April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Actually my nickname growing up was Meathead. I can be Knothead tho. I'm easy.

 

Sounds great! I think all of us just don't want to put you out and would be happy for the privilege of having your work. I know I will be. Group buys would be great. Let us know when and it shall be done.

Just a thought, should you start a private conversation with the potential list? I ask, not to be hidden but rather to attain focus. Sometimes things get muddled in this thread how fast things go.

Just a thought.

Thanks again
Frank

 

Don't forget, there's always the nuclear option.

 

Great photo and lineup Jim.

 

Awesome photo, Clint! Nice job. Enjoy dinner with your Mom tonight!

 

No shave today, but boy howdy, I'm ready for tomorrow! Put a GSB in the '52 Super Speed Black Tip, did a test lather of Catie's Bubbles that came out great.
I am ready to

 

Thank you Charlie.

 

In preparation for MAYhem, I decided to get a little nutty and change three things about my shave in one day. (This is not my boldest riskiest move in life, as I've been known to run with scissors on occasion!) Anyway, my learning was not as finite as the 30 day thread is meant to incite, but I did take a leap forward for shave-kind in terms of achieving a closer shave. Here is the report:
1. Since I had a free sample of the dollar shave club's mandatory prep prep scrub I decided to use it ahead of the shave. Suffice it to say that this product is only mandatory if you have never been to the beach gotten sand in your bathing suit and had it accidentally transferred to your soap bar, thus transforming it into a sanding block for the next week. If you had a mad scientist put this concept into cream form, you are there. Removing the product from my face appeared to also remove the majority of my skin's epidermal layer and took longer than the entire rest of the shave. At least I learned this is an extra step that I will never need to take again.
2. I decided to go with some sandalwood Cremo that I purchased at target yesterday. Like the flagship product which claims to be brushless, I find that a good badger brush easily whips any cremo product into a thick, creamy, slick lather, which has brought these creams out from the back of my rotation.
3. On day two of shaving with the slim, I moved up from 3 to 4. There was definitely an added sharpness, and afterwords, just a bit of mild irritation, but I'm not sure whether or not to blame the irritation on the sandblasting routine, the razor setting or the need to adjust my technique a bit more given the slightly more aggressive setting. Tomorrow's shave will be a TOBS/Slim on 4 experience which should easily sort this out.
4. After all that preamble, the crux of the matter is today's shave was the closest yet, and the first step in upping my game a bit!

 

Jason,
I have never shaved with a Tuxedo knot and at first was all gung ho for it. After reading Jared's comments on a badger, a 24mm Badger knot could be real nice.

Right now, my biggest knot is 23mm pure. There are times I like its size.

As for synthetic, I have Jayaruh's brushes but they are a little smaller but are my best when I need a stiffer backbone and a soft touch.

When I reset my Silvertip to 19mm it also changed from soft and floppy to nicely boned but gave up some of its softness. Then again, it is now able to work harder soaps and I think lathers better. I do like the feeling on the face.

I think I will pull that trigger when it comes time to order.

Thanks for all the options,
Frank

 

Frank, keep in mind when Jared mentioned a 24mm knot he is talking about the plug size. Jason indicated the opening would be 26mm which is needed for a 24mm plug since the hair is wider above the plug. Brush sizes are given as the diameter of the knot as it exits the handle and the height above the handle. So with a dense badger the finished brush will have diameter of around 26mm

 

The Pure Badger(WSP)spread my soap(Stirling Barbershop)very well this morning. Almost felt like quitting after just one pass, but I did the second.

 

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1) Why do you think that the no1 selling lather bowl in the italian Amazon, is a dog bowl? It's true, it's not a joke! A frugal Italian is a prepared for the worst and saves for the worst day. Do you know how much the italian public debt is? Something around 130%. Do you know why the state hasn't bankrupted yet? Because about 60% of this debt, is internal. The citizens, through our bank deposits, sustain the state's economy. It's the frugality of the common man that has kept the state afloat. Which was much better actually before the euro, since i remember there was a year, where Italy was the no1 country in the world, in saving, with Japan beating us the year later. Later, with the euro, the Italians started spending more. This wasn't good for the finances in general. Today, if we were to start spending like an American, the state would default on its debt. The citizens are basically let the state use their bank savings to refinance the debt. That's the only reason the entire state's finances haven't gone belly up yet. As for Frank, well, if he bought the soaps, he knows his finances better than me...So...
2) I think i 've written it before, but i will write it again. I think you take me too seriously in here. Despite my best efforts to include a smiley most of the time, in the hope that you will all understand that i am joking. I think, the reason is this:
http://blogs.voanews.com/all-about-...e-of-german-ancestry-dominate-us-melting-pot/
There is a clear distinction in humour comprehension between southern and northern europeans and i think this has crossed the ocean too. I didn't take any offense by "bloviating". I try my best to make something to laugh in this forum, because i am not as hardcore hobbyist as you are. I understand your hobby, it's just that i am not too much into it, but on the other hand, this is the most active thread of the forum, so i may as well try to find something enjoyable. If you had a blades section, which would be my favourite, i would be cursing Derby there!. Next thing, since i don't really like shavettes and don't really care much about soaps, the only thing that remains to me, is look at photographs. Now, i don't want to offend anyone, i already wrote that one shouldn't take my "picture critique" as an offense, but rather as an advice, that one can take or not. Plus, i also like pulling your legs anyway, since i see that you DO take it seriously, despite my disclaimers. For the record, i don't quote photos that i don't like. I only quote photos that i like and want to give a tip to make it even better. Because, otherwise, i 'd be also bored to death. As for my length of posts, aside my Derby attacks, i simply prefer to quote exactly the most interesting photos i see or other comments, instead of just clicking "like", because truth be told, i find all this like-facebook hysteria pretty dumb (of course being a privacy buff i don't have facebook), that leads to monotonous discussions and to a mechanical "click like" thing, which to me means little and is too impersonal. I may as well write something that i thought, instead of just clicking "lik". Plus, for me, the forum is way too quiet and calm. You need something to liven up things. That something, is me. If you were able to find 10 regulars like me, in 2 months, the active forum members would be x5. Or at least, it would be, if the forum was italian.

To give you an idea, this is from an italian razor forum, with people talking about Elios blades:

There are more smilies in 2 posts, than in 5 pages in here. Just to show visually what i am talking about when mentioning northern vs southern european temperament. You will ask "but then, why didn't you go to an italian forum"?. Simple. Because, this way, i can both learn of razors and practice english at the same time! Besides, whether i like it or not, i have to go read the italian forum too, because they have a very organized blades section and they have a separate thread for every blade. I love organization! With the same spirit, i make the "photo critique". Maybe someone will find he wants to improve. To give you an analogy. Normally, computers is my hobby. People talk about fans, motherboards, RAM, antiviruses, post photos of programs, of fans, power supplies, etc. I am sure they would bore you to death. But, every few days, some "average Joe" comes in and asks for help because his/his son's daughter's PC broke down and he wants to see if he can fix it without buying a new one. He gets his replies, he gets the info he wants and goes to fix it. In here, i am the "average Joe". I can assure you, i won't be torturing you with the same frequency in the long run. It's just that for now, i have put on hold all my other free time activities to concentrate on achieving a minimum result that can ensure me bloodless shaves and i have been reading and googling everyday. This can't last forever. Inevitably, i will reduce my posts here, to increase again my regular hobbying activities. I mean, to me, the no1 thing i wanted, was to be able to shave without bloodbaths. I am happy to see that this is already true. I was expecting much blood at the beginning. But googling and thus choosing Weishi paid off.

Clint, you are spoiling all of us... This is the next level.

Nice one.

 

Today's bonus learning: if you don't mind destroying an old handle, extracting a knot only takes three things - a vise sufficiently tightened down on the top of the brush, the backside of hey claw hammer to swing at it, and a set of balls to just go for it. This razorock knot will be sunk in deeper into the wild West shave works handle on its way to me right now, and hopefully have new life! This also gives me a high confidence that my Sterling finest knot will be extracted from it's Ivory prison and released to its utmost potential into a future handle to be skillfully turned by my dad from a piece of burled Amboyna. Pictures of both flavors of future shaving bliss are to come as they are completed.

 

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Shavemac ATG LE Silvertip D01 Flat Top
MDC Original Le Bol en Bois
Colonial Razors The General
Feather Pro
Barrister and Mann Reserve Cool
Brooks Brothers Blue


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I am very interested if my account can afford it.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

No seconds, but I'll give you a fifth.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

Awesome. I need a bigger brush.

Just one question, are brush knots measured for sale by the base dimensions or the hip?

I suspect by the base.

 

Thanks for the reply. Now that I am learning your ways, Shavette Fu, I will not worry about our comments back-and-forth. I think we both have a good understanding that it's all couched in good fun and mutual respect, while serving to broaden our minds to the thought process of others across the pond. Along those lines, you Italians could probably solve your debt problem by arming your population and putting the threat of a potential armed revolution in the back of your politicians minds. It hasn't fully worked here, but it seems to have slowed the decline into totalitarianism slightly.

 

Nice photo, strange razor. Must be slippery, but i much prefer this to shavettes and straight razors in photos!

 

The hard base at the bottom, although many are actually .5 to 1mm smaller than advertised at the base. I've put 24 mm knots in 26 mm holes which Have worked just fine. I have also put a 19.5mm knot (billed as a 20mm) in a 21.5 mm hole. I set them with silicone, so if they are too loose or stiff, based on variation of with, I can shim them up or down accordingly to adjust and fine tune them as I desire. So far other than the razor rock synthetic which was way too floppy for me, this has been largely unnecessary, but it's still fun to tinker and see tiny improvements, so I can't resist.