yohannrjm
Well-Known Member
I've had the coticule below for a long time. It was obtained from Bart a while ago, and he also provided the slurry stone pictured. I've used this coticule a few times, and had some nice results, but the results were inconsistent --- depending on how long it had been since I last used the hone. I did post about this hone before.
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NOTE: All the experienced guys here will tell you to stick with one hone until you've mastered it. This is good advice.
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So, I recently put away all my hones, except this hone and the slurry stone. The plan is to finally 'figure out' this coticule.
Here it is dry:
....and wet:
There's some white swirls on the stone on the upper left corner shown in the wet pic. The last time I used this (very hard) slurry stone, an edge of the slurry stone smashed up some of that white stuff (quartz??) - so I had to lap it. You can see the scratches from the 600 grit DMT plate in the dry pic.
A few things about it:
1) It is very hard (like marble) and very smooth (also like marble). The slurry stone is also very, very hard. They both release slurry very slowly.
2) It is pretty large.
3) Bart had indicated that almost all the work on this hone should be done on slurry, as very little refinement will happen on pure water.
4) I had found that it benefited from some pressure while honing.
I started working on the Heljestrand #134 pictured below. This is a really good razor. With pretty hard metal, and I'd honed it already. It shaved very well. So, I dulled it and started off. I received this NOS, so I hone it with one layer of tape (the razor is pretty rare).
Raising a slurry was pretty hard, but it did build. There was distinct sound of abrasion when honing. I used Gary's technique from the videos (visually, at least). The slurry darkened pretty quickly, but I'm not sure if that was due to the tape abrading or the metal, but the metal did get worn pretty obviously. I did a few dilution steps, and finished off on a very light slurry (X-strokes at the end). It lopped off the tips of arm hair very easily at this point. I didn't use the HHT (kids were in need of some attention).
The shave was pretty bad. It cut hair, but not well, so I finished off with my Sta-Sharp.
This is a Koeller blade, that's taken the best edge ever. It is the edge I compare everything to. It feels blunt on the face (and smooooth), but it just knocks off all the hair. Two passes are all I generally need for a perfectly presentable shave from this razor. I can get extremely sharp edges with other blades, but this one is the most comfortable. It was honed on a coticule, but I can't remember which one I used.
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So, back to the Heljestrand.
Built up a slurry again (light), and did some more back and forth strokes, and then progressed to pure water, with some light pressure. Then did 50 slow, deliberate X-strokes on pure water. HHT was an easy 4, sometimes edging into the 5.
Shave this morning was very like the Sta-Sharp - two passes and I got a pretty good shave (I have to do an ATG pass if I want the closest results, but I try to avoid it). This was as good as a shave without ATG gets for me. Smooth for hours. The edge was very comfortable, but still was a little more brisk than the Sta-Sharp.
I want to get that 'blunt' feeling, so I'll see if this blade can be pushed further on this hone. If not, no big deal.
The plan is to hone some more blades on this hone, so I really learn it this time. As I said, I've put away all the other hones, to remove temptation.
More updates as things progress.
[c]------
NOTE: All the experienced guys here will tell you to stick with one hone until you've mastered it. This is good advice.
------[/c]
So, I recently put away all my hones, except this hone and the slurry stone. The plan is to finally 'figure out' this coticule.
Here it is dry:
....and wet:
There's some white swirls on the stone on the upper left corner shown in the wet pic. The last time I used this (very hard) slurry stone, an edge of the slurry stone smashed up some of that white stuff (quartz??) - so I had to lap it. You can see the scratches from the 600 grit DMT plate in the dry pic.
A few things about it:
1) It is very hard (like marble) and very smooth (also like marble). The slurry stone is also very, very hard. They both release slurry very slowly.
2) It is pretty large.
3) Bart had indicated that almost all the work on this hone should be done on slurry, as very little refinement will happen on pure water.
4) I had found that it benefited from some pressure while honing.
I started working on the Heljestrand #134 pictured below. This is a really good razor. With pretty hard metal, and I'd honed it already. It shaved very well. So, I dulled it and started off. I received this NOS, so I hone it with one layer of tape (the razor is pretty rare).
Raising a slurry was pretty hard, but it did build. There was distinct sound of abrasion when honing. I used Gary's technique from the videos (visually, at least). The slurry darkened pretty quickly, but I'm not sure if that was due to the tape abrading or the metal, but the metal did get worn pretty obviously. I did a few dilution steps, and finished off on a very light slurry (X-strokes at the end). It lopped off the tips of arm hair very easily at this point. I didn't use the HHT (kids were in need of some attention).
The shave was pretty bad. It cut hair, but not well, so I finished off with my Sta-Sharp.
This is a Koeller blade, that's taken the best edge ever. It is the edge I compare everything to. It feels blunt on the face (and smooooth), but it just knocks off all the hair. Two passes are all I generally need for a perfectly presentable shave from this razor. I can get extremely sharp edges with other blades, but this one is the most comfortable. It was honed on a coticule, but I can't remember which one I used.
-------
So, back to the Heljestrand.
Built up a slurry again (light), and did some more back and forth strokes, and then progressed to pure water, with some light pressure. Then did 50 slow, deliberate X-strokes on pure water. HHT was an easy 4, sometimes edging into the 5.
Shave this morning was very like the Sta-Sharp - two passes and I got a pretty good shave (I have to do an ATG pass if I want the closest results, but I try to avoid it). This was as good as a shave without ATG gets for me. Smooth for hours. The edge was very comfortable, but still was a little more brisk than the Sta-Sharp.
I want to get that 'blunt' feeling, so I'll see if this blade can be pushed further on this hone. If not, no big deal.
The plan is to hone some more blades on this hone, so I really learn it this time. As I said, I've put away all the other hones, to remove temptation.
More updates as things progress.