I tried a unicot progression for the first time on this Ellison's. I hadn't realised a coticule could create such a keen edge. Gave me a BBS and a weeper which was a bit of a shock.

Pair of ivory Joseph Rodgers, honed the right one which arrived today, and touched up the left one on the finisher since I had slurry worked up on the hone.

A new razor always asks the question, ‘where do you start?’ So I Sharpied the bevel and gave it a couple of light strokes on each side on a Shapton Glass 2k to see where the stone was hitting the bevels - and this also tells you if it had been honed with tape. The stone hit pretty much the full width of the bevel sans tape, so all was well in bevel land. Bevel set was on the 2k, and there was the tiniest frown though it was impossible to see, but the HHT in the middle was less than the toe and heel, so a little more time on the 2k brought things into order. Next, the 4k followed by 10 canvas/20 cordovan stropping and another HHT to confirm that the bevel was set, and it was, no weakness in the middle.

Next up was a fast kiita with diamond plate slurry followed by a hard asagi with tomo nagura slurry which yields a very smooth edge. Stropping was w0 canvas/35 suede/65 cordovan and the HHT was perfect. Then I touched the other one up on the finisher and slurry just so they’d both be the same.

Shave tomorrow!

Cheers, Steve

Just a touchup here, on a probably Shobudani asagi finisher with tomo nagura. The 6/8 Dovo Bismark was re-scaled with thin scales from my ‘scale pail’ and it worked out very nicely indeed. Stropping was 20 canvas/35 suede/65 cordovan on a Kanoyama 80000.

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it here, but many of the cool old Japanese stones were hand fit to a wooden base. They’d only fit in one way, and of course no other stone would fit, they were custom made for the individual rock.

Cheers, Steve

A new beginning for Primo, (or the beginning of the end ). I spent some time this afternoon performing a full-bevel set and honing progression though 12K with three of my straights. They are going to be my next three shaves. I am fairly sure you pros would find some faults (understandably so), but you gotta start sometime.

If they shave comfortably, what is there to fault? If not, it's an opportunity to practice honing. Win-win, brother!

That's my thinking. They're not $350 R. Saito razors.

Are those before, or after you honed??? Do you have a 40x or 60x lighted loupe???

After.
I do have a lighted loupe.

It looks like you left some Sharpie marks on the bevel. That suggests you aren't using the full edge, when you hone. Concentrate on those areas a little more, or perhaps use an X-Stroke.

I didn't use a sharpie. I think that's a shadow.

I just took the three razors back to the 8K, 12K, CrOx/Strop progression. Under the loupe there is a mirror-like quality to all three edges. The W&B has a very even and straight edge, looks great. The Boker's look very shiny. I only wish that I could report that the edges were the exact same width the entire length of the blades. They are close, but there are some slightly narrower and slight wider sections.

A Razor that has Not Been Ground Evenly & Few are I May Add..What You are Saying is Normal..As Long as the Bevel has Been Properly Set that is...Its Fine..I Tend to Keep Almost Perfect Ground Vintage Razors that are Even Either Side..They are Quite Rare..Most Blades Tend to have a Wee Nuisance or Two from the Factory Grinding Production Process...

Billy..

I hate shadows. They make many of my razors look like Rat Razors.

The Barbers Bride had been a little off lately and somewhat sluggish. Since she had never touched a stone outside of Solingen where 1 of 2 people created her and gave her life, she was timid.

After some discussion, we came to the agreement that we would take a little ride on the Naniwa 12k and see what happens.

After freshly leveling the stone, I made a few initial light strokes and believed that on one side the cutting edge did not appear to fully make contact. Not being an experienced honer, I figured I'd work it with (rolling?) x strokes. Probably gave it about 20-25 gentle cycles being mindful of how the water was moved around. I could see on the stone that I had removed some metal so I figured I'd move on.

I've never been real good at understanding how to evaluate 'sharp' other than shaving. All the 'tree topping' and HHTing kind of confuses me.

The Barbers Bride then went for 6-10 gentle stropping cycles on each grit. Then we went to linen for 25 and leather for 50.

Im not sure if I dare say that it shaved better than new, but certainly as good, and better than last week.

Since we love pictures here it is.




The balsa strops are on magnetic mounts and are 3 x 11 in. They sit on a metal base that also takes other stropping materials. I really like them, and they come in those neat plastic bags to keep from cross contaminating the abrasives. They, and other sharpening items can be obtained from "Chefs Knives To Go" which is on the Max Headroom list of preferred vendors. I used Herald pastes.

Be well gang!

Very nice looking razor.

Took the same three SR's to my Naniwa 12K, this time under running water. Checked under the loupe and did some evening out of the edge widths. Huge difference in the mirror-like quality to the edges.

Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced coticule? Is there one?
I want to give one a try. Thanks.

Take the plunge, man! I don't own a coticule, but I am interested in the Shapton Glass 16000 and 30000. A lot more money for sure, but if you don't spend your money you might as well be collecting rocks!

I want to plunge! But there are so many different ones and so many different prices. I am looking for some recommendations.

My suggestions are just suggestions. Look at what works for others, that use a limited number of progression stones. Research the cost of these setups, and let your budget be your guide. Then stick with the set-up you chose, and learn it well. Become very proficient with it, before throwing another stone in the mix. If you have patience, Natural stones are the way to go. If you are in a hurry, go with synthetic. Both can get the job done.