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Problem with dilucot.
- Thread starter macrob
- Start Date
Matt
Well-Known Member
macrob said:
70 days exactly (edit: okay, not exactly, I looked at my posts' dates; it was really 68
: ). I guess it would be faster, if I wasn't so stubborn and didn't try to success at DiluCot as a beginner. Of course, UniCot came first. I'd heartily recommend unicotting for every beginner.cheers,
Matt
tat2Ralfy
Well-Known Member
It took me almost a year, back then we were still working on the best methods, we used the Unicot sometimes, and the old Dilucot, which only really used halfstrokes for bevel setting, after that it was regular strokes, and we did at least 4 to 5 hundred! lol
I used to practice most evenings, and my arms got so bare I moved onto my legs :thumbup:
Of course I started from never ever having sharpened anything other than pencils, then I bought my first BBW, had no real method or direction, until I found Bart, we emailed a lot, did a lot of work through this site too, I moved onto my first Coticule, and never looked back
I can now say, like Gary I have my ups and downs, but 90 out of 100 times, it just goes right, and 10 or 15 minutes after I first dull the edge on glass, I have a shave ready razor :thumbup:
Best regards, and keep up the good work
Ralfson (Dr)
I used to practice most evenings, and my arms got so bare I moved onto my legs :thumbup:
Of course I started from never ever having sharpened anything other than pencils, then I bought my first BBW, had no real method or direction, until I found Bart, we emailed a lot, did a lot of work through this site too, I moved onto my first Coticule, and never looked back
I can now say, like Gary I have my ups and downs, but 90 out of 100 times, it just goes right, and 10 or 15 minutes after I first dull the edge on glass, I have a shave ready razor :thumbup:
Best regards, and keep up the good work
Ralfson (Dr)
Disburden
Well-Known Member
it took me longer than others, probably a year. My only coticule at the time was a. La nouvelle veine, extremely fast in slurry but very slow on water. Being such a bipolar stone it took a lot of practice, adding more laps to dilute, etc. I actually put the coticule away off and on for a year because of frustration, it was a great finishing hone though. I now own a la nouvelle veine again bujt this one isn't as fast with slurry, which is fine!macrob said:
Nick
Bart
Well-Known Member
I still remember the first time the shells fell of my eyes concerning Coticules. I had been shaving with straight razors for 8 months or so, using one of Dovo's loom strops with red paste to get a decently shaving edge on my razors. The other side of the loom strop I had pasted with Chromium Oxide, but I couldn't really figure out if I liked it better or even needed it. I owned a Coticule and a BBW, almost right form the start, but I couldn't get them to work. I had been doing pyramids between the Blue (supposedly 4K 
) and the Yellow (rumored to be 8K : ), and got nowhere. On the few occasions I noticed any difference before and after, at times hours, of almost pressure-less strokes (never more than the weight of the razor, I was told ), my razor definitely was duller instead of sharper. I could get a very good "kitchen sharpness" off my Coticule, but nothing more. The pasted strop did the rest.
Eventually, I got help from 2 guys who knew what they were talking about, David Polan and Josh Earl. Both Coticuleers of an early hour. They independently of each other had the same message: "Get your bevel up to speed on another stone, and finish on your Coticule, using only water". They also both recommended the DMT-E (1200 grit) for bevel work. I figured out a honing progression with the DMT, a BBW (light slurry) and a Coticule (water only). The full description of it is collecting dust in the SRP&D wiki.
I also learned to appreciate a CrO stropping after that progression.
Anyway, back to what I remember as my first "real" Coticule edge. There namely is a difference between the smoothing out the maxed out keenness off a DMT, and a pure Coticule edge.
I was sitting at a friend's diner table, during a meeting with a couple of fellow traditional shavers. As usual, we were playing with hones and razors while having a wee chat and a sip of Whisky. There was a glass of water on the table with small pipette in it, to add a drop of water to the Whisky. I had this thought of adding a drop from the pipette every 20 X-strokes. At the end, it came as a surprise that the razor popped a hanging hair. It was a surprise because I knew it was easy to loose the HHT on any razor by a mere bit of honing on a Coticule with slurry. But never before had I been able to revive the HHT by means of just a Coticule.
And then there was the shave with this razor, which was of unknown comfort, both in terms of skin-friendliness and of smooth cutting action during the shave.
I have been chasing to copy these results ever since. It took several attempts to repeat that first, almost serendipitous result. But eventually I became better at it.
We are over three years later now, I don't think anyone is going to need struggling for as long a period of time, as some of us did. There is more information available. The only thing there is no replacement for, is practice. Honing razors is a bit like learning how to ride a bike. It takes regular practice and some perseverance at first, but once learned, it's a skill for life.
Bart.
) and the Yellow (rumored to be 8K : ), and got nowhere. On the few occasions I noticed any difference before and after, at times hours, of almost pressure-less strokes (never more than the weight of the razor, I was told ), my razor definitely was duller instead of sharper. I could get a very good "kitchen sharpness" off my Coticule, but nothing more. The pasted strop did the rest.Eventually, I got help from 2 guys who knew what they were talking about, David Polan and Josh Earl. Both Coticuleers of an early hour. They independently of each other had the same message: "Get your bevel up to speed on another stone, and finish on your Coticule, using only water". They also both recommended the DMT-E (1200 grit) for bevel work. I figured out a honing progression with the DMT, a BBW (light slurry) and a Coticule (water only). The full description of it is collecting dust in the SRP&D wiki.
I also learned to appreciate a CrO stropping after that progression.
Anyway, back to what I remember as my first "real" Coticule edge. There namely is a difference between the smoothing out the maxed out keenness off a DMT, and a pure Coticule edge.
I was sitting at a friend's diner table, during a meeting with a couple of fellow traditional shavers. As usual, we were playing with hones and razors while having a wee chat and a sip of Whisky. There was a glass of water on the table with small pipette in it, to add a drop of water to the Whisky. I had this thought of adding a drop from the pipette every 20 X-strokes. At the end, it came as a surprise that the razor popped a hanging hair. It was a surprise because I knew it was easy to loose the HHT on any razor by a mere bit of honing on a Coticule with slurry. But never before had I been able to revive the HHT by means of just a Coticule.
And then there was the shave with this razor, which was of unknown comfort, both in terms of skin-friendliness and of smooth cutting action during the shave.
I have been chasing to copy these results ever since. It took several attempts to repeat that first, almost serendipitous result. But eventually I became better at it.
We are over three years later now, I don't think anyone is going to need struggling for as long a period of time, as some of us did. There is more information available. The only thing there is no replacement for, is practice. Honing razors is a bit like learning how to ride a bike. It takes regular practice and some perseverance at first, but once learned, it's a skill for life.
Bart.
Paul
Well-Known Member
That's very true. As some of you know, my brother just returned from his deployment, and after several weeks, he'd still not honed his razors yet because he was afraid he'd forgotten what to do... He came to my house just in case he needed some guidance, and he honed 3 of his razors on the half of my egg-plant colored LPB love: ) that I gifted him with great results, no problems... It really is a skill for life :thumbup:
I did hone 2 razors and do some restorative honing on another for him just to keep from being bored
love: ) that I gifted him with great results, no problems... It really is a skill for life :thumbup:I did hone 2 razors and do some restorative honing on another for him just to keep from being bored
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Well thank God for whisky, that's all I can say!
garyhaywood
Well-Known Member
Once you get into honing , you will be able to tel when the bevel is set, just by doing a thew x strokes, you will feel the razor and see it under cut the slurry from heal to toe, also i use tpt, i can tell when the bevel is ready, just arm hair test more of reliable for most.
when your setting bevel strop and apply dry thuimb to edge, if the thumb pad gripsthe edge, then you no your bevel is getting there, then do 10 x strokes, the slurry should ride up the bevel from heal to toe, you should also hear the razor making anoise , like its cutting into the stone. then do a quik arm section testfrom heal to toe, this will save you keep stopping to test on arm hair, test arm hair once you think the bevel is griping and under cutting slurry.
gary
when your setting bevel strop and apply dry thuimb to edge, if the thumb pad gripsthe edge, then you no your bevel is getting there, then do 10 x strokes, the slurry should ride up the bevel from heal to toe, you should also hear the razor making anoise , like its cutting into the stone. then do a quik arm section testfrom heal to toe, this will save you keep stopping to test on arm hair, test arm hair once you think the bevel is griping and under cutting slurry.
gary
Bart
Well-Known Member
Yves said:
That is a keen observation. Undercutting is -like most markers during the honing process- influenced by several factors. It's not just a matter of how sharp the edge is, but also the thickness of the layer of fluid on the hone, and wether the bevel is already "lubed" by the present slurry, make a difference. As always there is no substitute for experience.
What I personally pay a lot of attention to, is how instantly the edge undercuts the fluid. Certainly during the final stages, the edge needs to catch the water instantaneously.
Kind regards,
Bart.