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Couple Questions about my Coticule and Honing

Guys I have a bit of a problem. Or at least I think it's a problem.

When I'm touching my razor up, one edge of my stone gets dark, while the rest of the stone stays the same. Is that an issue? Is that part raised above the rest of the stone, or is my honing stroke putting more pressure in that area?

After the touch up my razor was really harsh. I had a horrible shave today, and I don't know what to do.
 
Hi Gull .Normally the hone edge ,which is towards you (where heel touch firstly) presents a black line especially when deliberately you apply rolling x strokes.If you apply normal motions having the mentioned darker line is your wrong, that's means that the blade pulled on the hone edge,You have firstly to round thoroughly both edges ,being sure that the whole blade touch homogeneously on the hone during honing.
How was the HHT before shaving?
So i suggest to re hone your razor by a touch up applying all above.
Keep us informed.
Best regards
Emmanuel
 
Emmanuel makes (as always) good points. It is likely that your edge slightly caught the edge of the Coticule.
it is the most likely explanation.

Some Coticules don't cut with equal speed at their entire surface. It occasionally happens that part of the stone is faster, notably on water. Though this should not pose a real problem. If you turn your hone 180°, and exactly the same spot of the surface still turns dark sooner, it is a property of the hone itself. In all other events, it is caused by something you do.

If you lost track of where your edge is entirely, I would suggest a rehoning from square one. Take our time and pay very careful attention to the honing stroke. We've all been where you are now, trust me. You'll get your great edge back!

Good Luck,
Bart.
 
You guys are right, my stroke is the problem. I tried my best to correct the stroke and give my razor a proper touch up, but the shave today wasn't that great.

I think I'll have to dull it on glass and start from scratch.
 
My fiend we don't know mush about you.Do you have experience on straight razor shaving ?I suggest to use the free honing service.If the shaving is not great performed by a razor honed by the free honing service stuff , that means your shaving technique isn't the best. Otherwise if you get an excellent shaving ,something is not going well with your honing.
 
Ah yes I should have mentioned that I do have experience shaving with a straight. Usually I get good shaves, and I got good shaves from this blade till I have it a touch up. :cry:
 
Well I tried to fix my razor and I had a few issues. When I was honing, I felt like there was something in one part of the hone that made a certain noise and produced a certain feeling while honing on that part. It felt like there was something stuck there. Maybe hair or some inconsistency in the hone. So I lapped it and everything was fine. But then a few minutes later, that same feeling and noise popped up again. So I lapped it again and everything was fine again. But then a few minutes of honing later, the same issue came up. :confused:

This Saturday, I tried to hone my razor and I ignored this whole thing. But the blade ended up being harsh on my face. So I honed it again today and this issue kept popping up despite my efforts of lap the hone. I'll see how the razor is tomorrow, but does anyone know what's going on!?
 
Hi gull. I didn't understand well this issue.The blade stuck like a magnetic ?The hair sounds like a click ,is like this ? Anyway Put a plastic container full of water beside sinking throughout the blade every ten strokes.I believe the phenomenon presents during the x strokes process on clear water (Is that?) and not working on slurry. Another question is:Do you have the same problem with all of own razors ? Razors stuck on the hone surface or on the strop when exist wear on the spine, so that more metal massive abuts on the surfaces either stone either strop .Also as i know "Les Latneuses"have the property of the magnetic feeling. Anyway i don't thing so that this issue is not a problem at all. However try my suggestion and i am sure that this filling will disappear.
Best regards
Emmanuel
 
what you describe is consistent with the behavior of a compressible crack, or otherwise a foreign inclusion.It happens occasionally.
Usually the problem can be fixed, but if you don't feel like dealing with something like that, you can also contact Ardennes and ask for a replacement.

There is additional information in this post: http://www.coticule.be/the-cafeteria/message/26838.html

It is not certain that your harsh shaving experience is caused by this issue.

Best regards,
Bart.
 
gull said:
Well I tried to fix my razor and I had a few issues. When I was honing, I felt like there was something in one part of the hone that made a certain noise and produced a certain feeling while honing on that part. It felt like there was something stuck there. Maybe hair or some inconsistency in the hone. So I lapped it and everything was fine. But then a few minutes later, that same feeling and noise popped up again. So I lapped it again and everything was fine again. But then a few minutes of honing later, the same issue came up. :confused:

This Saturday, I tried to hone my razor and I ignored this whole thing. But the blade ended up being harsh on my face. So I honed it again today and this issue kept popping up despite my efforts of lap the hone. I'll see how the razor is tomorrow, but does anyone know what's going on!?
Click to expand...


Hi gull. I didn't understand well this issue.The blade stuck like a magnetic ?The hair sounds like a click ,is like this ? Anyway Put a plastic container full of water beside sinking throughout the blade every ten strokes.I believe the phenomenon presents during the x strokes process on clear water (Is that?) and not working on slurry. Another question is : Do you have the same problem with all of own razors ? Razors stuck on the hone surface or on the strop when exist wear on the spine, so that more metal massive abuts on the surfaces either stone either strop .Also as i know "Les Latneuses"have the property of the magnetic feeling. Anyway i don't thing so that this issue is not a problem at all. However try my suggestion and i am sure that this filling will disappear.
Best regards
Emmanuel
 
Bart, I think you might have the answer! I'm going to shave with the razor, and hopefully the crack didn't do any damage, but in case it did, I know where the crack is, and I'll sand it down.

Wish me luck!
 
gull said:
Bart, I think you might have the answer! I'm going to shave with the razor, and hopefully the crack didn't do any damage, but in case it did, I know where the crack is, and I'll sand it down.

Wish me luck!
Click to expand...

Can you provide pictures of where the crack is?

Also, you can't really sand down 99% of cracks...

Edit: Oh, sorry, I misunderstood about the sanding down. I thought you meant just lapping it again. Anyway, it's possible to glue the crack with superglue and lap it, which should eliminate the problem much better.
 
Well the razor is a little better now. It's not as harsh anymore, but it's not as sharp either. :D I sanded down the area with the crack, but I would need to hone something to tell if sanding fixed the issue or not.

At this point, I'm going to shave with this razor for a week or so. Then I'll determine if I'm happy with my work, or just send it out.

I had a question about shaving arm hair. During the bevel setting stage, the razor cuts arm hair easily. But after honing, it doesn't shave arm hair as easily. It this normal? I would imagine that during the bevel setting stage, the razor would have the saw like edge that would cut hair easier than when the razor is polished.
 
gull said:
I had a question about shaving arm hair. During the bevel setting stage, the razor cuts arm hair easily. But after honing, it doesn't shave arm hair as easily. It this normal? I would imagine that during the bevel setting stage, the razor would have the saw like edge that would cut hair easier than when the razor is polished.
Click to expand...

Thats not the case, with Coticules there is no saw tooth edge at the bevel setting stage, if the bevel is set correctly you could ALMOST shave with it, the refining stages of honing take the edge a little bit further, sharper and smoother, so that the resulting edge provides a comfortable shave, if your edge is less sharp after refining, you must be doing something wrong, maybe your stroke is off, or more likely your dilution, I expect a well hone edge to pass at least a 3 on the HHT scale as it comes off the stone, if it wont even shave arm hair I know the shave wont be at all good.

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
I agree with the good doctor. There is definitely something not right if the edge ,looses sharpness during dilution or finishing, coming off a Coticule with slurry.

It is impossible to tell without being able to actually witness your actions. But I would definitely recommend a critical evaluation of the honing stroke, especially what happens at the flipping point. Try to make sure that the spine never breaks contact with the surface, not even while flipping the blade. If the edge moves forward at all with the spine lifted, even part of a stroke can undo a lot of previous progress.

Other than that, I really can't tell what's going on.

We once had a member who recorded himself honing for a couple of minutes and put it on YouTube. It was clear to see what his problem was.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
That very well could be the case. I do lift the razor up when I'm finished with one side. There is a possibility of screwing the blade up at the point.

EDIT: I like the idea of permanently fixing the stone. So I put the rock on a skillet, wait till it's hot, rub a hot glue gun stick over it, wait till it cools, then lap? Is that the procedure? There were a lot of methods on how to fix cracks, but I have hot glue gun sticks, so I figure I could use this.
 
gull said:
That very well could be the case. I do lift the razor up when I'm finished with one side. There is a possibility of screwing the blade up at the point.

EDIT: I like the idea of permanently fixing the stone. So I put the rock on a skillet, wait till it's hot, rub a hot glue gun stick over it, wait till it cools, then lap? Is that the procedure? There were a lot of methods on how to fix cracks, but I have hot glue gun sticks, so I figure I could use this.
Click to expand...

Thats absolutely correct, dont freak out if BIG previously unseen cracks appear when its hot, they did on mine, and dont be tempted to give it a bit longer on the heat, just for good measure, its not needed, most importantly NEVER EVER EVER try to hasten the cooling of the stone, hot stones and cold anythings especially water, DO NOT MIX!

Good luck with the repair, oh and one last tip: once its cold use a sharp blade to remove the excess glue stick residue, it will save a lot of lapping time :thumbup:

Theres a FAQ that addresses it here: http://www.coticule.be/faq-reader/items/how-can-i-repair-a-coticule.html

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
Well I just tried it. I let a hot glue gun stick lay on top of the coticule, while the heat melted it. I noticed two lines of bubbles that formed. I'm guessing those are the cracks.

The bubbles wouldn't go away, so I just turned off the heat and the coticule is cooling now. Should I have waited till the bubbles went away? Would they have ever gone away?
 
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