Bart
Well-Known Member
Gentlemen,
I've added the descriptions of n°13 and n°18 to the Coticule Vault.
These are both very interesting cases. Maurice Celis and I were not able to determine the layers of which these hones are harvested. Both come from the "Ol Preu" quarry, and there is little doubt in my mind that they come each from a different layer. Maybe when I reveal the honing properties to Maurice, he might come up with a suspected ID after all.
N°13 is a slow one. One of the slowest I had the honor of meeting so far. Still more than capable of correcting the bevel of a razor that dulled from regular shaving and some touch-ups on a pasted strop or so. Yields an exeptionally good HHT, straight off the hone after the Unicot procedure. The Dilucot method takes a bit of extra time. It's a slow hone, and that calls for a slow dilution phase. The hone offers a slight draw and a faint yet distinct feedback of very fine abrasion. It's the kind of Coticule that you'd love using for the presence of that unique Coticule honing feel.
It becomes interesting when we compare it to n°18. N°18 is the ugly duck in the Vault. He has these vary faint manganese line that look like cracks, but aren't. The surface looks a bit blotchy, as if covered with dried dirty slurry. Several of those spots have a sheen, while others are completely dull. The hone has a hard surface. On water it feels almost like honing on glass. On slurry there's very little feedback of abrasion. It must be a slow one, right? Wrong. This is one of the fastest Coticules I ever ever used. I estimate it slightly faster than "La Petite Blanche", more on par with the backside of "La nouvelle Veine", albeit it feels totally different, less grainy in a way. A bevel worker "par excellence".
What this illustrates is that feedback does not always correlate to Coticules' abrasive speed and properties. Based on feedback, one would expect n°13 to be fast and n°18 to be slow. Yet they are the other way 'round.
Another important observation is that regardless of all these differences in feel and speed, the final edges that can be obtained are, once again, very closely the the same. I don't think anyone would be able to discern between them.
To conclude: for honing razors, of these two, n°13 is more pleasant in use for having such agreeable feedback, n°18 is slightly more versatile,because of its great speed in slurry-mode.
Best regards,
Bart.
I've added the descriptions of n°13 and n°18 to the Coticule Vault.
These are both very interesting cases. Maurice Celis and I were not able to determine the layers of which these hones are harvested. Both come from the "Ol Preu" quarry, and there is little doubt in my mind that they come each from a different layer. Maybe when I reveal the honing properties to Maurice, he might come up with a suspected ID after all.
N°13 is a slow one. One of the slowest I had the honor of meeting so far. Still more than capable of correcting the bevel of a razor that dulled from regular shaving and some touch-ups on a pasted strop or so. Yields an exeptionally good HHT, straight off the hone after the Unicot procedure. The Dilucot method takes a bit of extra time. It's a slow hone, and that calls for a slow dilution phase. The hone offers a slight draw and a faint yet distinct feedback of very fine abrasion. It's the kind of Coticule that you'd love using for the presence of that unique Coticule honing feel.
It becomes interesting when we compare it to n°18. N°18 is the ugly duck in the Vault. He has these vary faint manganese line that look like cracks, but aren't. The surface looks a bit blotchy, as if covered with dried dirty slurry. Several of those spots have a sheen, while others are completely dull. The hone has a hard surface. On water it feels almost like honing on glass. On slurry there's very little feedback of abrasion. It must be a slow one, right? Wrong. This is one of the fastest Coticules I ever ever used. I estimate it slightly faster than "La Petite Blanche", more on par with the backside of "La nouvelle Veine", albeit it feels totally different, less grainy in a way. A bevel worker "par excellence".
What this illustrates is that feedback does not always correlate to Coticules' abrasive speed and properties. Based on feedback, one would expect n°13 to be fast and n°18 to be slow. Yet they are the other way 'round.
Another important observation is that regardless of all these differences in feel and speed, the final edges that can be obtained are, once again, very closely the the same. I don't think anyone would be able to discern between them.
To conclude: for honing razors, of these two, n°13 is more pleasant in use for having such agreeable feedback, n°18 is slightly more versatile,because of its great speed in slurry-mode.
Best regards,
Bart.