I love a sharp razor. Tree stump whiskers mean the necessity of a *sharp* blade. But as Bart has said in various places, sharp can come at a price; often, a very sharp blade will cut through hair papilae and cause stingy bleeders.
Recently, just using a coticule, I haven't been able to produce the level of keen I prefer with just a coticule. The razors shave smooth, as far as skin irritation is concerned, but tug uncomfortably during the shave, especially ATG.
So I ordered some diamond lapping film. I dulled the edge of my work horse razor on a glass, and ran it through a diamond film progression of: 15um, 9um, 6um, 3um, 1um, .5um, .1um. This left me with HHT5 before even stropping it. I stropped it, and shaved half my face. The whiskers jumped away from the blade, and I was left with weepers. Yup, too sharp.
I then took it to my vintage coticule on water only for 5 laps, stropped it again. HHT dropped just a tad, but still a solid 4. I then shaved the other half of my face. Not only did the XTG and ATG strokes leave me completely BBS, I had zero weepers, zero irritation, and no tugging.
IMHO, it just doesn't matter what level of sharp your blade is when you bring it to the coticule on water, it just makes it smooooooth.
For those guys that are having a hard time getting the desired level of keen they need off of the coticule, there are alternative ways of getting good and sharp (lapping film is a very cheap alternative to synthetic hones). Just make sure you come back to the coticule for a few laps on water only.
There is just something about a coticule's smoothness that I have yet to experience from any other finishing method.
What is really odd to me, is that looking at the blade under a microscope revealed an extremely mirror polished surface. No visible scratches at all. After a few laps of water only on the coticule, there were just the faintest visible marks, but there is just no doubt that the shave from that edge was far smoother than the mirror polished blade.
My (probably flawed) conclusion: Don't take the microscope at face value (excuse the pun). Sure, it's important to have an edge with no chips, and a good consistent bevel, but as far as seeing scratches in the bevel... well, your face might differ with the microscope's opinion of how smooth it is.
Recently, just using a coticule, I haven't been able to produce the level of keen I prefer with just a coticule. The razors shave smooth, as far as skin irritation is concerned, but tug uncomfortably during the shave, especially ATG.
So I ordered some diamond lapping film. I dulled the edge of my work horse razor on a glass, and ran it through a diamond film progression of: 15um, 9um, 6um, 3um, 1um, .5um, .1um. This left me with HHT5 before even stropping it. I stropped it, and shaved half my face. The whiskers jumped away from the blade, and I was left with weepers. Yup, too sharp.
I then took it to my vintage coticule on water only for 5 laps, stropped it again. HHT dropped just a tad, but still a solid 4. I then shaved the other half of my face. Not only did the XTG and ATG strokes leave me completely BBS, I had zero weepers, zero irritation, and no tugging.
IMHO, it just doesn't matter what level of sharp your blade is when you bring it to the coticule on water, it just makes it smooooooth.
For those guys that are having a hard time getting the desired level of keen they need off of the coticule, there are alternative ways of getting good and sharp (lapping film is a very cheap alternative to synthetic hones). Just make sure you come back to the coticule for a few laps on water only.
There is just something about a coticule's smoothness that I have yet to experience from any other finishing method.
What is really odd to me, is that looking at the blade under a microscope revealed an extremely mirror polished surface. No visible scratches at all. After a few laps of water only on the coticule, there were just the faintest visible marks, but there is just no doubt that the shave from that edge was far smoother than the mirror polished blade.
My (probably flawed) conclusion: Don't take the microscope at face value (excuse the pun). Sure, it's important to have an edge with no chips, and a good consistent bevel, but as far as seeing scratches in the bevel... well, your face might differ with the microscope's opinion of how smooth it is.