Thread: belgian coticules

Originally Posted by 72miura

How come you like the chrome oxide over the diamond? I am curious bout this

The diamonds are harder and faster cutting but some people feel it leaves a more scratchy, harsher edge. the chrome oxide seems to leave smoother micro-serrations than the diamond. I have heard the same thing with stones....Nortons leaving sharp edges stiations, Arkansas stones leaving rounded edge ones.

Tony

We already have the capability of producing actual jewlery-quality diamonds industrially. Same element (carbon), same crystalline structure, totally identical. As I have family connections in the mining industry, I'm well aware of what what kind of a mafia runs the biz and their dirty tricks. Ofcourse that is not uncommon. The Nikes that you are wearing and the toys that your kids are playing with were made by children in sweatshops. Too many people would do anything to make a quick buck and in a lot of cases it means exploiting the poor and vulnerable.

Originally Posted by 72miura

How come you like the chrome oxide over the diamond? I am curious bout this

For me the chrome oxide edge just feels better on my skin.

Originally Posted by dylandog

How important is it that it be free of lines or speckles? I just bought one from Howard that's a nice yellow, is supersmooth, but it has a grain to the eye alright. Looks like a hunk of Italian parmesan, faint white 'scales' on buttery yellow.

I think Tony somewhere said this kind of thing wasn't supposed to be a reliable indication of grit or quality.



Do you need a rubbing stone? Can you just wet the stone and start honing and work up the slurry?

Rubbing stones to work up a slurry are simply a fast method of generating a slurry. It is possible to work up a slurry using just water and the razor but slower.

To test the quality of the hone that you have just take a shave ready razor, hones it on the stone and then shave test the razor. Repeat the honing several times if necessary to obtain a definite answer.

I will not use a Belgian hone that is not absolutely uniform in color.

Ya! What he said!

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

The diamonds are harder and faster cutting but some people feel it leaves a more scratchy, harsher edge. the chrome oxide seems to leave smoother micro-serrations than the diamond. I have heard the same thing with stones....Nortons leaving sharp edges stiations, Arkansas stones leaving rounded edge ones.

Tony

Originally Posted by randydance062449

I will not use a Belgian hone that is not absolutely uniform in color.

I went to The Perfect Edge last week. I don't think Howard had a single coticule that was uniform in color. Is this a vintage/modern stone thing?

Originally Posted by 72miura

How come you like the chrome oxide over the diamond? I am curious bout this

I've tried and tried and I see no difference in the results in a comparable grit.

The fact that you can get diamond in so much finer grits must also mean something. IMO it's physically impossible for a .25 diamond not to produce a finer edge than a .5 chromium (unless the grain of the steel introduces a limitation on fineness).

If you consider the dimensions, it would also be quite incredible that you could feel a difference because of the shape of the scratch. A .5 micron paste puts about 150 scratches across a distance equal to the thickness of a hair!

I know that it sounds illogical when viewed from the perspective of scratch line size. They are so fine!
But... maybe it is the medications I take that make my skin more sensitive? For whatever reason I can tell the difference and prefer the 0.5 micron size and chrome oxide over diamond.

Just me being finicky,

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

I've tried and tried and I see no difference in the results in a comparable grit.

The fact that you can get diamond in so much finer grits must also mean something. IMO it's physically impossible for a .25 diamond not to produce a finer edge than a .5 chromium (unless the grain of the steel introduces a limitation on fineness).

If you consider the dimensions, it would also be quite incredible that you could feel a difference because of the shape of the scratch. A .5 micron paste puts about 150 scratches across a distance equal to the thickness of a hair!

I think it reflects a lack of quality control on the part of the quarry or their perspective on what is important. Frankly, I do not believe that straight razor users are a noticeable part of their customer base.
The imperfections in the stones would probably be of no consequence to someone sharpening a knife or a plane blade so the quarry may not regard this as a defect

Just muttering out loud,

Originally Posted by dylandog

I went to The Perfect Edge last week. I don't think Howard had a single coticule that was uniform in color. Is this a vintage/modern stone thing?

Originally Posted by randydance062449

maybe it is the medications I take that make my skin more sensitive?

That's something we have in common. I alwyas thought I had sensitive skin, but then I found I had a skin condition, and I now use medication.

If you look back a few posts, I mention the GlassStones. I did find a difference in smoothness between the 16K and coticule/Escher. The grit difference is not that great there. So, you may have something there. Or maybe we're both too finicky.