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First Shave

bluemantra

Well-Known Member
Well I had my first shave tonight off a coticule and it was the best damn shave I've ever had. Not because it was the sharpest or smoothest shave, but because it was the first time I honed and shaved with my own razor! Very fulfilling!! I felt that normally where I would have cut myself not a thing happened. No irritation whatsoever and there was some tugging there, because it wasn't the sharpest it could have been. Is this the product of the infamous coticule edge?
 
you carn't beat your own edge.Its very rewarding. If your getting a slight tugging,or resistants that sounds like a common thing. The reason for that is your ever so slightly lacking that little keeness. Try some laps on water .Or misty slurry for several sets then finish on water. Once get to dial in on that extra keeness you will realy experiance a smooth keen edge. The extra keeness is where we all struggle . This just takes time and patients .

gary
 
Well done :thumbup:

It is a very rewarding and liberating experience, as Gary says once you achieve better keenness you won't find any pulling, and the lack of irritation is indeed one of the wonders of the Coticule edge.

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
I struggled getting that extra keeness too and still do at times.
The majority of my time doing Dilucot is spent trying to refine the edge. It can be a bit frustrating, but once you've got to know your stone you'll start getting even better shaves. It's worth the effort. And like you say, the sense of achievement is very rewarding.
Now for me the magic of the coticule isn't the stone itself, but the smooth shaves they give.
Keep at it Justin.
 
Thanks for the advice and kind comments! I am traveling all week, but look forward to returning and experimenting with achieving that last bit of keeness. That smoothness and lack of irritation is unbelievable. I'm very happy that I went with the coticule rather than some of the other options I was looking at. This is the edge that I prefer and I can't wait to see how my La Grosse Blanche will behave...:)
 
My first hone was a coticule I bought 4 months ago. And only after one month and unicot I can get an edge on par with my reference professionaly honed razor (surely I'm a little biased;) ) since I tried dilucot and had also to struggle in the finishing stage but I'm near the unicot result. I can't tell you more about the skin friendly properties of coticule because my reference razor gives me also a smooth shave.

But be careful this coticule thing is very addictive:scared:

Regards

Laurent
 
So I took the razor back to the coti and did a few laps with a light slurry and slowly diluted it and then did 100 laps on water only. Shave felt like there was less drag and that same coticule smoothness. I kind of when backwards, but after the shave I did the HHT and I think it was a 3 or 4. Just one question. Where do you optimally want to be on the HHT scale? I feel like I've been getting a bit of beginners luck, because I'm loving the results and I've read it takes a long time and a steep learning curve to achieve great results. Had I listened to some people I would've never experienced this awesome hone and the only one I'll ever need. Sometimes it pays to take a chance and try something and not just follow one persons advice or their one bad experience. That can be said for more than just hones.
 
bluemantra said:
So I took the razor back to the coti and did a few laps with a light slurry and slowly diluted it and then did 100 laps on water only. Shave felt like there was less drag and that same coticule smoothness. I kind of when backwards, but after the shave I did the HHT and I think it was a 3 or 4. Just one question. Where do you optimally want to be on the HHT scale? I feel like I've been getting a bit of beginners luck, because I'm loving the results and I've read it takes a long time and a steep learning curve to achieve great results. Had I listened to some people I would've never experienced this awesome hone and the only one I'll ever need. Sometimes it pays to take a chance and try something and not just follow one persons advice or their one bad experience. That can be said for more than just hones.

Your La Grise? These are wonderfully easy hones and, as Bart says, underrated.
 
danjared said:
bluemantra said:
So I took the razor back to the coti and did a few laps with a light slurry and slowly diluted it and then did 100 laps on water only. Shave felt like there was less drag and that same coticule smoothness. I kind of when backwards, but after the shave I did the HHT and I think it was a 3 or 4. Just one question. Where do you optimally want to be on the HHT scale? I feel like I've been getting a bit of beginners luck, because I'm loving the results and I've read it takes a long time and a steep learning curve to achieve great results. Had I listened to some people I would've never experienced this awesome hone and the only one I'll ever need. Sometimes it pays to take a chance and try something and not just follow one persons advice or their one bad experience. That can be said for more than just hones.

Your La Grise? These are wonderfully easy hones and, as Bart says, underrated.

Yes it's the La Grise, I'm really liking it and I'm even more excited to see how the edge of my La Grosse Blanche that Bart picked out for me compares to the La Grise. The shipping time from Adrennes will give time to master the La Grise more:)
 
bluemantra said:
So I took the razor back to the coti and did a few laps with a light slurry and slowly diluted it and then did 100 laps on water only. Shave felt like there was less drag and that same coticule smoothness. I kind of when backwards, but after the shave I did the HHT and I think it was a 3 or 4. Just one question. Where do you optimally want to be on the HHT scale? I feel like I've been getting a bit of beginners luck, because I'm loving the results and I've read it takes a long time and a steep learning curve to achieve great results. Had I listened to some people I would've never experienced this awesome hone and the only one I'll ever need. Sometimes it pays to take a chance and try something and not just follow one persons advice or their one bad experience. That can be said for more than just hones.

The learning curve can't really be predicted. I've had guys over at my place, that caught on with it almost immediately, and others had problems for months. Some guys give up. Some persevere and become very good at it eventually.
We see something very similar when people try to master shaving with a straight razor. Some guys have a natural talent for it. Some don't.

It sounds to me as if you combine the required dexterity with a talent for putting information to good use. :thumbup:

Cheers,
Bart.
 
Bart said:
The learning curve can't really be predicted. I've had guys over at my place, that caught on with it almost immediately, and others had problems for months. Some guys give up. Some persevere and become very good at it eventually.
We see something very similar when people try to master shaving with a straight razor. Some guys have a natural talent for it. Some don't.

It sounds to me as if you combine the required dexterity with a talent for putting information to good use. :thumbup:

Cheers,
Bart.

That's a very excellent point, Bart, and very well worded. Even with the easiest of tools, sometimes the learner just isn't at the right place to learn (frame of mind, experience, who knows), and it's not necessarily his fault.
 
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