April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Great sounding Friday shave, Charlie. Just make sure you keep that excitement level under control!

 

This is probably a personal thing, but I always love when companies advertise something like "premium Swedish steel". Part of me always wonders, "So what is the competition using? Recycled Czech car fenders?"

 

So THAT'S where all the Yugos went! Yeah, all of the ad chatter really has to make you wonder. Maybe the "premium steel" was blessed by the Pope or something.

 

April 21
Gillette Old Type w Derby (1)
TGN Finest Fan/Maple Handle
First Canadian Maximo Gomez Cuba SS
Thayers Unscented
Barrister's Reserve Spice


Day 16 of the Canadian Old Type focus, day one with the Derby. There has been some Derby talk on the thread, and it reminded me that I haven't used a Derby since my first few weeks of shaving with a DE last fall. I used this blade for my first 6 shaves or so and then did a 30 day rule with an Astra SP.
Got another top notch lather from the First Canadian and went to work on a 3 pass shave. The Derby felt great, to be honest...and then the weirdness started. Started noticeing the redness through the lather on the 2nd pass. 3rd pass- more red. Whaaaat? Shave felt great, but ended with 4 weepers. I have never had more than a couple of weepers, ever. One on my chin survived everything I threw at it and had to dust off (literally) the styptic.
Odd morning. The most red I've ever seen, and from a blade that didn't give me any, really, when I first nervously dragged that EJ89 down my mug in October.
Finished off with the excellent Spice and will try again tomorrow.
Have a great day all!

 

April 21, 2017: Post-War Tech Mini-Focus

Razor: Post-War English Tech
Blade: 7 O'clock Sharpedge
Brush: Razorock Plissoft 22
Cream: KMF fragrance-free
Post: Alum, Listerine, WH

Since I bought a US post-War Tech specifically to compare it to the English one, it was time to shave with English one again. Despite visual similarity to its American counterpart, the British post-War Tech has a number of differences. First, it is much lighter as it is made of Aluminium instead of Brass. More importantly, the baseplate is slightly narrower and the blade curved more sharply, yielding a similar blade gap but more blade exposure. Lastly, the ball handle is shorter than on the US version.

I'd love to see the human factors and market research that must have gone on at Gillette UK. They produced so many interesting razor variations that the US ones seem boring by comparison. I can imagine that the use of Aluminium in this razor was probably due to Brass shortages but what drove the differences in base plate and handle dimensions? Is this a razor that was specifically designed for a British beard? Or, perhaps, to provide the shaving "experience" expected by the consumer?

As for today's shave... Now that I understand this razor a bit, I was able to have a better experience with this razor. The watchwords were, of course, "no pressure" and "ride the cap". Two passes to a decent DFS with minimal heat from the Alum (though more than with the US Tech).

Overall, though I'm happy to have received this razor in a PIF, I really don't think it makes the rotation unless I'm looking for a challenge. Its US counterpart, OTOH, does.

 

Off topic, but a local motel recently put out a sign that reads "All New Rooms". Based on casual observation, it didn't look like they gutted the place, so I'm pretty sure it's the same old rooms, just new decor.

 

Or perhaps a new air freshener. And they washed the sheets this month.

 

Lovely razor Jim, what distinguishes a Diplomat from an Aristocratic ?

 

Friday, April 21, 2017

Simpson Captain 2 Manchurian
La Savonniere Du Moulin
Colonial Razors The General
Feather Pro
iColoniali Shave Balm



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April 21 - Good bye Soap Pass Around Box!!! Marked occasion with Martin de Candre and 21 gun solute (we had pizza and left over tacos).

Merkur 34C
Gillette Nacet (Day 2)
Dark Chocolate brush (JR#148)
DIY PSO
Martin de Candre scented
alum/Thayers/Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm

Today was the last shave while I still have the box. I still have a ton of samples since I really have experienced very little of the soaps in the shaving world. While having the box, I had the luxury of grabbing just a bit more should I be too frugal. Once the box is gone, all I could rely on are my estimations for how much soap is needed.

To mark such a grand occasion, I saved what I hope to be the best soap in the box, Martin de Candre Scented. This is a milled soap, I think or I would expect. Everyone who speaks of this soap indicates you need like half of what other top soaps need. The scent in the jar was very herbal. I am not sure if it is rosemary or thyme or sage. I will say it reminds me of scents used to roast chicken. The official scent listed is ,'It is scented with lavender, rosemary and mint.' It isn't bad just different from my normal fair. even in the container, I felt the scent was at a good strength. I have a hard time detecting mint or lavender but the rosemary is the strongest scent there. Do I love it? I am more of a citrus guy and since this is not I won't rate it great but , much like T&H 1805, I think it is a welcome change to my normal lineup and is appealing.

Working up a lather is a lie for this soap. There is no work involved. I put a good 1-2 teaspoons of water to bloom it and forgot to dump it on the brush and add a lesser quantity. As soon as I hit the brush to the soap in my bowl, bubbles started forming quickly. At first, I thought I wrecked this lather since it was foamy. In no time, the lather was thickening but still looked frosted and not shiny. continued whipping resulted in a shiny thick lather. What was just bubbles transformed into my perfect lather. I think this is the only soap with such a wide water mix ratio. It was easy to get perfect lather. Most soaps that I have tried, once they look frosted and dry do not recover. they remain airy and light and lack protection. This worked out well. The cushion was excellent and very slick.

Shave with a 1 shave old Nacet blade and a 34C required 3 passes and some touch up to get BBS. Alum was lightly bright but any minor burn quickly faded. The entire shave, I was amazed by the glide and cushion. I really did not feel the blade and had to fight urges to shave over areas lacking cream. This blade even felt smoother and better than yesterday's shave. The RR and IB soap was a perfect lather and very slick and thick. MdC was just better.

Is this cream worth its price? I would say yes. You can be extremely frugal with this soap. I ended up using very little and still had enough lather easily for at least 6 passes. One jar should last 2 - 3X longer than most of the top artisan soaps. I will go on and say that Castle Forbes and Saponificio Varesino both are in league with MdC in my opinion. If your den were to contain these three, you can really get great lather every day with top notch slickness AND never have the same scent twice. Each will cover a slightly different scent category with minimal overlap. I have a new Dolomiti on the way and hope to verify my conclusions. Pricewise, CF and SV are half the price and I might be able to live without MdC. MdC does have one issue to me - it lacks a large variety of scents. If I were to just use MdC, I think I would have perfect lather but quickly bore from so few scents. The same is true of CF and SV but, we have been granted all three vendors and they only overlap a little at most in their scent offerings. I have been fortunate to have been able to try all three during this pass around box. CF Lime and SV Dolomiti are on their way in full size tubs. that was how enjoyable they were. MdC might be out of my budget but will have to see what a holiday or occasion in the future might bring.

Thank you to whomever added MdC, CF and SV to the box. I was granted to opportunity to taste, or shall I say shave, some of the finer things in life. If you are new, there is still lots of the Martin de Candre in the box to enjoy. Do not pass up this opportunity to try MdC and so many other great soaps.

Thank you

With much appreciation,
Frank

 

SOTN April 20th


Ikon X3 Slant W/ RazoRock Barberpole handle
Treet New Steel
The Blades Grim "Cinder"
Stirling 24MM Synthetic
Barbasol Pacific Rush ASB

I know there are a lot of people out there that say a slant razor is a gimmick. Sure you can achieve the same slicing effect by using a sliding or scything stroke but with a slant head you don't ever have to even think about it, the razor does the work for you. That being said the Ikon X3 head is an amazing piece of machined aluminum, the tolerances are tight, and there is no overhang of the blade tab. The small blade gap and exposure makes for a very mild feeling shave, but the torqued blade really ups the game in efficiency. The Treet New Steel and the X3 were a perfect pairing last night. I could not feel the blade on my skin nor could I feel any sensation that the whiskers were being cut. I was simply wiping away lather and the whiskers went with it. Three passes brought home the baby and I finished up with some Barbasol Pacific Rush ASB, not that I needed a balm but the scent pairs up pretty well with Cinder, and SWMBO likes it too! Have a great day my friends!

 

Beautiful picture, Mark. What is that design underneath the razor?

 

Great to see you posting again Mark. I hope you are feeling well.

 

Great write up Frank. Go to see you enjoyed the MdC.

 

This combined with Shavette Fu's bloviating about the Derbys (along with previous thread conversations and the need to move on with life) have made me reevaluate my need to eventually try most of the 30+ blades in the sample pack. I am quite happy having spent 45 days with my Astra SPs. I no longer shave by "thinking about it"; I can get a very consistent, close DFS, weeper free, alum quiet shave now by just feeling it. It's almost becoming instinctive now.

Today I swapped out from the 40s style Superspeed to my 1966 (birth year) Slim set to 3. The transition was completely transparent, although something about the looks of the slim and the slightly thicker handle has quickly turned it in to my starting pitcher, while the 40s superspeed will be a bullpen player for a bit. Several more worry free shaves using it and the Astra will then allow me to mess with blades and settings.

So back to the blade question: I'm curious if anyone wants to be so bold to forward a list of blades that are "Astra SP or better" in order to try them and ditch (PIF) the rest of the pack. On my eventual "must try" list of existing blades are: Feather, GSB, Voshkod, Wilkinson Sword? I have tons of others in the pack (Every variety of LORD, Supermax, Derby, the list goes on and on...) So the challenge for thread members is this: Throw me a list of your "don't miss" blades and the rest are PIF toast.

I am receiving a 37C slant next week in a B&B "Try Before You Buy" passaround. Assuming this goes well, a list of slants to consider would be welcome from anyone with said experience. (The razor above is awfully sweet looking!)



In other news, I actually made the decision last night that my Dad's handles have a very elegant, classic feel to them, so it doesn't feel right to me to use a synthetic knot in them. Accordingly, I bought the attached handle from Wild West and had it bored out 20 mm deep, so I've got maximum range to work with shims and stiffen up the razorock knot as I desire.

Since I was able to extract the vie long from it's handle by putting the handle under a lot of pressure in a vise and hitting it with the claw side of a claw hammer to shatter the resin (my own improvised method). It totally destroys the handle, but the knot comes out intact with no damage, allowing me to cut or grind off the extra epoxy. Since I'm not in love with the Razorock handle anyway, I'm going to give this a shot in order to give the knot it a new, more fulfilling life.




Have a great Friday, gentlemen!

 

Most people don't realize that "new and improved" cannot be.

Think about it! I'm with you.

 

Astra SP, Feather, GSB, Polsilver Iridium, Rapira labels, Voskhod are can't miss. Derby and Shark SC are super smooth, but suffer review issues. There are many other good blades too. It sounds like you're at a point where most blades would be alright, as your success has little to do with equipment choice.

 

I honed a couple of my recent acquisitions last night. I only did one test pass with the Bismarck and it seems to be good. I did the rest of the shave with my new Craftsman "Wedge" razor.
I'm very pleased with this shave. The razor was easy to hone
SOTD
Mickey Lee Soapworks The Drunken Goat
Rubberset 400
Craftsman Wedge Razor
Lucky Tiger
Pinaud Clubman
Happy Friday!

 

True story: When I was in high school and collage, I worked for a donut shop. Towards the end of my work there, I was a delivery driver. I worked overnights and made roughly 35 stops all across Phoenix delivering donuts. To do that in an 8 hour shift, you had to move fast. The van was unmarked, just a white van. I got pulled over one night, doing 58 in a 35. Cop asked why I was in such a hurry, I said I was behind on my delivery route. He asked what I was delivering. I said, "Donuts." He said "Get out of the van, wise guy." I seriously thought I was going to jail. When he saw the trays of donuts in the back, he laughed and thought it was funny, and just let me go. Good times.