#14 and #25 found their home!

[Matt]

Hooray, gentlemen!!! :w00t:

Since yesterday I have been a proud owner of two pieces of yellowish rock that we covet so much Didn't have time to shoot some pics yet - or rather I was more eager to try them than to shoot them. Probably started way too ambitiously, trying to set a bevel (well, first was some crude work with fine Arkansas, and then I went on with the harder of my Cotis) from the very scratch. Very very, I mean it - 'cause it's a case of a Wapi that I initially had intended to sell - uneven edge, so it required solid breadknifing, after which you can safely give out your razor as a dummy for filmmaking, or so. :

It was pretty late, so I even didn't finish setting the bevel, though edge started to give some signs of sharpness at the heel and at the point, middle being the most blunt and still shining brightly when "edge" was pointed towards the light. That made me wonder, if I was unintentionally giving more attention to both ends, or rather it was an effect of heavy breadknifing - the middle was the area where the most steel during had been removed.

So far for my results, but the feeling, ahhh! #14 was described by Bart as giving less feedback than "traditional" Coti does, so I wonder what is waiting for me with another hone And - it amazes me no one pointed it out yet, or I didn't find it anywhere - the smell!! The raised slurry smells so ...hmm natural, it reminds me something of plaster, clay - well, very earthy smells

Speaking of slurry.

1. 
   [li]#25 came with what seems to be the same layer, and speaking frankly I was expecting that so will be the case with #14 - I thought it's a general rule when you buy a stone you get a slurry stone that goes with it. However it seems (to my inexperienced eye) that both slurries are of the same layer, which with #14 makes a combination of a hard stone and a softer slurry stone - I wonder how and to what extent it will affect how the stone works?[/li]
   [li]Upon closer inspection I found that there is no even edge between yellow layers and the gray thing on the other side, but they are naturally connected - thicker there, thinner there. Comparison showed that this part is more bluishly-violet than shist under the Cotis. Additionally it has some more kind of flaky structure, a little like Chinese stones (unlapped bottom side of course). So am I a lucky owner of combo slurry stones? If so, does it make any sense to work BBW slurry on a Coti? Sorry if this has been answered somewhere else.[/li]

Ahh, I was intending to give just a short description. Apprentice's enthusiasm :

cheers!
Matt

 

[StraightRazorDave]

Matt, thanks for that little write-up!

You sound very exciting, and believe me, I know EXACTLY how you feel. :thumbup:

It does sound like you got a couple of combo slurry stone, especially since you said the division between the colours was unever and the bottom was bluish-violet. Sounds like BBW on the bottom to me!

I just looked at both of your new stones in the vault, they both look so different! I'm sure you will have fun using both of them as they sound/look quite different. That's the thing about a natural stone, they're all so unique!

If you are trying to set a bevel on a razor you just breadknifed, you may be giving yourself a lot of work on the coti if you plan to use only that. Do you have a DMT? You could always just use a DMT 1200 or a low grit hone to do the brute work when setting the bevel on a razor that was breadknifed. It's really up to you, but you could save yourself some garnets.

Enjoy the new stones! I plan on reading more great experiences with them as you get more acquinted with your two new little yellow (or reddish in the case of #14) friends.

Dave

 

[towliff]

Sounds like your having fun there!

I agree with Dave, sounds like a combo Try it out once you have set the bevel and can barely shave arm hair. Raise a good slurry on the BBW and give it 30 laps then water it down (more so than you would in the dilicot method) and give it another 30. You should find it shaves arm hair a treat - thats how I realised I had a combo. I wasnt getting good results and could barely get it shaving arm hair, so checked the stone, seemed like a combo and thought hey....cant loose anything by giving it a go - my only razor isnt shaving anymore and it needs to get sharp!

Once you raise slurry it should be fairly obvious, a really deep shade of purple is what I found - almost good enough to paint with! No wonder ardennes sells the BBW dust to the cosmetic industry B)

 

[Bart]

I agree with Dave. If you removed part of the edge by "breadknifing" it, then it's going to be out of practical range of a Coticule. I recommend to work on ca 320 grit (DMT rules, but sandpaper works too)all the way till you have a completebevel again. Tape the spine to protect it during this part of the work. The edge will cary a coarse sawtooth pattern, but that doesn't matter at this point. Next 600 grit. Same deal. Off 600 grit the edge will shave armhair very well, because it has teeth to aid the cut. Teeth that your face would not like. Now it's time to remove the protective tape and start working at the Coticule. Pre-dull with one downstroke on glass stroke, repeat if it still shaves your arm hair (it actually depends on your type of armhair, whether you need to repeat this or not). Half strokes on slurry, from here on, till the bevel is fully set. It won't take long, because you're only resetting the angle from on layer of tape to no tape and removing 600 grit scratches. In absence of 600 grit, it also works from 320 grit, but I recommend to repeat the Coticule step twice, to make sure you're past the 320-grit scratches and teeth.

Hooray, gentlemen!!! :w00t:
So far for my results, but the feeling, ahhh! #14 was described by Bart as giving less feedback than "traditional" Coti does, so I wonder what is waiting for me with another hone And - it amazes me no one pointed it out yet, or I didn't find it anywhere - the smell!! The raised slurry smells so ...hmm natural, it reminds me something of plaster, clay - well, very earthy smells

Indeed for the olfactory inclined, Coticules are addictive.

Speaking of slurry.

1. 
   [li]#25 came with what seems to be the same layer, and speaking frankly I was expecting that so will be the case with #14 - I thought it's a general rule when you buy a stone you get a slurry stone that goes with it. However it seems (to my inexperienced eye) that both slurries are of the same layer, which with #14 makes a combination of a hard stone and a softer slurry stone - I wonder how and to what extent it will affect how the stone works?[/li]

1. 
   It does affect the honing to some extent, but since finishing is done on slurry, it does not matter all that much. There's a reason why you received combination slurry-stones...
   

   [li]Upon closer inspection I found that there is no even edge between yellow layers and the gray thing on the other side, but they are naturally connected - thicker there, thinner there. Comparison showed that this part is more bluishly-violet than shist under the Cotis. Additionally it has some more kind of flaky structure, a little like Chinese stones (unlapped bottom side of course). So am I a lucky owner of combo slurry stones? If so, does it make any sense to work BBW slurry on a Coti? Sorry if this has been answered somewhere else.[/li]

   Because I sort of whispered in Maurice Celis' ear to include slurry stones of the "La Veinette Layer" or the "La Petite Blanche Layer" for razor honing. In particular for the Dilucot method, I have the distinct impression those provide the "easiest" slurry to get good edge refinement. And they're both layers with high garnet content. Maybe they send you one of each? Pictures will tell.
   
   Best regards,
   Bart.

 

[Paul]

I agree. The smell of honing on a coticule is addictive

 

[Matt]

Hello,

Gentlemen, thank you for all this feedback

I agree with Dave. If you removed part of the edge by "breadknifing" it, then it's going to be out of practical range of a Coticule. I recommend to work on ca 320 grit (DMT rules, but sandpaper works too)all the way till you have a complete bevel again.

Seems like you missed the part where I was writing about doing the bevel work initially on an Arkansas hone. Nevertheless after having read all the advice I realised I moved to the Coti too hastily. Unfortunately I don't have a DMT, so I'll stick with this Arkansas and maybe sandpaper, too.

There's a reason why you received combination slurry-stones... (...) Because I sort of whispered in Maurice Celis' ear to include slurry stones of the "La Veinette Layer" or the "La Petite Blanche Layer" for razor honing. In particular for the Dilucot method, I have the distinct impression those provide the "easiest" slurry to get good edge refinement. And they're both layers with high garnet content. Maybe they send you one of each? Pictures will tell.
Best regards,
Bart.

Now - wow :w00t: - this is something you wouldn't expect, would you? I'll post pictures ASAP.

regards,
Matt

 

[Matt]

SWEET VANILLA FROM MANILA!!! :w00t:


I got back from work yesterday with a strong determination to tackle this Wapi of mine. Following your precious advice I started setting the bevel on 400 sandpaper (actually I did this a few days earlier, too, but again moved to the Coti too soon :| ), then moved to 800 and 1600 or 2000, don't even know exactly what grit was the finest paper. The razor started to shave arm hair, so...

...so, I raised reddish slurry on my harder Coti and started working. I initially wanted to get a single bevel with dilucot, but after some time decided - heck, I'll have time for mastering it, let's go for a secondary bevel and see where it will take me. I took the second Coti for this, had some more strokes on water and went to a bathroom...

Okay, this (obviously) wasn't the top notch honing, I'd describe the sharpness as a dispo after at least two or three shaves, nevertheless Wapi was doing its job. I instantly noticed the smooth feeling the edge gave, no irritation at all! :w00t: I managed to tackle what I nicknamed my "pits of doom" effortlessly and painlessly. These are two places on both sides of my neck, which are notoriously concave - no matter how I stretch, pull or whatever - they're always sunken, I've no fat on my neck to help me with this (and rather don't wait to get some ). Until now reaching those places never felt too comfy. I had to do some touch ups with another shave ready razor, especially during XTG pass, however I even managed to do some ATG strokes with my freshly almost-honed straight - skin is in perfect condition!

Well... I have never had so comfortable (in terms of skin sensation) shave! After I was done I thought to myself - hm, do I really need after shave? Sure I used it, but this gives you the idea of how mellow shave it was. I lost over 10 years of my life on torturing my skin, how fantastic it feels to have a shave without in-growns, spots, itch, burn etc. Of course, moving to straight razor shaving was a gigantic leap forward, but I had no idea it could be taken so far to a new level. It really excites me to think what can be achieved with more experience... Wooohooo!!

And the feeling of doing it all by yourself, oh man... :thumbup:

regards,
Matt

PS. Still no pictures, but I promise I'll shoot them!

 

[Bart]

Great work. :thumbup:

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Go Matt Go!!! :thumbup:

 

[Matt]

Thanks, folks.

Sir Bart, could you please drop just a few lines about these combination slurry stones? When do I need slurry from the Blue part? Is this for extra delicate slurry (less garnets) or what? I can't make it out.

kind regards,
Matt

 

[Bart]

Thanks, folks.

Sir Bart, could you please drop just a few lines about these combination slurry stones? When do I need slurry from the Blue part? Is this for extra delicate slurry (less garnets) or what? I can't make it out.

kind regards,
Matt

BBW side is of raising slurry on a BBW. Yellow side is for raising slurry on the Coticule side.
There 's not much more to be said.

Best regards,
Bart.

 

[Matt]

Ahh, as simple as that. Thank you!

kind regards,
Matt

 

[Matt]

PS. Still no pictures, but I promise I'll shoot them!

OK, I keep my word and finally posting shots of them.

This is #25:

This is reddish #14:

And these are slurry stones:

Combination for sure, ain't they. Although useless as long as I don't have BBW...

kind regards,
Matt

 

[Bart]

The narrow slurry stone is from "La Petite Blanche". The other one is from "La Veinette".

:thumbup:
Bart.

 

[Matt]

Thank you Bart, this is amazing (just a glimpse on two small pieces and bang, this one's X, this one's Y) . Any differences I should expect from each particular one, if you were that kind? Of course, if it does matter at all at my current skills.

kind regards,
Matt

 

[Bart]

Thank you Bart, this is amazing (just a glimpse on two small pieces and bang, this one's X, this one's Y) . Any differences I should expect from each particular one, if you were that kind? Of course, if it does matter at all at my current skills.

kind regards,
Matt

Those are not hard to determine. Both are always combination hones. La Petite Blanche has that typical streak of blue running in the Coticule part (seen at the side). La Veinette has small white lines in the Blue part.

As far as differences go, I need to find time to conduct tests. (deep sigh). I expect that the slurry will introduce some of the typical properties of the layer into the honing. This means:
-with La Petite Blanche: extra speed for bevel work. + the typical slurry dulling, which is pretty obvious on La Petite Blanche. I would reserve that slurry stone for doing heavy work.
-with La Veinette: great slurry for Dilucot. Does show less slurry dulling than La Petite Blanche.

Please understand that this is not trued and tested. It depends on the hardness of your hones, how much the slurry stone will contribute to the honing. If you want primarily slurry from the slurry stone, tilt it a bit on one edge, while rubbing.

Best regards,
Bart.

 

[Matt]

Thank you very much, Bart. That will stop me from picking a slurry stone at random anymore. :

kind regards,
Matt