La Grosse Blanche, no. 60

[Matt]

Things are weird. I was dizzy, sleepy all day long and now it's 5 a.m. and I get a kind of strange insomnia.

I won't venture into detailed description, for now I'll just show you detailed pics of this new stone and the slurry that came with it. The images (apart from slurry stones) are clickable for extra huge sizes. Can you determine the slurry layer, Bart?[c]
WET

[/c]

Thanks for watching, goodnight
Matt

 

[Matt]

I must say that this is indeed not the easiest hone to work with. My first attempt ended with Unicotting the razor, and even that was sub par... : This stone is really slow and requires careful and slow dilutions, and the edges off of it need more finishing on water that my other Cotis. It's the first time I felt there can be such a variety between Cotis.

Now, let's talk about the results! I've read many times about the 'mellow' edges, how they leave skin feeling as if it weren't shaved at all. Never knew what it was all about, as I always felt the rejuvenation, and fresh chill on my face after shaving. I've been wearing a goatee since I started straight shaving, but back in the dark cartridge ages : I was finding this refreshed feeling quite uncomfortable on colder days, especially on my bare chin.

And now, I am walking on a cool windy day in November and I feel nothing special on my face! Freshly shaved, but not more sensitive and 'bare-feeling' than my hands. Wow! :w00t: Amazing! That's the stone for me :love: . I'll leave those slightly crispier stones for summer, when I was finding it really nice and cool feeling on a hot day. It's amazing how versatile things Cotis are. :thumbup:

Could you please Bart take a peek at the slurry stone and give some tips what it is and what to expect from it?

regards, gentlemen,
Matt

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Beautiful stone
and beautiful result Matt :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

The shave sounds like the ones I get off my La Veinnete
so smooth if you didnt know better you wouldnt know you had just shaved!

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[Matt]

I totally forgot to ask about those shiny areas!

As you see, there are three pictures that show shiny, reflecting speckles. These are generally in areas which are more translucent then other parts of the coticule. Could they be the feared quartz inclusions? :scared:

BTW, this stone is the least homogeneous of all stones that I possess, you can see there are many 'structures' in it, streaks, spots, irregularities - very interesting. They cause slight variances in draw when honing.

But I must admit those shiny places bug me. Has anyone had something similar?

regards,
Matt

 

[Bart]

Hi Matt,

It's hard to tell the origin of that slurry stone. My educated guess says La Dressante, but I'm not sure. So far, I have found no indications that the choice of slurry stone has any significant influence on the way a Coticule performs. Since we finish on water anyway, the possible effect on the finished edges is zero.

Concerning the "foreign" inclusions in the stone. I wouldn't worry about them. Could be anything, really. The few times I've seen quartz inclusions, they were typically more of dull white, slightly grayish nature and not completely opaque.

As long as you don't experience a clicking sensation as the razor hovers over a particular spot, there is nothing to worry about.
During the test cycle, I have honed 3 razors on every stone in the Vault, from dulled to sharp, They are all inspected with magnification. If I encounter the slightest problem that affects the final outcome, the stone is not put up for reservation.
There has been one so far: n°27. That one had inclusions that caused damage at the edge. The inclusions were not white, by the way. There have been 2 others, that Ardennes refused to sell, because they were too slow to do any decent steel removal, but those were still very fine finishers: n°42 and n°43, both of the same layer. All other hones in the Vault were perfect to my standards. They are natural, and I admit having a slight preference to pick "characterful" stones at Ardennes.

Concerning draw: I've tested stones that showed considered variance in draw over the surface, yet were exceptionally mellow finishers. N°39 of the vault comes to mind.

Kind regards,
Bart.

 

[Woodash]

I totally forgot to ask about those shiny areas!

As you see, there are three pictures that show shiny, reflecting speckles. These are generally in areas which are more translucent then other parts of the coticule. Could they be the feared quartz inclusions? :scared:

BTW, this stone is the least homogeneous of all stones that I possess, you can see there are many 'structures' in it, streaks, spots, irregularities - very interesting. They cause slight variances in draw when honing.

But I must admit those shiny places bug me. Has anyone had something similar?

regards,
Matt

They are micas: muscovite or similar. Sleep well tonight....:

EDIT (my mind works slowly...): They are a dominant component in coticule, BBW, and Jnats. In general, relatively coarse in BBW, fine in coticule, very fine in the Jnats that I've seen. You just have a few zones of the coarser micas in your coti. Each has some different pproperties. Yours should be transparent to your honing....

 

[danjared]

So, that goatee is coming off now, right?

 

[Woodash]

So, that goatee is coming off now, right?

Me? Who? Huh?

Nevermind. I'll just talk about rocks and dirt and such...:w00t:

 

[danjared]

I've been wearing a goatee since I started straight shaving, but back in the dark cartridge ages : I was finding this refreshed feeling quite uncomfortable on colder days, especially on my bare chin.

And now, I am walking on a cool windy day in November and I feel nothing special on my face! Freshly shaved, but not more sensitive and 'bare-feeling' than my hands.

So, that goatee is coming off now, right?

Me? Who? Huh?

Nevermind. I'll just talk about rocks and dirt and such...:w00t:

Nah, I was referring to what Matt said. You can keep your moustache, Steve.

FWIW, I've not had any facial hair (except the 'burns, those won't go) since I started using a straight.

 

[Woodash]

Think small (and glittery...).

 

[Matt]

So, that goatee is coming off now, right?

Naah, not yet. I like changes from time to time, but I'm not saying goodbye to it in the near future.

Think small (and glittery...).

Steve,

thanks a lot, I know that micas are soft and brittle.. but you could spare me the sight of such a big piece! What if there's an iceberg, err, micaberg in my Coti? :

reards,
Matt

 

[Woodash]

Matt - No micabergs. Really, I don't think there is any problem at tall. But if you are concerned, there is a trick: Mica is slightly soluble in mayonnaise. I recommend that you spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the hone and let it sit for 48 hours....preferrably outside.

Either that, or think of it more like this:

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Heellloooo Kitty!!

hahahaha

Best wishes
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[TM280]

How the hell did anyone find out that mica is slightly soluble in mayonnaise?:

regards,
Torolf

 

[Woodash]

Years and years of research, my friend....:cry:

 

[Matt]

Matt - No micabergs. Really, I don't think there is any problem at tall. But if you are concerned, there is a trick: Mica is slightly soluble in mayonnaise. I recommend that you spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the hone and let it sit for 48 hours....preferrably outside.

Either that, or think of it more like this:

Yuuuuck! :|

OK, I must admit that this hone is a completely different animal! :scared: I've just honed two razors on it and both ended up being taped and finished with Unicot... I've some 3-days growth on my face, we'll see how they'll tackle it, haha!

regards,
Matt

 

[Matt]

You weren't serious about the mayonnaise, were you, Steve?

Ok, these places (I mean the place on photo #2) start to give me real creeps. When I was honing my vintage self-induced smiler I was posting about, this place was giving repeatedly different feedback, than the rest of the stone. I haven't noticed it so clearly ever before. If it is something harder than the rest of the coticule, then it would be logical that it gets exposed with time. I'm really uneasy about it. I have a feeling though, that I feel it more when the spine passes over these spots, than the edge. I'll have to run Unicot on it and see if there's anything bad going on there...

regards,
Matt