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Girls call me Makaluod
Yesterday I was given an unknown (to me) whetstone as reported here. After cleaning it up and lapping flat, I was informed that what I had been given was an old Coticule/Belgium Blue (although it is a red-wine colour) combo whetstone.This was my second natural whetstone after my Adaee #12000 Cnat that I purchased about a month ago.
After learnt what I had been given, I selected a matching weekend set of two identical (except the timber scales) Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 SRs to see what this Coticule would do for my shave quality. One of this set had been maintained on diamond pasted balsa (clear tail) and the other on my Cnat (black tail). Both SRs have shaved almost identially in shave quality, both in closeness and comfort. I chose the clear-tail SR to put a Coticule finish on.
First I gave the clear-tail a few laps on an 8k Chinese synthetic to put some striations on the bevel. Then I proceeded to polish the bevel on the Coticule. I started out with a slight slurry on the Coticule, finishing with clear water and finally some shaving lather. The bevel finished up with just the very slightest of a hazy finish, only visible under a good light with loupe.
This morning I shaved with both SRs from this matching weekend set.
I performed a rather complex and lengthy comparison shave. First was WTG, clear-tail RHS and black-tail LHS. Then another WTG swapping the SRs over for each side. Next was XTG+CdM (a.k.a. Fool's Pass), clear-tail RHS and black-tail LHS. This was followed by another XTG (in opposite direction) +CdM swapping the SRs over for each side. I did another final two XTG passes in opposite directions (6 passes in total), one pass with the clear-tail and the other pass with the black-tail.
The Result
The Coticule edge (clear-tail) is noticeably more comfortable to shave with. The edge/bevel just glides over my skin. When performing the CdM I found the Cnat edge (black-tail) to be just slightly more keen than the Coticule but only just noticeable. Both being well honed SRs, there was of course no skin damage or irritation.
Conclusion
This Coticule will become my preferred finisher now, at least on my T.H.60 SRs. I have yet another T.H.60 finished on diamond pasted balsa that I have been using as a loan-out SR. I will give that SR a Coticule finish directly onto its pasted balsa finish (no 8k synthetic honing first) and compare the two Coticule edges tomorrow morning.
I am loving my Coticule whetstone. There is so much to learn and try out.
After learnt what I had been given, I selected a matching weekend set of two identical (except the timber scales) Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 SRs to see what this Coticule would do for my shave quality. One of this set had been maintained on diamond pasted balsa (clear tail) and the other on my Cnat (black tail). Both SRs have shaved almost identially in shave quality, both in closeness and comfort. I chose the clear-tail SR to put a Coticule finish on.
First I gave the clear-tail a few laps on an 8k Chinese synthetic to put some striations on the bevel. Then I proceeded to polish the bevel on the Coticule. I started out with a slight slurry on the Coticule, finishing with clear water and finally some shaving lather. The bevel finished up with just the very slightest of a hazy finish, only visible under a good light with loupe.
This morning I shaved with both SRs from this matching weekend set.
The Result
The Coticule edge (clear-tail) is noticeably more comfortable to shave with. The edge/bevel just glides over my skin. When performing the CdM I found the Cnat edge (black-tail) to be just slightly more keen than the Coticule but only just noticeable. Both being well honed SRs, there was of course no skin damage or irritation.
Conclusion
This Coticule will become my preferred finisher now, at least on my T.H.60 SRs. I have yet another T.H.60 finished on diamond pasted balsa that I have been using as a loan-out SR. I will give that SR a Coticule finish directly onto its pasted balsa finish (no 8k synthetic honing first) and compare the two Coticule edges tomorrow morning.
I am loving my Coticule whetstone. There is so much to learn and try out.