Bart
Well-Known Member
I think everyone with some experience in Coticule-only honing, would agree with me that the main challenge is how to reach sufficient keenness on the edge. Smoothness, as far as that correlates to being friendly for the skin, is never really an issue with Coticules. But making the edge sharp enough can be frustrating certainly when you haven't fully mastered an effortless and swift honing stroke.
I was contacted a while ago, by one of our members, sir Dell Staton. We exchanged a couple of e-mails talking about Dell's tactic to get the last bit of performance out of his Coticule. (Dell, please, if I explain it wrong, chime on in and feel free to correct me). Dell uses a few very short strokes at the end of his finishing procedure. Very light, and very short strokes, the total distance stroked is about 1/8" (O.5cm). This should cover the length of the edge, so a lateral (very diagonal) motion is applied to the edge.
I have tried it on a fair number of razors, and could not find a direct advantage for my honing results. But I do many extremely light laps (lighter than the actual weight of the blade) while finishing, and perhaps that matches already what Dell achieves with his short strokes. I've tried doing them earlier in my honing sequence, and see where it got the edge, but still have not been able to copy Dell's great results. That, however does not mean that his approach is meaningless. Maybe it works for some of you, hence I'm starting this thread for all of you to try it some time and contribute your experiences.
While we're at it, I have yet another thing that you could try during the finishing stages of honing on a Coticule.
I've only recently discovered this (in all honesty, albeit completely different, it is something that Dell said, that got me thinking about it) When honing, we push the razor over the hone with the edge leading. That is the best way to do it, because edge trailing, a number of complicated principles such as plastic deformation and debris deposit, are at work towards the very edge. As a results the very edge beefs up with "burr-like" material, which is not good for the structural integrity of that edge. That's why we hone "into" the edge, with these forces in a direction away from the edge. But, and here starts my hypothesis, near the end of honing, the very edge becomes so thin and fragile, that honing with the edge leading puts too much stress onto that extremely thin and bendable strip of steel at our very edge. Dell's short lateral strokes try to minimize that effect, and that's why his idea makes sense to me.
My new idea, derived from this theory has been to hone till the edge is as keen as possible, and strop the blade well. So far everything you would normally do. Now, if the blade still lacks that minimal bit of keenness (I'm talking about the difference between "great" and "fantastic") just go back to the Coticule and strop on it. That's right: strop. I don't mean backhoning, although it's the same motion: your mind needs to think "stropping". So far I've tried it a couple of times, and it seems to make a difference in some instances. I'm doing no more than 20 round trips. That might be too much. I'm using water on the Coticule, but you would try it dry also, and against better judgment, even light slurry.
I should do much more experiment before making hard claims. But the problem is that I don't have much need for these options. I really don't want to sound boastful, but it's not as easy as you guys might think to hone a blade less well to find out what the benefits would be of an alternative option. Furthermore, as already made clear there are many possible recipes (dry, water, 10 laps, 20 laps, etc...). And so little time...
If any of you feels like trying, here's the thread to post your follow-up.
Thanks,
Bart.
PS. does that answer your question, Ralfy?
I was contacted a while ago, by one of our members, sir Dell Staton. We exchanged a couple of e-mails talking about Dell's tactic to get the last bit of performance out of his Coticule. (Dell, please, if I explain it wrong, chime on in and feel free to correct me). Dell uses a few very short strokes at the end of his finishing procedure. Very light, and very short strokes, the total distance stroked is about 1/8" (O.5cm). This should cover the length of the edge, so a lateral (very diagonal) motion is applied to the edge.
I have tried it on a fair number of razors, and could not find a direct advantage for my honing results. But I do many extremely light laps (lighter than the actual weight of the blade) while finishing, and perhaps that matches already what Dell achieves with his short strokes. I've tried doing them earlier in my honing sequence, and see where it got the edge, but still have not been able to copy Dell's great results. That, however does not mean that his approach is meaningless. Maybe it works for some of you, hence I'm starting this thread for all of you to try it some time and contribute your experiences.
While we're at it, I have yet another thing that you could try during the finishing stages of honing on a Coticule.
I've only recently discovered this (in all honesty, albeit completely different, it is something that Dell said, that got me thinking about it) When honing, we push the razor over the hone with the edge leading. That is the best way to do it, because edge trailing, a number of complicated principles such as plastic deformation and debris deposit, are at work towards the very edge. As a results the very edge beefs up with "burr-like" material, which is not good for the structural integrity of that edge. That's why we hone "into" the edge, with these forces in a direction away from the edge. But, and here starts my hypothesis, near the end of honing, the very edge becomes so thin and fragile, that honing with the edge leading puts too much stress onto that extremely thin and bendable strip of steel at our very edge. Dell's short lateral strokes try to minimize that effect, and that's why his idea makes sense to me.
My new idea, derived from this theory has been to hone till the edge is as keen as possible, and strop the blade well. So far everything you would normally do. Now, if the blade still lacks that minimal bit of keenness (I'm talking about the difference between "great" and "fantastic") just go back to the Coticule and strop on it. That's right: strop. I don't mean backhoning, although it's the same motion: your mind needs to think "stropping". So far I've tried it a couple of times, and it seems to make a difference in some instances. I'm doing no more than 20 round trips. That might be too much. I'm using water on the Coticule, but you would try it dry also, and against better judgment, even light slurry.
I should do much more experiment before making hard claims. But the problem is that I don't have much need for these options. I really don't want to sound boastful, but it's not as easy as you guys might think to hone a blade less well to find out what the benefits would be of an alternative option. Furthermore, as already made clear there are many possible recipes (dry, water, 10 laps, 20 laps, etc...). And so little time...
If any of you feels like trying, here's the thread to post your follow-up.
Thanks,
Bart.
PS. does that answer your question, Ralfy?
: ) , I'll try doing really quick laps, and for fear of being too hard on the edge, I will start with the edge high, and gradually lower it until it hits the hone. This all happens really quickly, and it is kind of hard to explain, but it's kind of like skipping the edge off the stone. The edge is in contact more than just 1/8 inch, though. Maybe more like an inch.