I would say just use it with water and see how it goes. Also I doubt you'd need to use the Shapton 12k (pro series I assume, since there is no 12k in the glass series) if you're going to use the coti to finish. You could probably get away with using the coti just after the 8k.

But, it really depends on the coti. There are variations in speed and fineness among them, some leaving slightly different finishes than others (an in different amounts of laps), so you really just have to try it out.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

you can set your bevel on your 1k and then go to the blue with slurry followed by the yellow with water. Number of laps determined by how he edge feels on the TPT and arm or leg hair popping as you go.

You have to give the hone and yourself a chance by getting to know them. For me that process is part of the fascination of shaving with straight razors.

Ditto ditto ditto...

The method Jimmy listed here is the method I use for honing my razors, but it really comes down to experimentation. You're going to find differences in natural stones, so the shave tells the story.

That said, I go through a BBW/Coticule progression, and I get great shaves right off of the coticule with water. I must admit though, I like messing with the hone, and different techniques. I used to do lots of rolling strokes and honing acrobatics to push an edge, but I've found myself settling in to the normal x-stroke for 95% of things... the trick for me was to focus on not jumping up in grit until the edge is ready across the entire edge.

When I'm evaluating the finish left by the coticule... it really comes down to a quick shave test... add 20 laps or so, and repeat until it's dialed in.

Good Luck, I think you'll love your coticule once you're comfortable with it.

Dave