G
Guest
Chaps,
It all started when Bart came over with Kris for a few days last year. The crucial moment was when he honed several razors to perfection en passant while having a few beers. On my own Coticule. Comme ça:
Somehow, I never really found the time to just sit down and try to get reproducible results. Granted, Bart honed so many razors for me that I never really had the requirement to hone one from scratch for myself. Instead, I was happy to be able to touch them up if required.
But all that talk about synthetic hones delivering more reliable results, and being better for beginners, and blah blah blah got me thinking. And then Paul wrote this classy little piece about just getting what you need, and making it work. So I pulled out an old eBay find (5/8 full hollow, 1940s Solingen - need I say more?), blunted it on a bottleneck, and tried a Unicot. After all, this method has been well researched, and equally well documented. So it should just work, right?
Now, I am not exactly a beginner. But close enough, I think. Certainly much closer than I would like to be. But I managed. Just like that. The razor quickly shaved arm hair, and the final result off a strop was completely sufficient. I have had better, but it shaved comfortably and effectively. 'Beginner's luck', I thought. Bottleneck -> Hone -> Tape -> Strop: Success. 'The plot thickens...', I thought, and repeated the process. Same result. Granted, the wife began looking suspiciously, but I explained the scientific value of this idiosyncratic behaviour.
Long story short: the late night movie was equally boring, so I did a few more tests. I would definitely call the results reproducible. There is room for improvement, of course, but I would like to state that apparently one does not need a barrage of synthetic hones to get a shave ready razor. It is not rocket science, either. At least not if you are contented with "it works, although there is room for improvement".
The hone - for those who get a kick out of looking at stones - can be seen here. Bart wagered a guess what it is (apart from the obvious, ie a natural combo), but I forget what it was, nor do I care. It has a nice size, fits into my hand, and works. Call me old fashioned, but that is all I am looking for. I know I can get better on this hone, because the razors Bart honed on it shaved better than the one I honed. But that is left as an exercise for the coming months (or years).
Any road, thanks to everyone who has put all the required information together here. As far as honing with Coticules is concerned, I feel the site is feature complete (or, as proven by my self-experiment, idiot proof). Stellar stuff.
Regards,
Robin
It all started when Bart came over with Kris for a few days last year. The crucial moment was when he honed several razors to perfection en passant while having a few beers. On my own Coticule. Comme ça:
Somehow, I never really found the time to just sit down and try to get reproducible results. Granted, Bart honed so many razors for me that I never really had the requirement to hone one from scratch for myself. Instead, I was happy to be able to touch them up if required.
But all that talk about synthetic hones delivering more reliable results, and being better for beginners, and blah blah blah got me thinking. And then Paul wrote this classy little piece about just getting what you need, and making it work. So I pulled out an old eBay find (5/8 full hollow, 1940s Solingen - need I say more?), blunted it on a bottleneck, and tried a Unicot. After all, this method has been well researched, and equally well documented. So it should just work, right?
Now, I am not exactly a beginner. But close enough, I think. Certainly much closer than I would like to be. But I managed. Just like that. The razor quickly shaved arm hair, and the final result off a strop was completely sufficient. I have had better, but it shaved comfortably and effectively. 'Beginner's luck', I thought. Bottleneck -> Hone -> Tape -> Strop: Success. 'The plot thickens...', I thought, and repeated the process. Same result. Granted, the wife began looking suspiciously, but I explained the scientific value of this idiosyncratic behaviour.
Long story short: the late night movie was equally boring, so I did a few more tests. I would definitely call the results reproducible. There is room for improvement, of course, but I would like to state that apparently one does not need a barrage of synthetic hones to get a shave ready razor. It is not rocket science, either. At least not if you are contented with "it works, although there is room for improvement".
The hone - for those who get a kick out of looking at stones - can be seen here. Bart wagered a guess what it is (apart from the obvious, ie a natural combo), but I forget what it was, nor do I care. It has a nice size, fits into my hand, and works. Call me old fashioned, but that is all I am looking for. I know I can get better on this hone, because the razors Bart honed on it shaved better than the one I honed. But that is left as an exercise for the coming months (or years).
Any road, thanks to everyone who has put all the required information together here. As far as honing with Coticules is concerned, I feel the site is feature complete (or, as proven by my self-experiment, idiot proof). Stellar stuff.
Regards,
Robin
: 
: very cool post, wish there as more pics though. :thumbup: