Introducing myself and question

[Oscar]

Hello all.
This is my first post here but I´ve been around reading posts and articles for a while now.

My name is Oscar and I am from Brazil. I am a complete newbie to the razor universe and still don´t have a coticule.

I´ve been a knife collector for more than 20 years and like Stefano (new member. Ciao Stefano)like to sharpen my knifes.
This knife passion led me to the Böker shop, in Solingen, during my travel to Germany last April, when I got a Knife (of course) and all the shaving stuff. That´s when I started reading all kind of articles about wet shaving available on the internet. That´s when the coticule name appeared and also this site.

But the first time I heard about the Belgian Yellow Stone was like 3 years ago, from a guy (now friend) who used to be a woodworker and have a Coticule combination (yellow/bbw) that´s been on his family for more than a 100 years.

Straight razor is not popular in Brazil anymore for sure. I don´t know anyone with one. Even safety razors are gone. I barely remember, when I was a kid, my dad had a safety razor and one barber shop where the guy used to strop his razor.

Now I am after buying a natural combination, but it´s not easy to find it. I found one in USA at the superior shave. They carry a great selection, but I am trying to find some other option. I also e-mailed the guys at Ardennes, in Belgiun. But got no answer after 1 week.

So my questions: should I give up on the natural combo and get the yellow bonded to shist? Any suggestion where to get a coticule in short period of time (1 month)?

Greetings and thanks.

Oscar

 

[Paul]

Oscar,

Welcome to Coticule.be. If you are set on a natural combination, I would recommend that you continue your search. The BBW side can be quite useful as well.

The guys at Ardennes are actively involved in the mining operation, and sometimes take a little time to respond to emails. Jarrod (@ The Superior Shave) is good to deal with from all accounts, but so are the guys at Ardennes. It would like arrive faster coming from the US, I'd expect, but I don't know that.

Maybe one of the members here has one they're interesting in selling... Best of luck in your search for a natural combination coticule and in your straight razor learning curve.

Best regards,

Paul

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Hello and welcome from me :thumbup:

As the good Sir Paul has said, Ardennes is great to deal with, however they are very busy people and may take longer than you wish to answer you, bear in mind that a stone will last you the rest of your life, and a week here or there is a short time.

I would say the combination stone is a very very useful one to have, and well worth waiting for.

Best of luck with your search

Ralfson (Dr)

 

[Emmanuel]

You welcome my friend from me too.Paul well advise. A combination coticule is very useful. My advise is to avoid a La petite Blanche as first coticule. I suggest to start by a La dressante or La verte.Jarrod is a very kind and informative man.
Best regards
Emmanuel

 

[Oscar]

Thank you all for the reply.

I was to read further about the different coticules, but since Emmanuel got to the point suggesting me to get a La Dressante or verte instead of a LPB for first coticule, it makes me ask about it now: what´s the main difference between them and how if affects the honing process?

By the way, Maurice answered my e-mail and he has one La veinette and another La Nouvelle veine. This last one is new for me. So what now?? I just replied him asking the sizes.

Thanks

Oscar

 

[chti_lolo]

My first coticule was a La Veinette (about one year ago). This coticule was advised like the La Verte as easy coticule.
I think that La Veinette are quicker on slurry than most of La Verte.
My last coticule is a La Petite Blanche and was not as easy to me and I can't achieve (for the moment )the same result as on my La Veinette.

Regards

Laurent

 

[Paul]

Oscar,

I learned on a La Petite Blanche, and I had tremendous results. However, I struggled, and still do sometimes, when honing on coticules from other strata. I'm not sure why, but that's the way it's gone for me. I have spoken to several other guys who have started on others and struggled for a bit on their LPBs (Gary, being one notable example, but he's getting bang on results now with his). I don't think it matters that much to be honest, but knowing that experienced coticule honers sometimes express that LPBs are challenging to them leads them to think that it may not be the best strata for beginners. That well could be the case, but I started on it, and I have a very good friend who did as well as my brother, and they picked it up quite quickly (both of them, as did I).

Having said that, La Veinette is a very desirable strata, and it should serve you quite well. Personally, I didn't care much for La Nouvelle Veine because the process was very difficult for me to master, but once I did the results were excellent.

I guess that brings me to the point. There really isn't that much of a difference between the final results of coticules. You will find that they will, almost, all be up to the task of razor honing and maintenance, but the way they work is slightly different among the stratas. The main thing to do is just pick one, use it, and learn it.

Cheers,

Paul