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New Coticule

GeneS

Member
Just wanted to say hi! I've been reading the forum for quite some time, and finally purchased a yellow coticule. I normally hone on a King 1K followed by a Norton 4k/8k combo and finish on the c12k. My shaves were always great with those hones. My only issue was irritation. My coti arrived last week and after honing for the past week I finally broke through my plateau with the coticule. An absolutely close shave with zero irritation. The razor, a W&B Special, is extremely sharp and very keen. I set the bevel on the W&B with the King 1k and finished on the coti with a Dilucot edge. Again extremely sharp and irritation free. The only improvement I'd like to see on this razor is a greater sense of "glide". I feel the lack of glide mostly on my neck area, it feels as if the razor is "sticking". Just imagine you held a dull razor flat on your face with water only, and tried to proceed with a shaving motion. It's completely different from "pulling". Has anyone ever experienced that lack of glide? And let me just say that it's not a complete lack of glide, and if that issue is one of the by-products of a coticule edge, so be it, I can live with that!
 
Sticking, i think i no what your saying. all though hard to explain. I think that may be how coti edge feels.

the way i explain the feel of a top notch razor honed to max on a coticule, would be like this.

the shave would shave efortless with a sticky dull feel, all though the stubble is being removed and the edge should feel soft and dull on your face.Are you experiancing that feel agtg. After shave if done properly as you noticed you should not get any irritation. Your face can feel unshaved.

gary
 
It sounds like your hands are at the top of the mountain and you just need to finishing pulling your body up on the summit as well. You lack just the last wee bit of keenness from the perfect shave. Congrats and I hope you figure it how to get that last bit sooner than later.
 
Thanks for the replies gentlemen,it's good to know that I've managed to get to this point with my coticule as quickly as I have. And again let me just say that the coticule edge has provided me with an absolutely tremendous shave. I'll try a few more laps on water only, or perhaps some lather. Any suggestions?
 
yes just try as you say. add a couple of sets of half strokes on water then some light x strokes. try a thew laps under running water.
 
GeneS said:
The razor, a W&B Special, is extremely sharp and very keen. I set the bevel on the W&B with the King 1k and finished on the coti with a Dilucot edge. Again extremely sharp and irritation free. The only improvement I'd like to see on this razor is a greater sense of "glide".

Does that razor by any chance happen to have a fairly wide bevel? There is a condition where a wide and smoothly polished bevel, make tend to "suck" itself onto the skin. When that happens one experiences a peculiar stickiness and the refusal of the razor to glide well.

I'm not sure this is the situation in your case, but if so, Unicot with 2 layers of tape will probably take care of it, by "breaking" the wide bevel surface in 2 parts.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
Hi Bart, not a wide bevel at all. I've had the Coti for about a week now. I'm sure with practice I can achieve the perfect edge. I'll take some photo's of the stone and post post them later on, and with an ID and some advice from others, I can really dial that edge in! Thanks....
 
In that case, it's indeed thar final bit of keenness you need to chase. You'll get there soon enough. It's either to find on the stone...
or on the leather...

Both are very important factors that each contribute in their own way to an excellent end result. I can strop an edge off a Coticule as much as I want, if the finishing lacks a bit, the shave will leave something to be desired. But the reverse if at least as true: a perfectly finished edge off a Coticule won't reveal its full glory, unless it is stropped perfectly.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
Here are two photo's of my Coti. Don't know if the side view is enough to help ID this stone...
[img=800]1[/img]
 
The coticule is a La Verte. A very nice stone known for producing keen edges! Just keep doing laps on water only and you get there. The stone is not known for being a fast one but its known for the keen edges. Congratulations on a nice stone.
 
Thanks for the ID gentlemen! Looks like I have more reading to do, and a bunch of test shaves on the horizon :sleep:
 
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