August 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I was going to say something about mosquitoes being the state bird of Louisiana, but they're a problem everywhere.

Did anyone else run along behind the truck that sprayed for them when you were a kid? Now I go inside when he passes. Already got my daily dose of weird chemicals, thank you.

 

August 2016 Adjustable August

August 1

Razor: 58 Executive set on 3
Blade: Royal Red
Brush: Stirling Kong
Soap: Tabac
Post: Cold water rinse, Alum block



For August I have decided to focus on my adjustable Executive and to use blades I have never used before. I also plan to use the same blade as Neal when possible. So today met both categories by using the Royal Red. A completely unknown blade that came from tryablade.com when I decided to just get some random blades.

My experience with the blade got off to a really, really bad start when I took one look at the wrapper. I promise the picture above has not been altered in any way. It is the wrapper as it came to me. Is it also merely coincidence it is blood red? Here is hoping this blade will not be quite that bad!

I set my Executive on 3 because I could not remember what Neal uses his slim on and I figured it was low enough to call it really mild. (Note: I was also way too lazy this morning to bring up one of his posts and figure it out . . . maybe next time). Got a great lather from the Tabac, but after starting with it wondered if I should have used the MITA or the lemon chill with the menthol numbing that might end up being a good thing depending on just how much red this blade causes. Well, I stuck with the Tabac and away I went with the WTG/XTG pass.

Fortunately, the blade was not terrible. It felt sharper than a Dorco or a Derby but not by much. It was probably about the same smoothness as the Dorco for me but without some of the tugging I had with the Dorco. I would probably give it a 3.5 out of 5 on sharpness and a 3 on smoothness. Not horrible like a MEM or Bigfoot Shaves Baili reject, but not good either. Finished the pass and headed to the ATG pass. By the time I finished the ATG pass I had some minor irritation in some places but nothing terrible. The closeness of the shave was barely DFS. I feel certain I could NOT have caught the baby today. It just was not in the cards with this blade and the Executive set on 3. I probably could have gotten a more solid DFS but it was not worth it.

The alum talked a little mostly on my chin and around the Adam's apple. No serious burning just a reminder. I am hoping this blade improves at 6 tomorrow on the Executive, but mostly am thankful it did not bring out the crimson red all over my face or leave me "baldes."

 

August 1, 2016

Razor: 60's SuperSpeed
Blade: Gillette Platinum Plus (2)
Brush: VdH Boar
Soap: Cella

Second day with the 60's SuperSpeed and Platinum Plus. The blade definitely makes a difference with this razor. On the down side, I must have gotten the water ratio a bit off (seems to be a recurring issue for me) as the shave wasn't as smooth as it could have been.

Still, a decent shave for the day and some reappreciation of the 60's SuperSpeed. I think, at some point, I'm going to have to try a comparison between it and the 40's version.

 

Hey, that sign is right down the road from my house!

 

Nice set up. That razor is beautiful!

 

Awesome Adjustable Arko August!!!!

August 1

Grand Blade Trial


Razor - 1962 (H1) Slim (2)
Blade - (1)
Soap - Arko
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Post - Alum, Nivea, Clubman

Moving into August already! This summer has gone by FAST so far. And, we're on to the Royal Red, the mysterious blade in the blood red wrapper (the pic above is a cover from a tuck). I'm onto some leads for this blade thanks to a couple of you. Hopefully I'll get onto something solid as to its origin. I do know the brand seems better known for its half blades for shavettes used by barbers. More on that later.

Great lather with the BoS and Arko and the first pass on the mild 2 (close enough @wmbjr ) was, shall we say, rather ineffective. Lots of feedback but apparently that was mostly from just dragging over the surface. It didn't feel that draggy, but it wasn't a smooth feel either. Definitely a "meh" feel with with "meh" finish. Little reduction. Second XTG and it was still just barely doing what a blade is supposed to do, though the result of that pass was a bit better. My third pass, ATG and Gillette Slide was, well, done and finished with a lot of touch up and I finally achieved..........a CCS. Not even a near DFS. I look respectable (for me anyway) but if I had anything going this evening I'd need another shave before going to that.

As @wmbjr said, this is not a sharp blade. Which begs the question of how it can be this dull and still be marketed to the barber industry. Again, more to come.

Tomorrow may improve as we add gap. This may be another dull blade that likes aggression in the razor. Two more shaves will tell. Welcome to August everyone! I see a lot of excitement over adjustables and injectors, some straights.....looks like a fun month ahead! Great setups, rules for the newer members (and an older one or two) and lots of shenanigans should make it an AWESOME (adjustable arko) AUGUST!

By the way.....note the misspelled word on the wrapper. If THAT doesn't say professional, I don't know what does!

​

 

The mosquitoes in Plaquemines Parish will pick you up and drop off your bones in Houston.

Oh yeah, we had the "skeeter wagon" nightly in Alabama. Kids are apparently impervious to malathion and such.

 

August 1st, 2016

Day 1 of my August Rule.


Rockwell 6S/ R6 Base Plate/ Ladas (1)
Whipped Dog 30mm High Mountain
The Fat
Heavily Mentholated Thayers
Super Mentholated Veg


Overall great shave today however just to be safe I just ordered 4 more pucks of The Fat. Noticed that this behemoth of a brush eats up a lot of soap and it wouldn't surprise me if I kill this puck by the end of the month. Not wanting to be out of The Fat I decided it was time to stock up.

20 second load on the brush yielded enough lather for about a weeks worth of shaves. Went into a face lather and started my first pass. Great reduction on the first pass left me with a DFS. A little touchup for my second pass and I caught the baby everywhere except one little spot on the neck. Finished off with some iced Thayers and after a cold water rinse I splashed on my icy concoction I made yesterday with The Veg. Went pretty heavy on the menthol crystals but as a giant menth head it was quite enjoyable (just when I though The Veg couldn't get any better).

The weather out here in New England cant make up its mind. Got up this morning and it was freezing out. Threw on a heavy sweatshirt after my shave and shower and went out to run a few errands after going to the gym. Head out to the truck and warm it up. Head back in to grab my wallet and what not, come out, and its hailing. Hop in the truck and head down the road, and the sun decides to come out....in full force.... crank up the AC as it is getting pretty warm. Arrive at the gym and just as I am getting out, it starts pouring again. After the workout and errands the weather still kept flip flopping up until I got home. Now it looks like we got a big storm rolling in. Well there goes the plans for fishing .

 

Have you a Weishi 9306? It's literally a copy of a fifties SS. Would be a neat comparison.

 

One word- Marvy.

 

we have very short springs and our summers make us feel like we're in Louisiana, not Massachusetts.

 

Well played sir, well played.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

as we break out of the gate in this month's survey, the cookies are setting an early pace.

 

Glad to see my blade wrapper was not the only one with some typographical issues. I am definitely hoping this blade likes a little added aggression because it was very very lackluster without it!

 

Here's one of those strange but true facts about New England. One of the cities in New England is New BRITAIN(in Connecticut).

 

Guess the QC guy at the factory was sleeping during inspection. Baldes... lol.

 

Shaving must be tricky for that guy!

 

I have a '59 SS and both the '47 and '49 versions too. The '40's seemed a little more aggressive and blade gap bears it out. The 40's models are 0.025, 1954 through 1968 are 0.023. Also the same for the Blue Tip, which I find interesting as it is supposed to be milder than the Flare Tip. Seems the gap is the same. So either it's the exposure with a bit of different head geometry or else Gillette's over the top marketing worked!

 

As always I like to take this to another level. Yeah, the guy who designed the plate to print the covers clearly misspelled it. But what about everybody else down the line who should have seen it when they started running them? Did they not look? Not care? Afraid to point it out? And, even if it was so totally automated that no humans saw it printing, somebody had to see it in packing I would think. Speaks well for the integrity of the company, no?

 

Thank you. It is one of my favorites