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First Time Honer with Coticle - Very Rough Shave - Disappointed!

So I ordered myself a coticle and at the weekend I decided to try my hand at honing up the razor that I have been using for the past couple of weeks. It had certainly lost quite a bit of keeness (probaly due to my newbie technique) and was definitely in need of a touch up.

Now, when it was restored the gent who initially honed it for me did say it was a difficult razor and needed a couple of layers of tape, so I followed his example. I tried to use the dilucot method from coticle.be and I did do a stroke on glass first so the razor would no longer shave arm hair.

Well, I have to admit that I struggled at first to even get an edge that would shave arm hair again (I think maybe my slurry was too thick), but after several false starts I did manage to do this, and then continued to the end of the process. I was pretty pleased with the result - HHT 3 after stropping. Good work, or so I thought.

Today I shaved with the razor and Good Lord was it rough! Uncomfortable, lots of tugging (especially round the chin) and only just sharp enough to remove hair.

Today I honed up another flea-market find in the same way and managed to get it to HHT 3 once again without stropping, but then I noticed that I had also somehow created (or perhaps uncovered) a tiny dink in the edge. I had to bread knife it, and I think that a 1k stone will be necessary to set a new bevel as it looks as though it will take a looooong time on the coticle. That is no biggie though, as I had a mind to get a 1k stone anyways.

I guess the real question is, can anyone suggest why today's shave was so awful even though the razor was apparently good for HHT 3? I suspect part of the answer is that I just need to be patient and accept that this is not something that you learn overnight, but any pointers would certainly be appreciated! Is it likely that a 1k stone for bevel setting might help ensure that the bevel is properly established and improve the final results?

I know I am trying to learn a lot of skills at once, but I really thought I had managed to get a shaveworthy edge and was dissappointed that the shave was so terrible, especially as I have several more flea-market razors that I would like to hone up and put to use.

I suspect that the answer is probably patience, but I can't help thinking that I must have been doing something drastically wrong...I am just not sure what it could have been!
 
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I never bother with HHT period.

Make sure that your bevel is set well. Sometimes this can mean spending 15 min or longer with a thick slurry; some cotis aren't as good as others for setting bevels. You may even want to go so far as to get that 1k stone just to speed things up.
 

Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
Coticule honing takes a while to learn. What did the original edge test out on the HHT?

Using the HHT requires that you have several tests against which you compare to. Many people hate the HHT so you need to decide what you ultimately use to chart your progress.

What does the finished edge look like? Shiny? Dull? Try marking the edge of the razor with a sharpie and run it once lightly on the stone and see if the ink is uniformly remove on one pass.
 
I'm going to guess your stroke is not spot on. Most of ours when starting off likely isn't. It's something we really need to watch and pay close attention to in order to learn that muscle memory. I think we're all too excited to get a sharpened blade and say we did it that we hurry too much through critical steps. We, I mean me.

You passed HHT. Personally, I find this test rather blah in way of actual results. Even if you passed the HHT all the way down the blade, which you likely did, my guess the reason for the rough shave was actually harshness. You have the blade too "sharp" and harsh perhaps. This was actually the case of a blade I honed the other day. Began to pass HHT and test shave was very harsh. Did again, didn't pass HHT, very smooth shave. I can't say this is always the case.
 
Hello Kent,

The original edge was down to arm hair shaving, although it felt smoother than my effort. I just checked it with a sharpie though and the ink does come off okay. The bevel looks nice and shiny, although it is thick-thin-thick on one side and thin-thick-thin on the other due to an uneven grind on the razor (was like this before).
 
If your razor feels uneven..go to the side thats un even and do more strokes on it
my razor was nice n shiny before I just sent it out..I sensed something something was seriously wrong with it as it wouldnt take an edge no matter what I did...turned out I was right
 
If you set the bevel correctly - and I say if because it's an unforgiving task to learn. Shaves arm hair means nothing unless it shaves it correctly across the entire length of the blade. Even with that test, you can have a bevel that's not set 100% correctly.
Then - the idea is to go through dilutions with the coticule's slurry. I'm not a wiz at this but so far I've managed to figure it out based on feedback off the stone. As you progress through dilutions - you will be able to refine the edge gradually. Then - you have a finish to consider. Too much pressure, the edge can be rough. Not enough pressure - you waste time and the edge might not get there. Not all stones work the same so figuring out the dilutions is another task.

Rough shave, yeah I've had a few of them. I would redo the bevel, work through the middle steps and spend more time finiishing.. most of my stones finished best when starting with gentle pressure and gradually working up to near zero pressure. One had to finish under running water, and one finished best on what I call trace-slurry.
 
I understand your disapointment but actually you did quite well for the first time out. You got it to shave, not well, but shave so that is not a bad effort at all. It takes time to master your strokes as well as to figure out your particular stone. It really takes patience. Hang in there, it will get better.
 
Too much pressure, diluting too fast, not enough strokes on water alone, too much pressure.

+100


take your time.... in the early stages of getting the bevel set *(which you have to do since you dulled it on glass) it is perfectly fine to use PRESSURE.... get a magnifying glass or a jewelers loupe and check the edge as you go.... when it will shave arm hair start diluting your slurry...... lessen the pressure... take your time... this is supposed to be fun.... as you see the edge polish out dilute the slurry even more to the point of honing on clean water......

when you get to the clean water stage do at least 30+ laps.. little to no pressure....

then strop it out and enjoy a tug free shave......

P.S. if it tugs head back to the strop for 20 or so laps....... then if it still tugs do 20 more......

if it tugs after that you gotta head back to the hone.....
 
setting bevels on the coticule with thick slurry? you will not be able to shave arm hair . wheather your coticule is fast or moderate with slurry, after dulling on a glass, it should only take a couple of sets with half strokes and mild presure to get the bevel back. use milky skimmed milk slurry, before testing on arm hair do 10 x light x strokes ..

repeat untill happy then dilute and just carry on. finish on water as normal with x strokes ... HHT will be very good indicator if and only if you no how to judge and what type of hair your using.. i use the same batch and it never fails me .. it will take time to learn all of this .. your first atempts sounds like mine.. shaeing with lots of resistants which makes razor feel rough.. The razor simply is not keen enough.. you would be better of using the unicot method .. this will give you a better start , once masterd try another dilucot... practce every night your back and forth strokes and they will get better and your honing will become better... takes time, but its worth it in the end ..

gary
 
Thank you for all your advice and enouragement guys. :thumbup1:

I think one thing that is immediately apparent is that when I begin my slurry is far too thick (there's a big difference between skimmed milk and full-fat!) then I dilute it too quickly (although I do find I have to add water frequently to stop things drying out completely). The pressure probably needs more work too - I suspect I wasn't lightening up enough after the initial stages.

I am going to be tied up in the evenings for the next couple of days so I will take a break and try again on Friday, bearing in mind what you fellas have said. Fingers crossed I will get a better result. I will let you know how I get on.
 
Like gary said, "thick" isn't really that thick. Sorry if I was misleading on that. You don't want slurry with the consistency of wet sand or something. :p
 
Get a 1k King, and set a bevel with that. It will be much easier, faster, and you will have a nice stone for knives too. After the bevel is set, getting a nice shaving edge from a coti will be much easier.
 
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