Hello gents! So, I have a couple of coticule related questions.
I got some local hands-on mentorship with my coticule, and was told that I am doing everything right, I just need to do a little more of it. I was glad to hear this after putting myself through a bevel reset after a bad touch-up honing stroke on my first touch-up try! My two identical NTS razors are now shaving like the day I got them, and it's amazing to get back to working on technique with an edge that I'm 100% responsible for. My idea going into straight razor shaving was to not use chromium oxide and the like, and just use touch-up honing on a coticule when the razor starts to pull. I've now done this successfully twice, and my face likes the results. I'm trying not to get too cocky though as I think a lot of the honing work I've done has been luck that I don't want to push.
So, my questions are these: If I buy a razor that has been honed with some other method, (like Japanese stones,) can I go straight to touch-ups on my coticule, or do I need to do some other work on it first? What about coticule touch-ups on razors that have been finished with chrom ox? I've read that those two methods are incompatible, but what should I do to a razor if it's been finished on chrom ox to get a coticule edge back? Now that I'm sure about this straight razor stuff, I'm thinking of getting a PRC Hydra. is there anything special / different I need to do when honing a quarter-hollow ground? Any special considerations for keeping that Spanish point sharp? (My two current razors are full hollow round point.)
This whole honing (and shaving) journey, missteps and all, has been pretty unexpected and amazing! I can only hope to give back to the B&B community a third as much as I've gotten out. thanks in advance for the help.
I got some local hands-on mentorship with my coticule, and was told that I am doing everything right, I just need to do a little more of it. I was glad to hear this after putting myself through a bevel reset after a bad touch-up honing stroke on my first touch-up try! My two identical NTS razors are now shaving like the day I got them, and it's amazing to get back to working on technique with an edge that I'm 100% responsible for. My idea going into straight razor shaving was to not use chromium oxide and the like, and just use touch-up honing on a coticule when the razor starts to pull. I've now done this successfully twice, and my face likes the results. I'm trying not to get too cocky though as I think a lot of the honing work I've done has been luck that I don't want to push.
So, my questions are these: If I buy a razor that has been honed with some other method, (like Japanese stones,) can I go straight to touch-ups on my coticule, or do I need to do some other work on it first? What about coticule touch-ups on razors that have been finished with chrom ox? I've read that those two methods are incompatible, but what should I do to a razor if it's been finished on chrom ox to get a coticule edge back? Now that I'm sure about this straight razor stuff, I'm thinking of getting a PRC Hydra. is there anything special / different I need to do when honing a quarter-hollow ground? Any special considerations for keeping that Spanish point sharp? (My two current razors are full hollow round point.)
This whole honing (and shaving) journey, missteps and all, has been pretty unexpected and amazing! I can only hope to give back to the B&B community a third as much as I've gotten out. thanks in advance for the help.
My experiments with CrOx have taught me that I really like coticule edges; with them I seem to get a bit of warning before cutting myself, whereas with CrOx I seem to cut / scrape myself before realizing it, if that makes sense. I'm sure different edges require different technique; I'm just very familiar with coticule edges right now and would like to stick with them if I ever get that Spanish point I'm dreaming of.
