Loving my coticule

Well I decided to have a play with my new coticule today. Bart over at Coticule.be believes it to be from "La Nouvelle Veine" and as such is a slow stone.

I went for the Unicot method in which you deliberately dull the razor then start the honing without taping the spine but once the bevel is properly set you tape it to create a micro bevel (or at least that's as I understand it).

Unfortunately being a slow stone forming the bevel was a challenge that I wasn't winning and I was starting to get rather disappointed that the slurry on my slow stone remained so light indicating that it was removing very little metal.

Eventually I gave up and set the bevel using my King Combo stone; 40 half strokes on the 1000grit side with slurry then 20 laps without slurry then 20 laps on the 6000 side with slurry then 20 on just water. I then raised a slurry on the Coti and did about 30 laps on a thick slurry, then taped and did 30 laps on a light slurry then 60ish on just water.

After stropping the HHT seemed OK and I waited to do the shave test until this evening fully expected to have to head back the the hones.

The result - WOW! I have a couple or pro-honed razors and my edge was pretty darn close. Clearly the challenge is for me to repeat this result but I was totally astounded by the smooth, sharp result. A bad workman may blame his tools but in this case I reckon the good tools made for a good job!

I have a La nouvelle Veine also but mine is very fast on slurry and slow on water.
Maybe we could see some pictures of the stone! Great job!

pictures you say? :D

Here you are....
http://i51.tinypic.com/11u9u0k.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/5mk9aq.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/vcywxh.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/210j248.jpg

Ah ha, yes I've seen that one before, nice stone! Is the surface texture from the wheel at Ardennes or is that smooth to the touch? Its way different looking on the top compared to mine.

its smooth and apperntly there are both slow and fast sides of the vein.

True, I use mine for mainly finishing because I love the slow edge off mine on water.

Jelts,

Congratulations on your success. I have a La Dressante au Blue and have been very happy with the results. The Unicot method has been great and now I have had success with the Dilucot.

Enjoy you learning.

Best Regards,

Lu

Yes congrats! I understand from the guys at coticule.be that honing with a coticule has quite a learning curve, just like straight shaving. Unicot doesn't sound like the easiest honing method, well done on your first attempt!

Also i understand that coticules are not always the best way to go if you want to set a new bevel. So no worries there i would say, keep it up!

I honed a NOS Seehund with the Coticule earlier. I'd tried just stropping and shaving and it was OK but not great after a quick hone it was much sharper but still didn't feel as smooth as it could, I understand that sometimes is the case with the 1st shave but if it persists I'll give it a full start to finish honing.

I'm a beginner to honing so I don't know about a steep curve it just seems to work :o

It may be that I've lucked out with a particularly hard stone which is more suited to finishing than a start to finish honing system but my aim is just to maintain my own razors so whatever works I'll stick to.

IME some razors are more easily honed to shave ready than others. Some razors seem to hone more readily on one stone, or series of stones than on other stones. Like Babe Ruth, he didn't hit a home run every time he went to bat. Some are more difficult than others but keep working at it. If you get frustrated put it up and come back to it when you feel refreshed. That is my routine anyway. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jeltz

(...)Unfortunately being a slow stone forming the bevel was a challenge that I wasn't winning and I was starting to get rather disappointed that the slurry on my slow stone remained so light indicating that it was removing very little metal.

Eventually I gave up and set the bevel using my King Combo stone; 40 half strokes on the 1000grit side with slurry then 20 laps without slurry then 20 laps on the 6000 side with slurry then 20 on just water. I then raised a slurry on the Coti and did about 30 laps on a thick slurry, then taped and did 30 laps on a light slurry then 60ish on just water. (...)

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The golden rule I was advised is to quit trying to set the bevel on a coticule, if it takes more than 15 minutes. It indicates that the blade needs a more serious correction on a coarse 1k-ish stone. From it, you can pick it up back on a coticule.

Also, when you're working on a bevel using heavier slurry, remember that it removes steel and dulls the edge at the same time. So if you try to shave arm hair straight off thick slurry, chances are you will never hit it. Dilute it to milky consistency, work on it a bit, and check again.

best regards,
Matt

All I've read about La Nouvelle would indicate if you have the slow end of the vein, it might not be the hot tip for womb to tomb coti work, but with alot of patience and alot of strokes or circles, the finish might be impressive.

I agree that bevel sets are not the coti's forte. They do it. They work. There's better ways.

My experience is limited to the La Petite Blanche, and not much time on it. It's fairly fast on slurry and water - darkens either in 15-22 strokes. I don't have any method that takes a blade from a set bevel to 8k+ faster. I'm used to Norton 1/4k, Nani 8k. This stone works faster, and the edge feels more keen than the Nani.

I'm still working the dilution process, and have yet to have an edge that approaches the N-asagi, if that's possible at all. 'Just paying my dues to do the work and develop the skills for now. The pay's not that good, but it's great work! :)