The following is my personal opinion based on conclusions drawn from my experiences… do with it as you wish.
Though it’s highly unlikely to get a wire edge from a Coticule I believe it can happen… or I should say… you may say it’s a “wire edge” but it is most likely a jagged edge, this can happen if the steel in the blade is hard and tend to micro-chip so much that you may suspect a wire. So it’s a good idea to know the difference between a wire edge and a jagged edge as they both are similar, but are born of different parents.
A wire edge can sometimes be formed if the steel is softer; as we all know the steel at the developing edge is very thin, soft steel is flexible and will tend to bend away from the surface of the stone, when this happens the steel immediately (maybe a few microns) behind the edge is abraded away leaving what some folks call a filmy edge (the tail of a “Y”), this filmy edge is easily damaged (torn up) under the stress of honing, creating a jagged edge.
A jagged edge can also be formed if the steel is harder; again, as we all know the steel at the developing edge is very thin, but harder steel is brittle and will tend to micro-chip at the edge creating a jagged edge…. It looks like a filmy edge that has been torn up.
However I also believe you may get this same condition with the use of too much pressure in the stroke. Pressure is a good thing, it removes steel quickly... nothing wrong with that. But used in excess at the final stages of sharpening can cause the same condition in middle-temper steel; under pressure, the steel at the very edge bends away form the surface of the hone (in much the same way softer steel will under it’s own weight) creating the same filmy edge and can also be torn up under the rigors of honing to become a jagged edge. However, the fix in most cases is to use much less pressure at the last few strokes so the steel will “spring” back allowing the very edge to contact the hone and abrade away the “film” (abrade away the bottom of the “Y” forming a perfect “V”.
(Note to self… Draw Diagrams)
But I suspect the Coticule has a peculiar nature that does not lend itself to creating a wire even with unusually high pressure… certainly not as easily as other hones (almost all man-made hones for example).But some folks describe a feeling of the edge “digging in” or “draw” from the razor at about the time when the edge is sharp. Note: the sensation is very unique to the Coticule, it does not exist when the blade is dull (bevel rounded), only when the edge is getting sharp (bevel flat). I suspect at the micron level, the steel at the bevel is being cut from the very edge, the top-side bevel is at its closest to the surface of the hone allowing the edge to also “sheer” or “peel” the surface of the hone… you could say… at that point, the very edge is being worn away as it “sheers” the surface of the hone, at the same time the edge is being created when the bottom-side bevel is being cut from the very edge… in such a case, a wire cannot easily take form.
I also believe a wire can be formed with half-strokes on a finishing hone (Its inevitable but not such a bad thing so bear with me)… when you do half-strokes you are abrading one bevel on one side of the blade, as the bevel flattens, the back stroke (spine leading) will deposit steel particles at the edge, still attached to the edge, these particles will turn towards the top-side of the blade preventing the forward stroke (edge leading) from removing them. However unlike a wire edge they are not firmly attached to the main body of the steel, when the blade is flipped, the first stroke (usually “edge leading”) and will immediately abrade away that so-called “wire” long before the end of that stroke… indeed sometimes if you look at the surface of the stone at the beginning of that first stroke you see the mark of the outline of the edge on the surface of the hone… gives you an idea of how quickly the so-called “wire” is removed… it is not “broken off” but is in fact brushed away by the surface of the hone leaving a sharp smooth edge.
Hope my long wind makes sense.