Coticule honing video

Someone asked me how I'd been honing and I promised him a video of it....that was 2 months ago but now since last monday I finally got my new camera so here it is.:


But I've made a short straight razor honing video of me honing a simple 5/8 razor. (It turned out great, I shaved with it after recordign and it's excellent.)

Here is the video.

Just realized that this should be in the pictorials section. Maybe one of the moderators could move it?

Nice video

LX_Emergency said:

Just realized that this should be in the pictorials section. Maybe one of the moderators could move it?

Click to expand...

Moved.

Great Video, it shows an experienced staright razor shaver who has personalized his technique on honing but still gets a great edge. Main things, blade flat, x pattern, very light pressure, consistant stroke.

Keep in mind, this is a finish stone. If you own a straight razor this is one of the better stones for keeping the edge shave ready.

If the edge is blunt you may want to start honning on a lower grit stone.

But X's stye is great.

Nicely done Alex! Gives me some inspiration to hone my couple of straights up that I acquired. Still need a strop though....

Dennis

Great video. You should also upload it to Youtube.

roughrider said:

Great video. You should also upload it to Youtube.

Click to expand...

Youtube has a 10 minute limit unless you have a Director account. However, if Alex can edit it to under 10 I will be happy to "host" it on my channel!

--Mark

The only thing I think could be better is using a 8000 Norton to start with, the Coticule is for more polishing it

ead said:

The only thing I think could be better is using a 8000 Norton to start with, the Coticule is for more polishing it

Click to expand...

The 8000 grit side of the Norton is also widely considered to be a polishing stone. Most "experts" over at SRP would tell you that the 4000 grit side of the Norton is used to establish the bevel, the 8000 grit is used to polish the bevel, and the yellow coticule is optional for further polishing. This is the method that has worked extremely well for me and many others, but I am not going to say that this is the only way.

It all depends on the razor that I'm honing. For full hollows the coticule is usually enough. If it's a heavier grind I use the stone that I use as a lapping stone to et the bevel.

Each razor is unique and requires a different set of strokes/approach. So that's what I do, by feeling instead of by the "rules/theories".

Great Video, Alex. Thanks for sharing it.

Normally, I don't like shaving videos, but this one was very nice.

For those of you who don't know, Alex is a well respected member of SRP, and has great experience in honing razors. Alex, nicely done!

Randy

Nice video. Very informative and detailed narrative you provided along with the visual. I learned something from watching this.

-----Michael

Thank you for the compliments. Glad you liked my little video.

Hi LX,

Could you please tell us about how much time it takes to proper hone a new razor?

I know you''l probably tell me it depends on this ... on that
But in general, does it take you about 10 minutes like in your video?
Or more like an hour or even more?

The thing is that I'm new to honing and try to hone a straight for about 3 days now. About one hour each day. The Razor is still just not sharp enough for shaving (believe me I tried it !). I can see a bevel like you mention but the bevel is just not sharp enough.

I'll try to use the lighter and lighter pressure next time.

Could it also be a matter of stropping?
I must admit that I spent time on the hone but not so much on the strop.
Also, do you put something on your strop like oil or any special grease?

I like your shaving readiness test and wait for your answers.

Also, I could be visiting a friend who lives in Haarlem, Netherlands soon.
I checked on mappy and Oss is on the road ... maybe could we organise something to meet eachother?
I'll keep you posted.

Greg

I enjoyed that vid very much. Thanks for taking the time to do that for us.

Very helpful. Thanks.

A bump for a worthy video.