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Have most of you kept your non-coticules?

schatz

Active Member
I'm back to the board after a 1 plus year journey in experimenting with other hones. In that time, I've used the following as finishers: naniwa 12000, vintage thuringian, and a nakayama asagi. Of the three, the Jnat provided me a very smooth shave, similar in this respect to a coticule, but at a less forgiving level of sharpness. I've come back to reading the threads here and have also rehoned most of my modest collection with my coticules. Since then, my face seems to be saying thank you for returning to that very comfortable post-shave feeling which has made the Belgian stone so famous. I just packed up the aforementioned non-coticules, along with some barber hones and my old Norton 4k/8k, and found some secondary storage in another room to deal with clutter in the shave den.

For those of you who are solely coticule users, apart from the potential of a separate bevel setter or restoration hone, have you kept your old stones? If you sold them off or gave them away, do you have any regrets?
 
I will keep my norton 220/1k and 4k/8k for knives, I suppose. Some of my family's old hunting and fishing knives seem too big and/or too damaged at the edge to take to my prized coticules. I recently acquired an old Thuringian stone that is about the size of a Snickers bar for a really low price. I suppose I'll keep that around too, partly to experiment with, and partly because I probably don't know enough about its provenance to sell it.

If I had a synthetic 12k or above I would personally sell it. If you decide to sell the Thuringian I have a good outlet for you :). Just mention that it performs like an Escher and you'll be counting your money in no time.
 
I'll definitely keep my Naniwa 1K, 4K/8K Norton and my Chinese +/- 12K, IMO, they play nice with my La Dressante Au Bleu and La Petite Blanche.
 
I have a Norton 4/8k and naniwa 5k and 12K and Ozuku asagi (excelent finisher)and a few DMT's for lapping.
I think with finishers in particular it's nice to have a few in your arsenel as I have had occassion with some razors steel to not impress me on coticule for whatever reason.
I hang on to the rest for no other reason than the slurries make nice steel polish when progressing through the finishes for restoration work.
That said I would part with the nani 5k if anyone expressed an interest in a trade, it's never been used.

Joe
 
i have a 4k/8k norton and a 10k and a 12k naniwa, plus 1k C. i have to be onest and say i never use them . i may at some point use the 12k or 10kn. i have a ozuku and a escher. i love the ozuku, plus its natural stone. my main hone is my coticule. so yes i have kept some of my non coticules. may be one day i will sell them.

tere is no dout a coticule is all i would need . using diucot mostly, if that failed me i could use unicot, which is pritty bullet proof. infact i shaved of a razor today i unicotted,the shave was real nice and smooth as so forgiving , against the grain shave was very good .
 
garyhaywood said:
tere is no dout a coticule is all i would need . using diucot mostly, if that failed me i could use unicot, which is pritty bullet proof. infact i shaved of a razor today i unicotted,the shave was real nice and smooth as so forgiving , against the grain shave was very good .

Gary, I followed in your unicotting footsteps today and used an old Bengal for the third day in a row. This razor had substantial hone wear and I could never get it to hold its edge. Building up the angle with the unicot procedure ( 1 piece of tape ), I probably got back to the original specs and have been having great shaves with this blade. Sheffield steel and coticules make a super combo. :)

Getting back to the original question, has anyone here suffered regrets about selling their non-coticules? My Norton 4/8 hasn't been used in quite some time as I've been using either the bbw side of a La Drassante au bleu, or going with a heavier slurry on the coti, for resharpening. My Naniwa 12k has also been a bit neglected as it may be a bit redundant given my thuringian and Jnat. I previously sold off a c12k and don't terribly miss it.
 
I have a small collection of “exotic?” barber hones acquired before I started using Coticules. Some collected for the brand names, others because they were just different from common barber hones.

But it is un-common to find a vintage man-made barber hone that will make slurry easily... as if it was meant to do so. My favorite is a Frictionite, amazingly, it looks and feels very much like a Coticule, makes great edges too (one fine day I will discover the lost secret formula for making these hones).

For some reason I keep all in a small box... but they don’t see much use.
 
Yes, i have kept a few...
...although the coticule is the only stone i allow myself to own more than a couple of a single type.

Thanks,

Mac

rands1.jpg
 
Scotchhound1969 said:
Yes, i have kept a few...
...although the coticule is the only stone i allow myself to own more than a couple of a single type.

rands1.jpg

WOW! Enjoy your collection and thanks for setting them out on my behalf.
 
i have seen that picture over shams place, you have a nice collection of naturals.:thumbup: Have you found a coticule that gives a desent shave , i read you have found the deep rock is your favourite.
 
Nope,gave them away but did keep a Naniwa 1000/3000 and my heirlooms.And a cheapo set of diamond hones for lapping.

Torbs
 
garyhaywood said:
i have seen that picture over shams place, you have a nice collection of naturals.:thumbup: Have you found a coticule that gives a desent shave , i read you have found the deep rock is your favourite.

Hello Gary,

I have been able to get 'decent,' shaves off of alot of coticules, but getting that 'excellent,smooth buttery shave," that they are noted for, still escapes me...for the most part. The Deep Rocks i have, seem to be able to take me close.

I've just not aquired the skill to get that extra, out of them so they can perform as described by some of my friends...so i used them often to bevel correct or progress an edge and finish on something else. Without the coticule, i know id have to use synthetics and im greatful for them, that.

Best regards,

Mac
 
Mac, have you tried Unicot? It really shouldn't take long to get a solid edge from it, if only you're capable of establishing a good bevel.

regards,
Matt
 
Scotchhound1969 said:
Yes, i have kept a few...
...although the coticule is the only stone i allow myself to own more than a couple of a single type.

Thanks,

Mac

rands1.jpg

Whoa! Looks like you need a bigger table :p
 
Matt said:
Mac, have you tried Unicot? It really shouldn't take long to get a solid edge from it, if only you're capable of establishing a good bevel.

regards,
Matt

Hello Matt,

I thought i was, but seemed to have missed an important part of the dilucot, after reading the link you provided. I'll give another run tonight and see what happens.

"The second feature that might seem counterintuitive, is the application of one layer of tape halfway through the honing proces. It is however, the cornerstone of the Unicot method. Slurry on a Coticule abrades steel with ample speed, but it is at the same time somewhat detrimental for the extremely fine tip of the edge. The impact of the tip with the abrasive garnets in the slurry has a rounding effect. At the same time there is also a sharpening effect due to steel being removed from the bevel faces. At the certain level on the keenness scale, the dulling effect neutralizes the sharpening effect. One could hone the razor into oblivion on the hone with slurry, never would it take a keener edge than that level."

Thanks alot!

Mac
 
I started with a La Veinette size 8 bout about 2 months ago. That's really all I have so far, apart from a coarse chip remover. It was really just the cheapest way to go, no way I would have spent $200+ on a Naniwa or other set up. I was done for about a third of that price.
 
I have only 2 coticules, one I recently bought at a market for 50p (thats less than 0.50 euro.

I started with nortons which I still have as I use them regularly to sharpen plane irons and chisels

I have discarded my oil stones
 
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