March '16 - 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion Thread

The truth has sunk in, but it still hurts.

 

I didn't really do a focus in February, as I was waiting for some razors to be returned from getting work done on them. I sent out 8 straights to different shops getting either polished and honed or complete restores with new scales as well. They still haven't come in, so they will get some use once I have them. First box should be in today, so will be up for Tuesday's shave. My focus for March will be two fold. 1) Limit myself to 2 passes and touch up, playing the angles of the passes to try and eliminate the need for touch up. 2) Try out my injector and Gem SE razors. The second one is a lower priority than the first. We will see how the month goes. There is also a wetshaver's meet and greet next weekend in KC, so I might end up doing some more honing myself.

 

Inventoried my straights, 17 of them. Three out of scales, but I have my tool set to pin. Many still as I found them in the wild. A couple I've polished up, but my funds haven't allowed purchase of a set of hones. Maybe four that I've used. My WD being the only true shave ready.
Getting my focus on is going to keep the DE distraction away. I got into wet shaving with the idea of using a straight. Time to March into it.

 

March 2016 Focus:

Wolfman Open Comb for weekday shaves and other lesser used DE razors for the weekends. I will continue to work through my soaps in hopes of finishing some more up soon. I have pretty much been using a Brush a Week rotation and will continue that for March.

 

My Evahs razor came I today so after I use up the Treet blade I started today I'll switch over to the Evahs/GSB combo. I have to say it was beautifully presented in a semi fitted cardboard slide out box. It also came with 2 Astra SP blades.

 

I am going to continue with my straight razor focus. I have been at it since mid December, and so far so good.

 

My March focus:

I plan to basically continue what I have been doing while focusing on technique and varying equipment slightly.

Mondays - Menthol Mondays with Proraso Green
Tuesday-Thursday - Same soap, same brush, same razor, same blade each of those three days
Friday - Mitchell's Wool Fat, option to change razor or blade or brush
Saturday - random selections
Sunday - Shave Den Sunday with TSD products; razor, brush, and blade could be new or continue with same combo

Generally either Saturday or Sunday may be a rest day where I do not shave.

This setup has worked pretty well for me since January. I like using the same soap in the middle of the week to help hone in on the lathering. It helps me to get to know that soap better. I'll continue to use one pass with touch-up and perhaps two passes on the weekends when I have a little more time.

I plan to use the Maggard V2OC for the most part. I'll use the Schick Injector some more as I prepare for the Bunny pass-around. I also need to use my Gillette Travel Tech some more to get used to it. I have some travel coming up in the Spring and will need to be efficient with the travel razor.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with everyone here. Thanks to Chris (@Bama Samurai) for leading us through these 30-day rule/foci threads!

 

Focus: NF Brush #14 - Feb 29
New Forest Finest two-band Apolina Tubby​

Ending the month with what turned out to be my favorite NF brush so far - the Two-Band, Finest in Apolina Tubby handle. First time using it.

As I started lathering up I am again recognizing the two-band/Finest knot and how much I like these knots. Nice, firm, soft with a tiny bit of scritch. The handle on the Tubby is by no means small but for some reason it all came together in this brush. Loved using it and it produced some amazing lather in no time.

You might also recognize the razor that was used this morning...it was fantastic

​

 

I will be doing my first Rule for March.

Setup

G1 Gillette Fatboy/ Various settings/Lab Blue

22mm Stirling Synthetic Brush

Catie's Bubbles Celtic Knot

Stirling Sharp Dressed Man AS splash with enough menthol crystals in it to flatten a polar bear

Maggard Alum Block


I am hoping to dial in a few things by the end of March. Firstly I want to figure out what setting works best for me in my Fatboy and I also want to dial in the angle perfectly as I noticed at least to me the Fatboy can be finicky angle wise. In short I want to be able to shave with the Fatboy blindfolded while doing backflips by the end of the month.

I also want to dial in my Synthetic brush with Catie's Bubbles as I seem to sruggle getting the lather right. It's either too gummy/pasty and dry or sloppy/airy and wet. I don't have this problem with my Silvertip so it is time to get the Synthetics on board.

 

I had some fun today looking at old straight razors, a Belknap Hardware strop from my hometown, and some fine German cutting steel. It makes me eager to join the Dark Side.

 

That last picture looks like a 1 pass BBS.

 

Try the Gillette Slide at your own risk.

 

Bye bye scalp?

 

I would try it. I never said I was smart.

 

That would make for a one pass BBS.

 

With an open blade it's called a scything stroke. I did it once with a shavette.

 

February 29 - Straight Shave 3
Friedr Schlemper full hollow 6/8
PSO, hot towel
Omega 10066 Boar Shaving Brush
Chiseled Face Trade Winds soap
Alum, Nivea balm,Chiseled Face Trade Winds AS

I'm gonna post in this thread since I started my March focus a little early.

I waited until after work so I could shave unhurried. Did some PSO and a little pre-lather, then hot towels for 4-5 minutes until my beard got soft. Whipped up some Trade Winds lather - I really like that scent - and made it a bit wetter than I do with DE. Lathered and shaved 'baseball' style. Did three passes, north south everywhere first pass, ear to goatee on cheeks and south north second, south north on all third. With a little experimenting on getting a good line around my goatee - I really need extra work on that.. bottom right near the chin/jawline is all the Alum really complained about, and that wasn't a whole lot.

So I managed another full shave, no nicks or cuts this time. I can kinda feel (I think) when its getting ready to bite, and back off. If anything, I think my biggest problem so far is I'm being too tentative. I just gotta get more comfortable with the motions and grips and find my pace. I know it will come, not worried. Shave wasn't DFS, but a decent enough shave. No really bad patches, but not much really clean either.

This was my first shave with this razor. I didn't send this one out, took me a little work on a 12k, then CrO on felt, 50 laps on the rough leather, and 60 or so on the smooth. I don't think its as sharp as my Henckel I sent out to Glenn, but it still seems pretty sharp. I need more experience to really tell the difference. It did shave and didn't seem harsh, so I guess it's all good.

 

That looks like a great display! Were they selling them, or just for looking?

 

I received a wonderful gift from mrchick and gmaugie007 today, a beautiful flare tip. I put it to work right away, a wonderful shave with no irritation and one small nick that I only noticed once I put on the ASB, absolutely not the fault of the razor. I also started off the month using hot water, I'm going to try only hot water this week then switch to cold next week.
PSO- Peppermint homemade
Razor- Gillette Flare Tip
Blade- Astra SP (1)
Brush- Omega synthetic
Soap- Arko shave stick
ASB- Nivea men cooling
I went WTG, WTG and XTG and finished with a DFS, BBS above the jawline. A very enjoyable shave tonight that helped me relax after a very long day