chti_lolo said:
I can get a good HHT3 (or maybe a bad HHT4
) on my daughter blond hair at 15mm fromm the holding point with my unicot edge (so not a great result) with my best dilucot edge (very flat blade with no warp) I get the same result whereas with the other razors I got a good HHT3 at about 10mm (maybe 8mm) from the holding point.
But in the finishing stage (before stropping) of dilucot I have more than HHT1 only on thick hair.
With HHT-1 you mean the violin, right?
It's typical. I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's not so much the dilution itself many strugly with when learning Dilucot, but the actual finishing stage, where we need to squeeze out that final bit of keenness that makes
all the difference.
If you arrive at HHT-1 after dilution and you're first finishing attempt, that's not too bad. I still happens to me too, from time to time. And then it takes all kinds of further finishing attempts to get it right. That's when I'm ever so glad for the HHT, because at least, it keeps me from jumping back and forth between test shaving and more finishing. I think the difference between an experience Coticule user and a less-experienced one is often primarily based on the former's trust in the stone, the cinfidence that he'll eventually get it right, and the knowledge that it makes no sense to strop the razor and test shave with it before it passes his personal standard test (for me that's HHT-3 on a medium hair at about 15 mm of the holding point).
The last few months, I've been searching and searching through all my small finishing variation, if there wasn't one that could be optimized to make the quest for keenness a bit easier in a consistent manner.
I believe that I've finally come up with something. I've already briefly shared it in another thread, but I know these things take time to kick in. It was no different with the "improved Dilucot".
Anyway, it elaborates on a old theme: lather.
Your razor must pass HHT-1 very clearly, or even better, pop thick hairs at 5mm from the holding point, otherwise, what I'm about to suggest won't work. It does not speed up the hone, quite the contrary. However, It does seemt to push the keenness barrier a bit further, which gives you a larger landing zone, so to speak.
Once the razor is at that stage, and no matter how many additional X-strokes on water you make, it doesn't seem to make any difference, grap a
hard puck of
shaving soap, and a boar brush. Load the brush with luke-warm water. Shake it out gently and start loading the brush with soap. Load it very well without going overboard. Coat the Coticule with a thick lather, the kind of lather you would add water to if you were lathering your face.
Now, start honing with X-srokes (rolling ones if the razor demands it). Soon the lather will dry out and form a slick film on top of the Coticule. It's more a kind of burnished sheen on top of the stone than anything else. At that point, add another 30 laps and check again with the HHT.
Please let me know what happens?
chti_lolo said:
As for the strop, I think I will also buy a russian leather hanging strop to see the difference (something like
http://www.revisor-solingen.de/html/zubehor_2.html )
You won't regret that one. :thumbup:
chti_lolo said:
My la Veinette is rectangular so I can't test the narrow side. But I feel the BBW side is more easy to work on : the blade seems to stick on it.
I'm not sure I understand that. There's always a narrow side to work on, I'd think. Have you shared a picture of that stone in an earlier thread, where I can see it?
chti_lolo said:
I really appreciate your kind offer and would be very glad if I could test a few hones or only one (if it 's not a problem for you) which can cope with my problem of finishing stage and awkward rolling X-strokes.
Thanks a lot
Laurent
It'll be my pleasure, and a small favor to return for all your help with the translations. I know they're not published yet, as it's still a work in progress. Please e-mail me your address, to ship the hones.
Kind regards,
Bart.