Thread: Stainless Steel Razors

I guess in the end it's just a matter of how sharp the blade is. I will try my best to get it honed soon.

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Coticule edges will never get sharp enough to satisfy me. I can't say about you.

I find that a remarkable remark, taking into account that the Coticule has been a standard hone in Western Europe for a very long time. Additionally, it is still one of the two hones du jour in the German forums, and I personally find it safe to assume that the guys there know what they are doing.

That said, I recently gave a friend, who hones professionally, two razors for testing. Because I do not trust my own judgment, what with me only having 30 months' and maybe 150 razors' experience. One razor had been honed on a Coticule exclusively, the other on Naniwas, an Escher, and diamond spray.

His first remark was, 'Razor 2 is much sharper than razor 1." Quite right. He then shaved with them, only to realise that sharp is not everything, ie the Coticule edge performed most nicely. Right now, the vast majority of my razors has been honed on Coticules, while a few others were honed by Lynn, Max, and gugi. Yes, the latter feel sharper, but they perform just as well as the ones off Coticules.

So, coming back to my initial remark, if you can't get a decent edge off a Coticule, you are apparently lacking experience with this particular stone. Because apparently, it can be done. Which, as we all know, does not mean anybody can do it - which, in turn, is what makes the Coticule a less than ideal choice for beginners, but also an interesting challenge for people who are willing to donate a lot of time and effort. It has certainly piqued my curiosity, but I would not recommend it based on that.

Just to clarify. I never spent much time on the coticule. I spent about 10 minutes on it jut with water touching up the edge. And yes it did shave alot better. I didn't want to spend too much time on it because I know that work should be left with someone who knows much more than me.

What I did do tho was put a better edge on it than when I first got it. But like I said it's not as good as it could be and don't want to chance that kin of major work myself and risk ruining the razor.

I suggest you find someone competent at honing for that razor. Never mind the type of hone, if he knows what he's doing, you will get a good shaving edge.

[QUOTE=BeBerlin;600091]

So, coming back to my initial remark, if you can't get a decent edge off a Coticule, you are apparently lacking experience with this particular stone. /QUOTE]

I can get wonderful edge from right coticule which is 1 /200 chance to get one .I have 8 years experience with coticules.
I don't think i have lacking experience with that particular stone.
Too much quality differences among them.
if you got right coticule you don't have to be some special experienced person to use it.
Problem starts when you don't have quality coticule(most cases)
That is why so many people struggles with it.
This is my opinion.

We're going to be swimming in circles here. I know two gentlemen with more than 40 years' experience with Coticules. I am a member of two forums with hundreds of people who use them successfully. This forum is focussed on hones, synthetics in particular. There are many good reasons to use them, most notably their predictability. However, your refusal to accept that many people get perfect edges off of Coticules strikes me as somewhat counter intuitive.

Craftsmen, tools, and all that...

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

It seems like i am the only Person who has different opinion on this issue.
I do Believe SS STEEL blade will not get as sharp as carbon steel blades.
This is my Personal opinion.
This doesn't mean SS blade will not get sharp enough to get comfortable shave . It can be done very easily.
i have and honed some SS blades. i was never able to get edge what i like from them.
Edge gets sharp enough to give you ok shave but not the wonderful shave which some people looks for.
Just my 0.2 cent.

I'm with you on the Stainless issue, Be it kitchen knives or razors I have yet to get as good an edge from stainless as I can get on a carbon edge.

Because of the properties of grain size and growth in stainless (few small grain stailess steels out there) it's hard to get that super fine edge. I'd only consider a custom in stainless as I would know what steel was used and know what to expect from that edge.

Thats all from me...

Well i emailed Lynn to see if he could hone the friodur for me, i figure if anyone can do it he can. Hope hes not too busy and able to get back to me soon.

Good thing i just got 2 new razors in the mail today! that way while that is gone ill still have an amazing straight razor shave

I have this notion that stainless steel’s potential in razors has never been fully explored.

Consider- stainless steel was just coming into its own when straight razors were falling from use.

Consider also that of those companies that make straight razors, stainless models make up but a small portion of their product line. I suspect that they take an off the shelf inox alloy and then than stamp and grind, harden and hone using the same patterns and tools that they use for their regular steel razors. The end result is good but is it making the best use of stainless?

Who knows? And it probably doesn’t matter. Regular steel razors are more or less perfect in their evolution. Straight razor shavers are by nature old fashioned and probably aren’t concerned with the latest technology (except when it comes to soap).

Besides, I’ve never had a razor rust.

good thread!

Kirk