Best way to learn honing on a Coticule?

[Beatnik]

So I just received a "select" 50mm x 175mm Coticule from Jarrod @ TSS. I've read all of the info @ Coticule.be and other places about honing razors with a Coticule, but I would like to hear from your experience on what you think is the best way to go about learning to hone on a Coti? I have it in my mind to start with edge maintenance, but maybe I'll just go for it and run a full Dulucot and maybe finish with a Unicot edge. Thoughts? Pitfalls to avoid?

[Legion]

Practice and play. Get some ebay specials and hone them up. Dull them on glass and do it again.

Just read all the tutorials and experiment. Each stone is different, so learn yours, and don't be tempted to buy more until you have that one mastered.

[Doc226]

Just do it, I started with Unicot method and now jsut use the Dillucot. The key is to dilute slowly and finish on plain water with light strokes, then a drop of oil and finish again

[Kentos]

Use a beater razor so you can hone with gusto and not have to worry about hone wear, rolling the edge on a corner etc. It takes time to learn, but my first attempt yielded a an edge that at least gave me half decent shave.

[Beatnik]

Practice and play. Get some ebay specials and hone them up. Dull them on glass and do it again.

Just read all the tutorials and experiment. Each stone is different, so learn yours, and don't be tempted to buy more until you have that one mastered.

Ha, the advice on not to be tempted to buy more before one is mastered is going to be surprisingly challenging, I think. But what you say makes sense as every stone is unique, trying to learn several at once sounds counter-productive.

Just do it, I started with Unicot method and now jsut use the Dillucot. The key is to dilute slowly and finish on plain water with light strokes, then a drop of oil and finish again

The Unicot method is what I will start using. Oil on the finish ...interesting. What kind of oil?

Use a beater razor so you can hone with gusto and not have to worry about hone wear, rolling the edge on a corner etc. It takes time to learn, but my first attempt yielded a an edge that at least gave me half decent shave.

Have beater razor with the idea of honing with gusto!

Thanks for the responses gents!

[hig789]

You can use mineral oil. But some use glycerin too.

[ouch]

Just have at it. It's hard to do anything "wrong". See what works best.

[Brownbear]

Coticule.be has the lesson plan, get some old razors and practice, practice, practice. For me it took a while to develop the feel for the dilucot and to adapt it to my own peculiarities. But just keep working it, hone a razor, reset the bevel and start over. It is a fun, frustrating and rewarding endeavor.

[whipdog]

PRACTICE. I have owned over 50 coticules and each one was different. The easiest to use, for me at least, are the really hard ones. They are USUALLY fast on slurry and slow on water. The coticules that are slow on water are much more forgiving in the finishing stage because they cut slow. You can make a few improper strokes here and there and get away with it. Coticules from the la veinette layer typically have these characteristics

[danjared]

Some like to overcomplicate things. Personally, if I did it over again, I would stick to the lesson plan over at coticule.be, which is just a simple set of instructions and practice. (I wish the revised dilucot or beginner's guide were around when I started.) Playing with different coticules, using oil, or whatever else can be fun, but it really can get in the way of progress. It's a bit like reading instructions when you buy an appliance that requires assembly. If you know what you're doing, you know how to deviate from the instructions as much as you like. If you don't know what you're doing, it's much easier to mess up and blame the product for being defective.

And, of course, have a shave-ready razor to use as a reference. If you don't have one, there are many people here willing to help hone your first razor.