January 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Here's the debrief from last year's "Running of the Popsicles":

July 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

 

Day 2 with Kent BK8 and decided to give a hard soap challenge, Tabac. Overcoming the temptation to build a popsicle stick shavette I opted for a Feather DX shavette.

I have never used this brush with a hard soap and it surprised me and worked great with the Tabac. I was a bit of hurry this morning but not so much so that I used a DE. I think I was a little over confident and got a couple of nicks with the Feather. All in all despite the blood the irritation was slight and finished with a long lasting BBS.

Irritation A- Closeness A+ Smoothness A- Sharpness A+

 

Happy Anniversary January!!

January 17

Mostly Shavettes - China Day!!!

Razor - Junjie
Blade - Tian Fu (1)
Soap - Route 66 Rum Runner
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum

You'll notice I didn't put a picture of the blade wrapper in my gear lineup as I usually do. A couple of reasons. First of all, I can't find one online that is easy to copy and use, and taking a picture of the one I have and editing it just seems like a lot of trouble. Second, why bother when this blade is a total piece of carbon crap that, while no worse than the Tiger or Flying Eagle, is certainly not any better either. I included it in my setup photo I posted a bit earlier if you are curious. I found no trace of the thing anywhere on Google as far as images or opportunities to buy it, which is a good thing.

@John Ruschmeyer gifted this razor and blade to me at the cost of an entire American dollar. He grossly overpaid. It is this kind of razor/blade combo that I absolutely hate seeing pop up in the dollar stores and other places. Imagine a newbie, someone who is considering getting off of the cart treadmill, who picks something like this up because it's cheap. They have no idea what a razor should be, and no idea of how many really good to great blades there are. They assume because it's a packaged item they work like they should. And, if they survive more than two strokes, they will never pick up a DE again. Ruined all because of cheap Chinese crap. But, I digress. How did it actually shave, you ask?

The razor and blade together are absolutely a disaster. Just like every other Chinese blade that doesn't have Gillette or Schick on it, you couldn't cut butter with it if you heated it in an oven. Drag....drag some more.......drag even more.......and get near zero reduction for your trouble. I did manage to get a small amount of reduction on my right cheek by repeatedly going over the same small area over and over. I think the hair just fell out because it got annoyed. So, the blade goes into the blade bank and never to be seen again.

So, after trying to shave the right side with the blade and razor, it was time to put in a Sharp Star and see what it could do. I noticed two things when I loaded it. First of all, the aggressive gap with the Tian Fu was less aggressive. Softer stainless than the thick carbon blade created a better bend. Second, the ripple in the blade was less noticeable from the bad finish on the top cap. The greater bend apparently helped even out the blade. The rest of the shave was actually quite good after that, as long as I stayed on the cap. The razor itself isn't defective enough to prevent Technique from overcoming it. The blade was way past that defective point.

Final result - DFS with alum pretty hot on the right side where the Tian Fu did its worst but quiet the rest of the way. For a buck this could be a travel or camping razor as long as you put a real blade in it. Russian steel tamed it without a problem.

I have no clue why they have so much trouble making usable blades in China - unless they use the same quality materials they do in their cars.

​

 

"If it's not possible to dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull-..."

 

A Journey Down Route 66
17 January 2016


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It ended with the Veg. You've all heard the story before...Route 66 and the Magic for the two pass DFS per usual. Foolproof. Shark SS had a good day. Played so much bass guitar tonight that both hands hurt a little. Other than that... all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a terrific Tuesday!
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Bird! Thanks for the kind word. Had a great session with my teacher today, it turns out we just like each other as people. He doesn't have a student immediately after me, so we just hang out and talk or drink coffee or sing or jam-- sometimes he will play his guitar to accompany whatever bass line we work working on. Like today, I was doing twelve bar with minor arpeggios and he was playing pentatonic scale solo parts. Once we got our timing synced up a little, it almost felt like we were playing the blues. It's extra teaching, and it's really helping me wrap my mind around bass as a foundational instrument. I really appreciate your encouragement, I claim amateur status just so people have an idea of where I am at in my musical journey. You and a few others here have been super friendly and supportive, and it feels good.

 

What do you think of Brut AS?

 

Does Arko dry you out?

 

Assymetric razor grind?

 

Yes it is. I still shave with both sides.

 

I am reading this and designing mine in my head. May start working on a prototype and see if it actually comes together.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

I'm in. Same blade as last year, just for fun. (insert evil laugh here)

 

So you are joining us?

 

If you looked, there were no instructions. This is a total "in-the-zone" activity.

And since I am a moderator:

Popsicle stick Shavettes are for fools and may seriously injure anyone who employs one for actual shaving. It's an inherently terrible idea. Neither DE blades nor Popsicle sticks were intended for this, don't do it.

(Hey y'all watch this....somebody hold my beer.)

 

Difference between discretion and valor is often outcome.

 

January 18
Gillette Black Beauty on 3
PAL Gold Thin Hollow Ground carbon (15)
Surrey Premium Badger brush
The Eternal Tub of TOBS Avocado Cream ( croap )
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Original

New day and a new brush in the Focus ring. I believe Surrey was in the brush business from the 1920s until it was taken over by VDH about a decade ago. I bought this brush 10 to 15 years ago when the company was on its last legs as an independent (and then stashed it NIB until earlier this year). As a brush it's about the size of a small dustmop with similar backbone (handle 2 1/2" long, loft the same with similar diameter when bloomed.)

I loaded twice as long as usual with soap and added three times the usual water to the lather bowl and went to work ... And then had to repeat it all again because the brush swallowed the first offering while showing almost no lather. Second time was the charm and I had sufficient good lather for my shave.

I could see two schools of thought about the brush. One would be that lathering your face with it is almost cloudlike as the bristles are so pillowy soft you hardly feel them at all as the lather goes on. The second would be that lathering with this brush is like soaping up with a wet dishcloth. So far I'm in the second view. I will see if that changes over the next few days.

It is 3 shaves since I honed the PAL and the blade is still keen. A good smooth shave with no irritation at all.

 

If you keep the angle low, and avoid deforming the edge too much each shave...carbon can go for a long while. This is pretty cool.

 

I'll go GSB as well. My face deserves destruction at the hands of the finest Saint Pete has to offer.