Hi all..
I recently got my first coticule/bbw stone (15cm x 3cm - picture attached)and with the help of Bart's fantastic videos I tried it out yesterday on 2 different razors. The first was a very tired looking razor I bought for practising purposes. I went straight to the dilucot video and to the best of my ablility, I more or less copied what was being done in the video. To my amazement I ended up with a razor that before I started, was so dull that using saw motions on my forearm wouldn't even make a mark, could now actually shave beard! It did however need some work, but still.. My first try and I actually brought it from butter knife to a razor that could actually shave beard. I put it down and grabbed another razor. This time a razor I had shaved with for a year or so but that the edge had gotten so thin that a small piece of it had broken off.. (barely visible to the naked eye) I started with 3 swipes over the drinking end of a beer bottle, and it no longer shaved arm hair, but still I could make out the tiny "chip" if I could call it that. and I decided to work a little extra on the thick slurry with circular strokes to try to remove the "chip" and then go back to the glass, and start again from scratch. This took some time but worked in the end. This time after doing the same routine, following the instructions in the dilucot video, (though in my excitement I forgot the tape! :scared: ) I ended up with a razor that I felt was sharp enough to shave with. I stropped it.. 30 linen (forgot about not needing to strop on linen after honing!! :cry: ) and 60 leather. I lathered up and shaved. 3 passes. I was amazed! It was not the best shave I have had, and it has left my skin a little bit sore in some places which is unusual (I should mention I have sensitive skin as well..) but it was more than acceptable. And the skin felt nice and smooth afterwards. With practice I am sure this will get better as I have no idea what I am doing now and wouldn't even be doing it if it wasn't for Bart's extremely helpful videos.
I couldn't believe it. My second honing! All I have used for 2 years now to keep my 20-25 razors sharp enough to shave is a 3-line swaty, a cro ox pasted balsa strop and a cheap IRS 206 with leather and un-pasted linen.
Anyway, thanks to Bart and all the others for this website and forum. It's made all the difference to someone who for a long time didn't bother about honing because it just seemed too difficult and expensive (with all the hones I thought I needed I mean..)
I have attached a picture of the stone and would be very grateful if anyone could take a look at it and perhaps make a guess at what kind of coticule it is. I really want to get to know this stone now.. And I have about 60 razors that I want to get to know the coticule better
BTW, could I use the coticule to remove chips on razors as well? I think I read somewhere that you could breadknife a razor on the side of a coticule (so as to not harm the honing side) to remove small chips before starting the honing..
I would also greatly appreciate tips on different honing methods with the coticule/bbw.
MisterA
I recently got my first coticule/bbw stone (15cm x 3cm - picture attached)and with the help of Bart's fantastic videos I tried it out yesterday on 2 different razors. The first was a very tired looking razor I bought for practising purposes. I went straight to the dilucot video and to the best of my ablility, I more or less copied what was being done in the video. To my amazement I ended up with a razor that before I started, was so dull that using saw motions on my forearm wouldn't even make a mark, could now actually shave beard! It did however need some work, but still.. My first try and I actually brought it from butter knife to a razor that could actually shave beard. I put it down and grabbed another razor. This time a razor I had shaved with for a year or so but that the edge had gotten so thin that a small piece of it had broken off.. (barely visible to the naked eye) I started with 3 swipes over the drinking end of a beer bottle, and it no longer shaved arm hair, but still I could make out the tiny "chip" if I could call it that. and I decided to work a little extra on the thick slurry with circular strokes to try to remove the "chip" and then go back to the glass, and start again from scratch. This took some time but worked in the end. This time after doing the same routine, following the instructions in the dilucot video, (though in my excitement I forgot the tape! :scared: ) I ended up with a razor that I felt was sharp enough to shave with. I stropped it.. 30 linen (forgot about not needing to strop on linen after honing!! :cry: ) and 60 leather. I lathered up and shaved. 3 passes. I was amazed! It was not the best shave I have had, and it has left my skin a little bit sore in some places which is unusual (I should mention I have sensitive skin as well..) but it was more than acceptable. And the skin felt nice and smooth afterwards. With practice I am sure this will get better as I have no idea what I am doing now and wouldn't even be doing it if it wasn't for Bart's extremely helpful videos.
I couldn't believe it. My second honing! All I have used for 2 years now to keep my 20-25 razors sharp enough to shave is a 3-line swaty, a cro ox pasted balsa strop and a cheap IRS 206 with leather and un-pasted linen.
Anyway, thanks to Bart and all the others for this website and forum. It's made all the difference to someone who for a long time didn't bother about honing because it just seemed too difficult and expensive (with all the hones I thought I needed I mean..)
I have attached a picture of the stone and would be very grateful if anyone could take a look at it and perhaps make a guess at what kind of coticule it is. I really want to get to know this stone now.. And I have about 60 razors that I want to get to know the coticule better
BTW, could I use the coticule to remove chips on razors as well? I think I read somewhere that you could breadknife a razor on the side of a coticule (so as to not harm the honing side) to remove small chips before starting the honing..
I would also greatly appreciate tips on different honing methods with the coticule/bbw.
MisterA