U.K. Coticule honing

MichaelS said:
PS, just noticed Coticule.be is active again. The 'Gary' mixed progression mentioned above is there as 'Progression honing method' in case anyone interested. There is also a new section called The Clinic (Helpdesk).....
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coticule.be was never de-activated .. Only the Cafeteria, the discussion forum.

It is now a "helpdesk" only, but all the information is still there.

Jamie, I think I'm going to bite the bullet and order a 3K Professional.
 
BlacknTan said:
MichaelS said:
PS, just noticed Coticule.be is active again. The 'Gary' mixed progression mentioned above is there as 'Progression honing method' in case anyone interested. There is also a new section called The Clinic (Helpdesk).....
Click to expand...

coticule.be was never de-activated .. Only the Cafeteria, the discussion forum.

It is now a "helpdesk" only, but all the information is still there.

Jamie, I think I'm going to bite the bullet and order a 3K Professional.
Click to expand...

I was honing today and this thread made me concentrate on the 3k Naniwa - it really is a very useful stone in that it removes a lot of steel quickly. I purposely looked at scratch patterns and amount of shine coming from the bevel after each stone - 1k, 3k, 5k and 10k - you really can't see much in terms of shine until the 10k, but as a combination it works well.

I was honing a couple of SE hollow ground blades and the stones are excellent, even on these smaller blades.
 
One more Question about Coticules, the standard coticule(cheaper one) and the non symmetrical Bout coticules(more expensive one). Are there any grit referances between them? if so what would that be? I know natural stones don't have grits but just to simplfy the difference.
thanks
 
Sezer74 said:
One more Question about Coticules, the standard coticule(cheaper one) and the non symmetrical Bout coticules(more expensive one). Are there any grit referances between them? if so what would that be? I know natural stones don't have grits but just to simplfy the difference.
thanks
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Difference between 'standard' and 'select' is visual appearance (select have more homogenous look/ more expensive), no difference in performance. 'Bouts' are fragments that break off in irregular shapes - usually cheaper per square inch than the standard/select stones cut to rectangular shapes. I have seen references to about 6,000 - 8,000 grit for all cotis but have no idea on what that is based given that cutting varies with amount/type of slurry. I'm not comfortable with coticules shorter than six inches or odd shapes but many use them successfully. Stones from some veins of the mine are more expensive then others (vein names given by miners, now used for marketing), but I believe much of that's hype because I haven't come across a coticule that doesn't work. They do differ however in speed of cutting: faster stones are often softer and have a pinkish hue (perfect for bevel setting), slower stones are harder (finishing). You can tell a stone is fast when the yellow slurry darkens immediately with the metal dust from your razor. But as I said they all work for everything. Ardennes Coticule are very helpful and can advise you. I must be boring everyone :) a ton of more detail on coticule.be including the new Helpdesk!
 
I've been playing with coticules over the holidays. I was given the two I have so don't know anything about them but I've been surprised by how fast they cut. I haven't managed to get an edge I would want to shave off yet but I'll keep trying....

They look like this and measure 7"x1 1/2"

 
I find the Beligian Blue a mind numbingly slow stone to use. It sits somewhere between 3-4k
I can acieve what a Belgian Blue can in a quarter of the time with a Naniwa Superstone 3k

Unless I was on a budget I would avoid the Blue.
 
MichaelS said:
Hi Jaycey,

I can achieve what a Naniwa Superstone 3K can in a quarter of the time with a DMT Fine or Extra fine diamond plate....:)
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But what grit rating are they and what is the level of scratch marks left afterwards?
 
UKRob said:
MichaelS said:
Hi Jaycey,

I can achieve what a Naniwa Superstone 3K can in a quarter of the time with a DMT Fine or Extra fine diamond plate....:)
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But what grit rating are they and what is the level of scratch marks left afterwards?
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Hi Rob, they go from 500 (coarse) to 8000 (extra extra fine) equivalent. I just posted a razor on SOTD today (page 3) that I honed that way last night (Bertholot), the final small scratch marks of the XXF 8K were removed with a Shapton 16K for a mirror finish - wonderful shave btw..
http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=30269&page=3
 
I wouldn't be without my DMT's. I don't use them a lot on razors but if I need to remove a big chip there's no way I'll be doing it with a 1K Naniwa!

When I first started honing razors I used an extra fine DMT for bevel setting then a 4K/8K Norton. It was a really straight forward set up for a beginner.
 
I have the DMTs mainly for problem/damaged razors, where they can be life savers (I buy a lot of crud on eBay:)). Or sometimes a change of routine to relieve boredom. If I honed for a living, I would only use DMTs (with a synthetic finisher), they're so fast I'd be mad not to!
 
MichaelS said:
I have the DMTs mainly for problem/damaged razors, where they can be life savers (I buy a lot of crud on eBay:)). Or sometimes a change of routine to relieve boredom. If I honed for a living, I would only use DMTs (with a synthetic finisher), they're so fast I'd be mad not to!
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Can you still use tape on the lower grit ones? I generally tape all blades before honing but don't usually need to go down from a 1k synthetic.
 
UKRob said:
MichaelS said:
I have the DMTs mainly for problem/damaged razors, where they can be life savers (I buy a lot of crud on eBay:)). Or sometimes a change of routine to relieve boredom. If I honed for a living, I would only use DMTs (with a synthetic finisher), they're so fast I'd be mad not to!
Click to expand...

Can you still use tape on the lower grit ones? I generally tape all blades before honing but don't usually need to go down from a 1k synthetic.
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Yes I use Scotch 88 tape (0.2) on all blades and hones, including the DMT. Change tape after each plate on the lower DMT grits.

mikew said:
You're probably right Michael but it doesn't have the same romance as a Jnat or Belgian blue though :)
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Couldn't agree more :)
 
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