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To all aspiring razor sharpeners

Bart said:
slartibartfast said:
Excellent article Bart.

The only thing I would add, If a blade is giving you problems and you are getting frustrated. Set it aside and come back to it another day.

Honing angry does not yield good results :)
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Indeed. And that's why I offer my next tip...
Click to expand...

..... Hmmmm is it about Patience by any chance?? ;)
 
Tip #3:

Remember that the main idea is to shave with the razor. If you are honing days in a row and never manage to get a smooth shave with the razor, you're going to get frustrated.
To solve this situation, get a CrO pasted strop.
You'll eventually get good enough to retire the strop if you wish to do so. But in the mean time, any halfway decent Coticule edge that lacks that last bit of keenness, will improve drastically when stropped on a CrO loaded surface.
A time will arrive where CrO no longer makes any difference. At that point you've truly mastered Coticule honing.

Options for a useful CrO strop:

1. A balsa strop can be made or bought.
2. A leather loom strop works very well for CrO pasted stropping.
3. A flat piece of scrap wood with a 2 or 3 layers of 50mm wide sports tape offers a good paste-worthy stropping surface as well.

Best regards,
Bart.
 
Well, I finished the practice sessions as suggested by king Bart and I am very proud to announce that it really made a difference.

I went through the Unicot process as described and after I stropped I tried a HHT and the hair popped instantly. I couldn't believe my eyes. So I tried again and again and each time the hair popped with no effort. This was my first time to try without finishing with a CrO.

So here are my summation. The training helped to perfect my stokes so I was able to use a very light touch and I think that what did it. The light steady stroke is what makes the difference and that was achieved through the practice advice of King Brat.

I have attached a picture of my edge using a microscope. Naturally the real test is in shaving and I can't wait until tomorrow to try it, but the edge look good and the HHT test was exceptional.

Thanks Brat.

Henckels0021.jpg
 
I shaved with the Unicot blade this morning and I love it. The burn was minimal and the satisfaction was maximum.

Al
 
The little drawings help a lot. As does the idea to put it down for a day or three when frustrated.

The one thing I might offer as an experienced Non-razor sharpener is the time investment comes as no surprise. The part I'm struggling with is getting the same exact precise stroke every time..learning a new set of reflexes and muscle memory.

That could be going faster, but it goes.
 
Mitch,
It took me a long time and was very frustrating for me. It seemed like one day i was just able to hone razors. Really this was just the thousands and thousands of strokes i took trying to learn how to properly hone a razor.

Getting a razor "sharp" is easy. Getting a razor "shave ready" is another thing.

mitchshrader said:
The little drawings help a lot. As does the idea to put it down for a day or three when frustrated.

The one thing I might offer as an experienced Non-razor sharpener is the time investment comes as no surprise. The part I'm struggling with is getting the same exact precise stroke every time..learning a new set of reflexes and muscle memory.

That could be going faster, but it goes.
Click to expand...
 
Great article Bart...Will return to it when I finnaly get a coticule ;-)Hopefully within the next 2 weeks....
 
tat2Ralfy said:
What He Said ^^^ :w00t:
Also I am very very pleased you had success with this Dom, see how nice the shave off a coti can be, and just imagine how delightful it will be as your experience and skill level grows.
Honestly when I first started I got Sherlock Torfs to Hone my Dovo, Man I cannot describe how the shave was! I have said this before and will continue long after anyone is listening: I WAS SHOCKED AT HOW LIGHT AND SMOOTH THE SHAVE WAS, Before then I DID NOT KNOW A STRAIGHT RAZOR COULD BE THAT SHARP AND SMOOTH!! Period.
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That is exactly what brought me here & made me buy a coticule.
I sent a razor to Bart, having tried various "honemeisters" & always being happy with the resulting shave, but still I kept hearing about the natural Belgian stone & none of the honemeisters seemed to use it.
Anyway, when the razor returned from Bart, I was just struck with lightning as for the just unbelievable edge that wa son my basic Swedish straight razor.
Simply amazing & waaaay ahead in smoothness then any of my other, proffesionally honed, straights.
And now No1 from the vault is on its way to me.
Learning to hone on that one should be a delightful ride :thumbup:
 
Thank you for these kind words, Jens.

That Swedish razor may have looked basic, it sure had above average steel. It was a pleasure to sharpen.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
The wealth of information you're providing does not make it easy to pick out the right trace ... ;)
But serious, please explain a bit more in detail what you are doing and how.

Regards
BkueDun
 
wel i start to raise slurry on mo coticule till it looks like milk.
then I take my razor and start do do X strokes to get in the mood;
after that i start as is told in the "manual" doing half strokes. the slurry becomes gray. but even after 10 minutes of halfstrokes it doesn't shave arm hair
 
A first diagnosis might be that you just did not arrive at completely setting the bevel.
In what condition was the razor before you started? Was it sharp or a more a restoration object? If it was sharp, how was it honed before?
Do you have a magnifying glass? That may help in seeing what part of the bevel is actually in contact with the hone. Otherwise use a permanent marker on the edge.
 
it's more of a restoration object since i don't want to ruin my dovo by learning to hone with it
will certainly try the marker when I have time(probably next week since tomorrow i'm heading home for the weekend)
thanks didn't think of the marker
 
On many of these old razors that have been lying in drawer for years, bumping into other objects, gathering corrosion, etc... before someone took it, cut some cardboard boxes and decided to put it on Ebay, because it didn't cut boxes that well, it can take a very long time to set a bevel. My personal rule is, that if 10 minutes of work on the Coticule doesn't cut it, I bring out my DMT 600 grit and work on that one till is shaves arm hair. It will do in 10 minutes what can take me an hour on a Coticule.
After the DMT, I do the dulling stroke on glass, once more, and reestablish shaving arm hair level on the Coticule. That should now take less than 3 minutes.

If you don't have a DMT 600 or some other coarse stone in that grit range (please don't put the razor on one of those cheap 220 grit carborundum hones from the tool shop around the corner), you can do it on 600 grit wet&dry sandpaper as well. Beware that the sandpaper doesn't bead up in front of the edge. To prevent that, it's best to stick the sandpaper with some water on a slick and flat surface, like a flooring tile, or something. Stick it near the edge of the tile, so you can use it like a hone.

Don't worry about the previous lack of success. I'm sure it has been good practice for your honing stroke.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
What works for me is to soak the wet/dry paper until it curls up, then wrap it tight around my coticule, I can then hold it tight in my hand, its like having a 660 grit coti :thumbup: a couple of drops of water as I work and the bevel is set in minutes.
Btw, you might want to tape the spine to protect it during the 600 grit process, if you do you will either find it just starts to wear through as the bevel sets, or if it is still sound once the bevel is set, you will need a few extra sets of half strokes once you have dulled and started on the coti without tape, either way its worth a thought, I rarely use a stone coarser than my coticules without taping the spine.

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
well I finally found some time this evening to get back to my coticule and tried the sandpaper.
gone trough the process and tried to shave with the razor
it was better than I expected but not as good as my dovo
all in all it was an revelation to see I can do it with a bit more of practice

thanks for the advice

regards
Stijn
 
Great news.:thumbup:

If you want you can add a second layer of tape, make 100 additional laps on just water, and find out if that improves the edge further.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
You may want to get a naniwa 1k, its the best bevel setting I have ever used and when I have trouble setting the bevel on a coticule this hone does it with ease. Either that or a continuous 1200dmt plate, but the naniwa is nicer to the edge.

Good luck!:thumbup:
 
Disburden said:
You may want to get a naniwa 1k, its the best bevel setting I have ever used and when I have trouble setting the bevel on a coticule this hone does it with ease. Either that or a continuous 1200dmt plate, but the naniwa is nicer to the edge.

Good luck!:thumbup:
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I would get one but as always the issue is money(just bought a new razor)
 
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