Thread: Coticules for Dummies

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Some people cannot use any "Hair" tests well, try the older tests too, use the TNT off the 1k, then watch Lynn's JaNorton video and watch and listen to his TPT it is about as perfect as it gets...

We all thought the Arm hair test was awesome right up until the 2009 NC meet up when we found a guy that could not get his arm hair to cut right even with a shave ready edge when all the rest of us could...

You can shave much better than you think with a well set 1k bevel, by 4k you should be "shaving sharp" and by 8k you should be "shave ready" (grit rating for equivalency only)

LOL thank god I thought I was the only one! I have had 4 blades honed by Lynn that shave amazingly, but wont pop hair above skin level. None of the razors that I have honed popped hair above skin level either but shave very well. I rely Heavily on the TNT and TPT when honing and thought maybe I just wasnt doing the HHT and arm hair tests right (even after seeing others do it right in front of me and watching all the video's I could find). Good to know! thanks Glen

All my blades take off arm hair no problem, and shave well, but exhibit different results with the HHT , I don't rely on the HHT as any kind of indicator that a blade is shave ready, but more of a before and after comparison when stropping, I use SWMBO's hair from her brush as it's long and there's loads of it, sometimes the blade won't pop the hair at all, sometimes it pops with a 'zing' especially with an extra hollow, sometimes I get a silent pop, all the razors are finished on the same grit hone and I do my best to strop with the same round trips and pressure on linen and leather, I am beginning to think it's the hair that's the variable not the razors.

Seems it's not coticules for dummies anymore. We're no good at staying on topic I think... lol

So, to bring it back to coticules, I just "learned" mine last night.

For the past year, with coticules and otherwise, when honing, I would sit at a desk with the hone on the table, and use a modified two handed approach to honing. For some reason, while my razors got "nearly" shave ready (I'd always need 5-10 laps on diamond sprayed linen strop before I could shave comfortably) I could never shave right after honing and stropping on plain leather. This pissed me off like you wouldn't believe, and I've had many conversations on this forum trying to figure out what the issue was.

Well, I think I know now-I think that, even when I was VERY careful to not add pressure to the razor, I must have, or the pressure must have been biased toward the spine.

Whatever it was, the minute I stood up, lazily used one hand to hold the razor as I've seen glen do in his videos, used a "flip" similar to stropping, something changed. Immediately, a noticable change in the behavior and feel of the razor on the rock was evident. I felt like I knew what stage the edge was in much better than before. And lo and behold, 3 razors later, all shaving beautifully right after stropping, I am a proud, happy man On to the next stage of my training....JNats!

Originally Posted by woodsmandave

Well, I think I know now-I think that, even when I was VERY careful to not add pressure to the razor, I must have, or the pressure must have been biased toward the spine.
... And lo and behold, 3 razors later, all shaving beautifully right after stropping, I am a proud, happy man On to the next stage of my training....JNats!

I kinda thought that the pressure could be the issue here as you said that you can get your wedges to shave ready of the stone. Wedges dont bend as easily as hollow grinds. With the two hands method you are ever so slightly bending the edge of the edge up from the stone surface and not getting the final finish. Good thing that you figured this one out!

Originally Posted by MikkoK

I kinda thought that the pressure could be the issue here as you said that you can get your wedges to shave ready of the stone. Wedges dont bend as easily as hollow grinds. With the two hands method you are ever so slightly bending the edge of the edge up from the stone surface and not getting the final finish. Good thing that you figured this one out!

You really have no idea how happy I am about this new discovery. I mean, I'm good with my hands--I can tie flies, carve wood, etc...so when I feel I'm using light/no pressure on the razor, I'm confident I'm not putting pressure. (ps I said I could get '2' wedges shave ready without diamond spray - but one isn't really a wedge, just an 11/8)

Anyway, by using one hand instead of two standing up, all of a sudden I could feel more feedback from the razor...i could feel it being "grippy" and not smoothy going over the stone...you know, the point when the two edges of the bevel meet and are catching on the stone, indicating that you're done with that particular stone and need a finer grit...that feeling was never as pronounced, hardly noticable actuually, when I was sitting down and directing the blade with two hands--one directing various areas of the spine with a finger, and one holding the razor. I just can't believe it took me a whole year of weekly honing to figure this one out.

The only problem is, at least for me, that when the edge profile is a smile or maybe a slight warp, the one-handed strokes become really demanding. I find it is nearly impossible to maintain good edge contact all the way to the toe without the help of the other hand. And yes, I am a noobie, but never-the-less it is very difficult.

Thank you WoodsmanDave, you saved me a year. I tried the two hand method a couple of times and then moved on to one hand after that with better results.

I am having the same issue MikkoK. I watch the water/wave run through the first part of the blade, and then getting it to go all the way to the toe is extremely difficult. The result is an uneven bevel and a lame shave. This is going to take a lot of practice.