Thread: The Dilucot and the Hanging Hair Test

I noticed in the video that the shrill noise only appears on the back stroke, now is that true or was the sound out of synch on my computer? Either way is the shrill sound on yours on the back stroke as well and could that be because you are removing some of the pressure from the edge, so with the spine only on the stone and the edge just a hair width away it is allowing it to vibrate against the surface of the stone. This is just a theory and is not from any form of experience. This could cause microchipping.
I commend you for working through this on your own, but do not be embarrassed to accept help from these gentleman.

-G

Hello again, I'm starting another session soon.

I won't be embarrassed to ask for help, but I haven't said my last word yet

@zib: My stone is indeed a pale yellow with some black spots on the surface. As I read however, and correct me if I'm wrong, even the slow cutting coticules remove a fair amount of steel when a good slurry is raised. I think I heard it cutting (specific sound, difficult to explain) at the beginning and also there was a lot of grey dirt when I finished the first two sets of halfstrokes, so I think it's cutting alright.

@deighaingeal: Yes, I also noticed in the video that it's only on the backstroke, however for me, it only appears when the slurry is very diluted (not like in the video), and only on one side of the blade, but with forth and backstroke. As soon as I stop the halfstrokes and go to the X strokes, there's no noise anymore. So all in all, it appears on my last set of halfstrokes only and tonight, I'll try to stop the halfstrokes as soon as I feel the sound will arise and move directly to the X strokes. I'll keep you posted on how it went.

Oh, and thanks again everyone for your help, very much appreciated, I'll try to give some of that back to the beginners, as soon as I master this art (in some years?)

If you post some pictures of it, we may be able to identify the strata it comes from. The manganese inclusions (black spots) are typical of strata that cut pretty quickly. Pictures of the side and top will be helpful.

Good luck

Originally Posted by zib

I would definitely send it out, let someone fix it and get it shave ready for you. Get a ebay special to play around with your Coticule...

Getting another cheap razor to practice is a good idea. Since you live in Luxembourg, you can send your razor to Bart from coticule.be (sign in and go to "free honing service"). He can also help you to fix your problems. Sending a razor to get it honed feels wrong to me, too (I want to do things on my own!!!), but you´ll have an aim AND a shaveable razor, that will pretty sure last long enough until you managed to hone the other razor.

I asked for the linen, because it is very important to use it, when you do the Dilucot or Unicot approach. It improves the edge a lot.

Regards,
tok

@ Richmondesi

I'll try to post those pictures this evening.

Last night's session brought some results. The toe now shaves armhair quite easily, whereas the heel and middle still won't, so I have to concentrate on honing those parts alone.

I've got another question though, is it possible that although the toe shave armhair quite well now, it still feels dull on the thumbpad test? I did that test yesterday, and quite frankly, the edge penetrates the first layer(s) of skin, but there's no sticky feeling of sharpness at all.

Since I want to have a better understanding of what happens exactly to the blade during my honing sessions, I ordered a usb microscope yesterday, which should arrive in a few days, so I'll get an idea of how the blade looks and can post you some pictures of it to get you opinion on that.

Originally Posted by tok

Getting another cheap razor to practice is a good idea. Since you live in Luxembourg, you can send your razor to Bart from coticule.be (sign in and go to "free honing service"). He can also help you to fix your problems. Sending a razor to get it honed feels wrong to me, too (I want to do things on my own!!!), but you´ll have an aim AND a shaveable razor, that will pretty sure last long enough until you managed to hone the other razor.

I asked for the linen, because it is very important to use it, when you do the Dilucot or Unicot approach. It improves the edge a lot.

Regards,
tok

What he said.
If you breadknifed your razor, you are starting entirely from scratch. The one free razor honing is done with a coticule as well, so you can get some feedback about your specific razor as well (like how close was it to being shaveready, etc).

And this way you have a good idea of what to expect from your razor when you start touching it up again.

Originally Posted by Bruno

(…)The one free razor honing is done with a coticule as well, so you can get some feedback about your specific razor as well (like how close was it to being shaveready, etc).
(…)

Yes, I have another thing to add: If you talk (/write) to Bart, you could probably send your coticule to him, too. He can check it and give you recommendations how to use it exactly; I know he did that sometimes, but I think, he is packed with tons of things to do, so maybe he has no time. Asking is for free, though.

About the thumb pad test: I have a razor, that is sharpened up to 3000 grit on a Naniwa hone (that´s what the seller told me; I didn´t hone it that way). It passed the HHT (not great, but still…), but felt dull when testing with the TPT. So, yes, a razor that is able to shave arm hair can still feel dull. The arm hair test is no way to check whether a razor is shaveable, by the way.

Regards,
tok

Originally Posted by Absinthe

@ Richmondesi

I'll try to post those pictures this evening.

Last night's session brought some results. The toe now shaves armhair quite easily, whereas the heel and middle still won't, so I have to concentrate on honing those parts alone.

I've got another question though, is it possible that although the toe shave armhair quite well now, it still feels dull on the thumbpad test? I did that test yesterday, and quite frankly, the edge penetrates the first layer(s) of skin, but there's no sticky feeling of sharpness at all.

Since I want to have a better understanding of what happens exactly to the blade during my honing sessions, I ordered a usb microscope yesterday, which should arrive in a few days, so I'll get an idea of how the blade looks and can post you some pictures of it to get you opinion on that.

I'll take this a step further. One of the things I like about my coticule finishes is that it feels dull on my face. It shaves the hair away, without any discomfort at all, but it feels dull to my face. So, yes that's possible. The thing about all of these tests is that you have to develop the feel for what we're trying to convey in words. It's hard to describe a tactile sensation. You just have to work to experience it for yourself. The razor becomes stickier as it gets closer to shave ready on a coticule, IME.

I know everyone is trying to be helpful with the recommendation to send the razor out for honing, but for your stated desire to learn to do it yourself, I commend you. You may want to consider emailing Bart to see if he (or someone a little closer to you that he knows) may be willing to meet you for a hands on session, though. That really accelerated the learning process of those that I've worked with.

Hello again.

It's late, I got stuck in a snowstorm. As promised, here are two pics of my coticule, the quality isn't great, but my good camera's batteries are empty.

Can you distinguish whether it's a fast cutter or not?

Thanks for your encouraging words, I'll contact Bart after I brought this baby back to life, I'll try the shave test tomorrow!

The black spots are manganese inclusions, which I think make the hone faster. As to which layer, who knows !?

If you make a slurry on the stone and you do half-strokes, how long does it take for the slurry to turn grey ?