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Learning to hone on my La Verte/BBW...

jollo74

Member
Hi folks,
Since my unexpected (and probably undeserved ;)) success of my first dulicot attempt I've been playing around with different razors on my La Verte coticule... I made another successful dulicot attempt (again on an old full hollow ground Solingen razor) but on my new Burgvogel Solingen I only got a HHT 1 off the stone. Doing unicot raised it to maybe HHT 2 and after stropping on linen/leather (60/60) the razor got to HHT 3ish (just). OK, can't win 'em all :D ...

Then I tried my old Le Grelot (1/4 hollow ground and very hard steel): dulicot: HHT 0 (just!). Another try: HHT 0. Then I went on my Thuringian: HHT still 0...

Then, I stropped, more for the fun of it, and after the linen I got HHT 2-3 :confused: ... And after the leather a good HHT 4...:w00t:

Can someone explain this to me?

Thanks in advance
Jörg
 
Hi Jörg,

At first I thought maybe you hadn't set the bevel well enough to start diluting. I usually get at least a HHT 4 of off the stone but if you got a HHT 4 after stropping then maybe thats not it:confused:

I have a la petite blanche and a les latneuse but I haven't used a la verte, I've heard they give very mellow edges so it may be as sharp but the smooth edge makes it score less on the HHT.

I'd be interested in what the others have to say because I've been thinking about getting a La Verte to play with myself.

Karl
 
Karl said:
Hi Jörg,

At first I thought maybe you hadn't set the bevel well enough to start diluting. I usually get at least a HHT 4 of off the stone but if you got a HHT 4 after stropping then maybe thats not it:confused:

I have a la petite blanche and a les latneuse but I haven't used a la verte, I've heard they give very mellow edges so it may be as sharp but the smooth edge makes it score less on the HHT.

I'd be interested in what the others have to say because I've been thinking about getting a La Verte to play with myself.

Karl
Hi Karl,
Thanks for your reply. I've test-shaved with the razor yesterday and compared it with a one of the razors that were HHT 3 directly off the stone: I couldn't detect differences in the keeness of both razors. The shave with both was very close and without any irritations but it could have been a bit smoother (I hope this makes sense, I'm still new in trying to describe a shaving-sensation ;) ).

Anyhow, maybe someone else has an idea about the strange behaviour of that razor :confused: :rolleyes: .

Thanks
Jörg
 
It sounds like you had a wire edge on your razor. When you stropped the blade, the edge broke off and you finally got good results on your HHT. All stones are different, but my La Verte easily gives me the best HHT "off the stone" of any coticule I own. Most other stones catch up after a good stropping though.

How are you finishing on the La Vert? That could give another clue.
 
Hi jollo74 my friend. Sorry but your result is not logic. I am afraid that the HHT reading after the coticule was incorrect. I suspect that the edge was not thoroughly cleared before ,so the edge cleared on the linen.However the final result is perfect.
Best regards
Emmanuel
 
Loric said:
It sounds like you had a wire edge on your razor. When you stropped the blade, the edge broke off and you finally got good results on your HHT. All stones are different, but my La Verte easily gives me the best HHT "off the stone" of any coticule I own. Most other stones catch up after a good stropping though.

How are you finishing on the La Vert? That could give another clue.
Hi Loric, I was first finishing "by the book", i.e. according to Bart's dulicot instructions. Then I did it again starting with light milky slurry, 6-7 dilution steps and finishing with 60 light X-stroke with water only. When this still didn't give me a HHT off the stone (it was cutinng armhair easily btw) I went on my new Thuringian-like stone, first with slurry, then water only. Still HHT 0 :confused: .

But after linnen and leather it was HHT 4. And it still was doing fine on the HHT after the shave with 3 passes...

Emmanuel said:
Hi jollo74 my friend. Sorry but your result is not logic. I am afraid that the HHT reading after the coticule was incorrect. I suspect that the edge was not thoroughly cleared before ,so the edge cleared on the linen.However the final result is perfect.
Best regards
Emmanuel
Emmanuel, my friend, I agree that the result doesn't make sense :rolleyes: . Maybe it's the extremely hard steel and it needed cleaning up (a wire edge as Loric suggested?) on the strop.

Anyhow, it shaves just fine and that's main thing. I was just curious if there's an explanation for the razor's strange behaviour.

Thanks and cheers
Jörg
 
If you had a wire edge, the resulting shave after stropping would be horrible, I think what may be happening is that either you didnt completely clean the edge of all water, e.g 2 or 3 gentle wipes on clean dry soft tissue paper, or your HHT hairs are not consistent, did you use the same strand of hair for both the before and after stropping tests?

Also often overlooked but vital, is that the razor shaves arm hair before you start diluting, and I mean easily shaves arm hair, like you would imagine its that sharp you could shave it, and wonder why you need to bother diluting at all sharp.

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
Thanks my dear doctor :) ! I'll make sure to dry it properly before th HHT next time I hone it. But for now it shaves nicely so I'll practise my coticule skills on some other razors. I've just gotten lucky and managed to obtain several old Solingen razors from a discontinued barber shop :w00t: :thumbup: : this will give me plenty opportunity to practice :) !

But first I go on vacation on Monday - without any hones and razors ;) :lol: ...

Cheers
Jörg
 
So Jörg Firstly don't forget to clean completely your edge before HHT reading and secondly, have nice vacations my friend.
Best regards
Emmanuel
 
When you are coming off the la verte and not receiving good results from your normal tests, HHT whatever you use, try using water and heavy strokes. Make a few sets of half strokes with some pressure in water. Then go to X strokes and try lighter pressure than before but not completely light. Then finish on about 50 light passes in water with normal X strokes and see if that helps. I have a La Verte and this usually helps raise the sharpness limit before stropping the razor.
 
tat2Ralfy said:
Also often overlooked but vital, is that the razor shaves arm hair before you start diluting, and I mean easily shaves arm hair, like you would imagine its that sharp you could shave it, and wonder why you need to bother diluting at all sharp.

Ralfy, I love this description - spot on.
 
Sounds like some good advice given. On a side note, I can't wait until I'm good enough that I can consistently get a HHT-4 off the stone:)
 
Paul said:
Sounds like some good advice given. On a side note, I can't wait until I'm good enough that I can consistently get a HHT-4 off the stone:)

For the first time in my life, last night, I passed the hht off a coticule...with a hht3 (I think it was 3..:blush: )!

Let us know how things w:) ork for ya!
 
Disburden said:
Paul said:
Sounds like some good advice given. On a side note, I can't wait until I'm good enough that I can consistently get a HHT-4 off the stone:)

For the first time in my life, last night, I passed the hht off a coticule...with a hht3 (I think it was 3..:blush: )!

Let us know how things w:) ork for ya!

Yes, 3... that's pretty excellent in my experience. Congrats, by the way :thumbup:
 
First of all good morning to you gentlemen - it's great to be back :) :) :) !

Disburden said:
When you are coming off the la verte and not receiving good results from your normal tests, HHT whatever you use, try using water and heavy strokes. Make a few sets of half strokes with some pressure in water. Then go to X strokes and try lighter pressure than before but not completely light. Then finish on about 50 light passes in water with normal X strokes and see if that helps. I have a La Verte and this usually helps raise the sharpness limit before stropping the razor.
Thanks for these tips Nick, much appreciated :thumbup: ! As mentioned in one of my posts above I acquired quite a bunch of old Solingen razors which gave me a LOT of practice in honing my honing skills :rolleyes: ... Increasing the number of laps on plain water (not halfstokes) really does pay off! And I feel the "training" ;) worked, as I'm now consistantly able to get at least HHT2 results off the stone. I even once managed a good HHT4 with an extremely hollow ground 6/8 RUGRA Solingen - I couldn't believe my eyes (and ears because it was a silent cut :w00t: ).

These are the kind of things that motivate us, isn't it?

And I was still a bit suprised (I know I shouldn't have been :blush: ) that switching to my non-vintage Thuringian after the last dulicot step doesn't make a difference. It now lies around in my drawer and doesn't see a lot of daylight anymore ;) .

Cheers guys
Jörg
 
jollo74 said:
First of all good morning to you gentlemen - it's great to be back :) :) :) !

Disburden said:
When you are coming off the la verte and not receiving good results from your normal tests, HHT whatever you use, try using water and heavy strokes. Make a few sets of half strokes with some pressure in water. Then go to X strokes and try lighter pressure than before but not completely light. Then finish on about 50 light passes in water with normal X strokes and see if that helps. I have a La Verte and this usually helps raise the sharpness limit before stropping the razor.
Thanks for these tips Nick, much appreciated :thumbup: ! As mentioned in one of my posts above I acquired quite a bunch of old Solingen razors which gave me a LOT of practice in honing my honing skills :rolleyes: ... Increasing the number of laps on plain water (not halfstokes) really does pay off! And I feel the "training" ;) worked, as I'm now consistantly able to get at least HHT2 results off the stone. I even once managed a good HHT4 with an extremely hollow ground 6/8 RUGRA Solingen - I couldn't believe my eyes (and ears because it was a silent cut :w00t: ).

These are the kind of things that motivate us, isn't it?

And I was still a bit suprised (I know I shouldn't have been :blush: ) that switching to my non-vintage Thuringian after the last dulicot step doesn't make a difference. It now lies around in my drawer and doesn't see a lot of daylight anymore ;) .

Cheers guys
Jörg

Very nice to hear that you just needed to make more strokes and it worked out for you. As I said earlier, I finally passed a HHT, something I have never been able to do in three years...a hht3 even. I bet the Thuringian stone isn't even nearly as pretty anyway so it can hide in a drawer some. ;) I'm sure the more you practice with water the less hht2's you will see!
 
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