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finding a hone to learn on

rattlerviper

Active Member
I have never honed a straight razor. I decided I wanted to learn and began to do research and behold thereafter is a option from Belgium. I was born there so my search for what type of stone narrowed down.

I was lucky to find this forum and be able to research here. Thank you Bart for providing a avenue for the community to come together.

Reading here I see I have options. BBW, a random coti from a dealer here statewide or waiting and finding one that sounds good here. Now honestly money is tight, but one can save for something they really want. I just don't know what that choice should be, as bart put it in another thread a donkey or a horse. If a horse a random horse or a tested one? I have sensitive skin prone to razor burn with thick whiskers if that influences the decision at all.

Thanks for being here everyone, this place seems like a great rescource for know how.
 
Hi, rattlerviper!

Do you still live in Belgium? If this is the case you could take a trip to the Ardennes and just pick an ideal stone. There can't be any better option once you know what to look for, I guess. :thumbup:

Warm welcome to coticule.be,
Matt
 
If money is tight, you have the advantage that you don't need a large coticule to hone a razor on(and the price is proportionate to the size of the stone). So I would look for a stone with width about 4cm, length at least 12cm but longer would be handier ...

Layer: I would of course advise you to purchase a (relatively) fast cutter like a La Petite Blanche or a Les Latneuses but they have to be available (at a decent price) and the vendor has to know which layer he's selling. If you buy one from Coticule Ardennes, they will def know the layer. But, as has been said on this forum again and again, any layer will do ...
 
edit: I notice that Wim was typing slightly faster than me:D
If money is tight, I recommend you to purchase a standard grade 30mmX125mm Coticule from Ardennes. They cost 22 EUR. When you place the order, there's a from where you can put additional remarks. Ask for a La Veinette, La Petite Blanche, Les Latneuses, La Grosse Blanche, or a La Dressante Upper Layer. (In no particular order, but the first 3 are usually natural combination hones, which means the back side is a BBW, on a Grosse Blanche and the La Dressante the Coticule will be glued to slate). These are all fast layers that will work just fine on a limited length of 125mm. 30mm is not wide, but after you get used to it, you will appreciate the advantages of sharpening on a narrow stone. You'll need a slurry stone as well. I know on larger stones, Ardennes includes them for free (upon request), but I'm not sure they can do that for a 22 EUR purchase. If not, a bout size one costs 4.25 EUR.

Welcome on Coticule.be,
Bart.
 
Bart said:
edit: I notice that Wim was typing slightly faster than me:D

If money is tight, I recommend you to purchase a standard grade 30mmX125mm Coticule from Ardennes. They cost 22 EUR.


Yes !!! First time I've typed faster than Bart ... :w00t:

Re the size that Bart proposes: both Geruchtemoaker and myself bought one of these (a Les latneuses) and we are both very pleased with it :love: . You will do more iterations though.

[sub](I have a razor sized about 9/8" waiting to be honed, I can assure you that is going to happen on a longer hone ... )[/sub]
 
decraew said:
Re the size that Bart proposes: both Geruchtemoaker and myself bought one of these (a Les latneuses) and we are both very pleased with it :love: . You will do more iterations though.

[sub](I have a razor sized about 9/8" waiting to be honed, I can assure you that is going to happen on a longer hone ... )[/sub]
yes we are
 
I have all the layers that Bart mentioned (except La Dressante), and I would opt for a La Petite Blanche, to be honest. The Les Latneuses is very nice, but I haven't had a better experience than my LPB(s). Welcome to Coticule.be :sleep:
 
No I live in the Usa now so no trip to pick out my own stone.

Wait...22 euro, 30 bucks? That's cheap! I was loolng at stones costing between 179 and 300 dollars. I thought I needed something like that. It was going to be very difficult to convince my wife that a 300 dollar rock was necasary.
I will certainly order direct and request the recomended layers. Thank you guys so much. Now its one coti for 30 dollars vs a assortment of other hones and the coti comes out way cheaper. Once again thanks gentlemen.
 
rattlerviper said:
No I live in the Usa now so no trip to pick out my own stone.

Wait...22 euro, 30 bucks? That's cheap! I was loolng at stones costing between 179 and 300 dollars. I thought I needed something like that. It was going to be very difficult to convince my wife that a 300 dollar rock was necasary.
I will certainly order direct and request the recomended layers. Thank you guys so much. Now its one coti for 30 dollars vs a assortment of other hones and the coti comes out way cheaper. Once again thanks gentlemen.
The prices rise rapidly with increasing surface area. But if you can spend the extra bucks on a 40mmX150 (42 EUR), your might like the extra comfort for honing. Anything larger than that is frivolous in my opinion. That said, my favorite dimensions for a Coticule are 40mmX175mm. :) But in the end, 30, 40 or 50 mm and 125, 150 or even 200 mm, it will not make any difference for the final result.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
I have to admit I am relieved at the prices now. Even your favorite stone size is affordable. I may wait till after christmas and spring for The 40x175. Is there a problem with keeping the slurry on the shorter ones because you push it off the edge?
 
rattlerviper said:
I have to admit I am relieved at the prices now. Even your favorite stone size is affordable. I may wait till after christmas and spring for The 40x175. Is there a problem with keeping the slurry on the shorter ones because you push it off the edge?
Not really. A few weeks ago, we had a weekend with some of the Coticule.be members joining at Ardennes headquarters. On Saturday evening we organized a honing class. Of all the stones I could have picked from the available stock, I picked a 30X125 for the honing demonstrations. I don't know why. It was not to convince you today that working with a 30X125 is perfectly doable. ;)
Here's a picture of me working with that hone:
f25af58.jpg

A while later, Gary used it as well:
3b33a4c.jpg

As you can see, neither me or Gary had any problem with it.
Working with slurry in such manner that you drag it along with the razor, instead of pushing it off the hone, is one of the first things you'll learn, regardless the size of the stone. Once learned, you won't ever think about it. During the class, it was not even a question.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
Thanks Bart those pictures are great! I saw some of my favorite drinks on that table :w00t: , but besides that it really enabled me to see the true size of the stone. It is much larger in real life than it was in my mind. I think I can cer5tainly be happy with a stone that size. If I decide later on to move up to another larger stone I will always have this first stone as a handy stone to hold in the hand.

Thanks so much
Charlie
 
That hone looks like a perfect size to me. Coticules are the best when you can hold them in your hand and just hone. I love the pictures, btw, it's good to see what Gary looks like after all this time! :lol: Has anyone thought of taping these honing classes/gatherings?
 
Disburden said:
That hone looks like a perfect size to me. Coticules are the best when you can hold them in your hand and just hone. I love the pictures, btw, it's good to see what Gary looks like after all this time! :lol: Has anyone thought of taping these honing classes/gatherings?

Excellent idea.:thumbup: I am sure that we are not the only members that would love to watch a taping of these honing classes/gatherings, for tips and so on.

good suggestion Disburden,

Louis.
 
I agree great suggestion. I wonder what language the classes are taught in. English, French or Flemish. Would be great regardless.
 
rattlerviper said:
I agree great suggestion. I wonder what language the classes are taught in. English, French or Flemish. Would be great regardless.
It was English, although there was only one guy present with English as a first language. But in the presence of 2 Polish people, 1 German speaking Swiss guy, a Norwegian fellow, a bunch of Flemish guys and one Bgusselaig, we had not much choice but to do it in English...
 
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