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First attempt at Unicot

cyclelu

Well-Known Member
Hello All,

I used my Coti #56 it is beautiful, for the first time this evening. Received it from Ardennes within a week. I honed 2 razors and was able to get both of them to pass HHT. Was a bit unsure as to the consistency of the slurry at the very beginning, but was able to get the razors to cut arm hair with 2 & 3 sets of half strokes. Will test shave in the morning and will update the results tomorrow.

Thank you Bart and all of the member for the knowledge that you share.

Lu
 
Well used both razors today. Results were not fantastic, but ok.

Razor 1 - seemed as if the bevel was not completely set.
Not sure if I should start at slurry with half strokes or if I should start at tape.

Razor 2 - felt very sharp but seems like it needs a bit more. Will try 50~ laps on water.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all.

Lu
 
Hi Lu,

In order to set the bevel, half strokes ar highly recommended. Simply because it takes much less time than regular x-strokes. Make sure the razor shaves arm hair along the complete edge before you proceed.
Taping the razor is a different thing. In the later stages of unicot you tape the razor in order to increase the honing angle. By doing so, the contact between hone and blade is concentrated to the very edge. You actually set a micro bevel that will be your cutting edge. It is very important to put the tape on only at the second last stage of unicot. Also, don't do too many strokes on the light slurry. 30 will be plenty. You only want a very thin microbevel. If you do too many strokes you will make that micro bevel too big - basically you just start to create a new bevel with increase angle. Then do laps on water only. 50 is the guide line. If you're not there yet, do some more until the HHT works.
Unicot is really straight forward. Stay EXACTLY with the description and you should get it pretty easily.

Cheers
BlueDun
 
Well,

cyclelu said:
Razor 1 - seemed as if the bevel was not completely set. Not sure if I should start at slurry with half strokes or if I should start at tape.

If the bevel wasn't exacly set, you wouldn't be able to shave arm hair as you had written in the earlier post. Assuming of course, that you had blunted the edge on a glass before setting the bevel. Anyway, to rule out any doubts I'd simply run it over glass again and work the bevel - it shouldn't take you long. Then when you get to shaving arm hair, tape the razor, use thin slurry - and don't do too many strokes, stick to the 30 as in the Unicot article - and then work on clean water to finish the edge. If it doesn't get you where expected, do another 50 or more light strokes on plain water.

I think it answers your second question too - first, try to improve your Unicot edges with additional laps on water. If they don't work at all, you must have done something wrong earlier, either with seting the main bevel, or with cutting the secondary small Unicot bevel.

You might also try to use 2 layers of tape instead of one, I don't know how thick your tape is, but it can be a safer shot. Just remember to apply the same number of tape layers when you do some touch ups on water to your edge.

Hope that helps, keep us posted.

cheers,
Matt
 
Oh, and...

cyclelu said:
Was a bit unsure as to the consistency of the slurry at the very beginning (...)
It reminded me Dr Ralfson's great advice:

tat2Ralfy said:
(...)make sure that your slurry is not too thick to start with, think Milk not cream, and never yoghurt.
Keep that in mind, my friend. :thumbup:

Matt
 
Thank you guys,

Reading your advise and remembering what I did I think I may have had my slurry a bit think on#1.
I will work from very beginning on #1. Problem with arm hair test for me is that my arm hair is extremely thin. I can not just try to shave arm hair in the normal way I have to pick 1 hair and touch it. The razor did cut it but not as well as #2 (popping them off). I was not sure if it was good enough since I had no experience with a Coti edge.

So I will do the complete Unicot on #1 and 50~ just water on#2.
thank you again.
Lu
 
cyclelu said:
Problem with arm hair test for me is that my arm hair is extremely thin. I can not just try to shave arm hair in the normal way I have to pick 1 hair and touch it.
Hmmm, if you can't shave you arm hair at all, there still may be something wrong with your bevel setting. Again, maybe this was because of too thick slurry - remember that thick slurry removes steel rapidly but at the same time dulls the edge. You can always try testing on leg hair, or on your stomach. :thumbup:

good luck,
Matt
 
Matt,

Sorry I was not more specific, my problem is that my arm hair will come off very easily. I learned to watch how 1 or 2 hairs are popped by the razor to check. When I first tried honing I quickly realized I could not just try a regular arm hair test as the razor would shave arm hair but was not completely shave ready. I just was not sure on#1 if the way the hair was cut was sufficient.
I will be more diligent in my monitoring of the arm hair test.

Than you for the advise. Will try to post this evening ( if my Internet works).

Lu
 
Lu,

I'm not sure but I think you are confusing some things.
Shaving arm hair does not mean at all that the razor is shave ready! It is just a test, if you honed the complete bevel up to the edge. At this stage NO razor will pop single hairs - let alone very fine ones! Watch the unicot video, where you see how to the arm hair test.
The sharpness at this stage would be ok to slice cucumbers in your kitchen but is nothing close to a shave ready blade. This will only be done in the subsequent stages of unicot/dilucot.

Cheers
BlueDun
 
BlueDun said:
Lu,

I'm not sure but I think you are confusing some things.
Shaving arm hair does not mean at all that the razor is shave ready! It is just a test, if you honed the complete bevel up to the edge. At this stage NO razor will pop single hairs - let alone very fine ones! Watch the unicot video, where you see how to the arm hair test.
The sharpness at this stage would be ok to slice cucumbers in your kitchen but is nothing close to a shave ready blade. This will only be done in the subsequent stages of unicot/dilucot.

Cheers
BlueDun

Perfect advice I believe Lu, the aht (arm hair test) is only used at the very first stage of honing, and lets us judge that the bevel is set, from there we have to refine the edge to a shave ready state.

Best of luck buddy
Kind regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
Thank you guys,

I will take this into consideration and follow the aht as in the video.

Ralfy,

You were right that I would like The Coti. Even though I did not get it perfect it felt very nice just not super sharp. On razor #2 that is.

Take care my friend.
Lu
 
Thank You Everyone!!!

I worked on razor #1 again last night from the very beginning. I had the slurry like milk and applied a tad more pressure, I did 2 half stroke sets and checked the beval, the proper way this time. Needed a bit more so I did 1 more set and the bevel left a clean spot on my arm! Continued with the rest of the steps and test shaved this morning.

Result was a very comfortable shave!!! The edge just needs a bit more refinement, but it was shave ready. I now know that from here it is a matter of more experience and learning the stone.

Than you all again for the help!
Have a wonderful day!

Lu
 
Lu!!!
I knew you could do it buddy :thumbup:

Keep up the good work and remember we are here for you mon ami

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
chti_lolo said:
Congratulation Lu:thumbup:

It seems that somebody may soon try DILUCOT:lol:


Laurent

:p :p :p

Bwhahahahaha

seriously it takes experience and dedication to Dilucot consistently, My advice would be to unicot until it feels second nature, then try dilocut, be prepared to revert back to the taped stage of unicot when your Dilucot is a little off, and in time you will have more and more success, remember the level of skill is comparable to playing a classical musical instrument fluently, and we are talking more like a fine clarinet than a pair of cymbals...lol

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
Thank you All for the kind words!!

I could not have done it without your guidance and encouragement.

tat2Ralfy said:
chti_lolo said:
Congratulation Lu:thumbup:

It seems that somebody may soon try DILUCOT:lol:


Laurent

:p :p :p

Bwhahahahaha

seriously it takes experience and dedication to Dilucot consistently, My advice would be to unicot until it feels second nature, then try dilocut, be prepared to revert back to the taped stage of unicot when your Dilucot is a little off, and in time you will have more and more success, remember the level of skill is comparable to playing a classical musical instrument fluently, and we are talking more like a fine clarinet than a pair of cymbals...lol

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)


Ralfy,

Thank you buddy, but if this is the case I am in HUGE trouble! I can't keep a tune to save my life. lol

I do look forward to learning Dilucot method, but I think I will not try for a while at least until I can do Unicot without having to have hte instructions next to me.

Best wishes all.

Lu
 
Lu,

By all means, do try it if you have more time for honing. Learn slowly how stone talks with the steel, how things change when slurry is diluted, master your stroke. Discover the language those hones talk. And when the razor insn't ready after your Dilucot attempt, it's just you haven't picked up the language yet, which is perfectly normal. Tape, strop, and onto the shave.

It's all about accumulating small bits of experience over and over and be willing to learn, to be less poetic.

have a nice journey :thumbup:
Matt

edit: Hmm, I have just checked my post from March when I managed to Unicot for the first time and I seem to contradict myself here:

Also, a sincere piece of advice to all fellow beginners, today's or tomorrow's, let me yell it loudly, yet in the most friendly manner - stick your pride UP YOUR ARSE! :lol: and forget about Dilucot, if you haven't done a single Unicot edge ever.
So now, having experienced some success with Dilucot I am writing quite the opposite. :lol: I guess it's about time and expectations. If you expect fast results in the first place and failure frustrates you - go Uni. After all, you're only disappointed when you prepare yourself for something too much. And if you're ready to take the challenge and spend more time - try Dilucot, you will end up with Uni anyway, but that will make you gain knowledge a bit faster, I suppose?
 
Matt,

I will try it in due time, I just want to be able to get Unicot down to the point that I won't need to go back for a touch up.

By the way razor #2 provided about 97 - 98% bbs shave after a second set of 50 laps on just water. I am very happy!!!!!

Best wishes.
Lu
 
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