January 2018 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I'll be praying, Chris.

 

Chris, I'll be praying for your father in law.

 

Prayer lamp is lit Chris.

 

I believe Clint was talking of the walnut and brass brush handle, Doug.
I've never made a razor handle and before Jared or John jump in with a suggestion to make it a LE for this spring, I wasn't planning on it either.

 

1.8.2018
Pre-shave: hot shower
Brush: Barburys synthetic
Cream: C.O. Bigelow
Razor: Magic by Master Barber
Blade: Derby (1)
Post-shave: Dickinson's Original WH, Nivea Men Sensitive Cooling PS Balm, Barbasol Brisk AS

After two days of whisker growth I just did a face shave. I'm continuing with my focus on the shavette. I've been using the Derby Professional SE or 1/2 DE blades which I bought with the shavette. I've been using each blade twice and then starting a new blade. Today I put in a new blade.

I had a memorable shave today, but not in a good way. It started out well. I followed the advice I rec'd from some of you and lathered up my face in "quarters." I lathered up my right cheek to begin with and concentrated on that cheek entirely. I shaved from north to south on that cheek and moved on to my left cheek. Using my left hand I shaved from north to south and then I moved on to my neck and continued the process. As I was shaving I thought to myself that it's probably good I feel awkward using this razor with my weak hand because it requires me to go very slowly... and as a result I get to enjoy the experience longer. I did my first pass all over and had no problems. I reached for the brush and lather bowl and I considered just doing a clean-up pass on my neck. I then looked at my lather and decided I had enough to do a second pass on my cheeks too. I got over-confident, I think. I lathered up my entire face (except the goatee and mustache), instead of just focusing on the "quarters," intending to do another pass. I tried a ear to nose pass on my left cheek with my weak hand and it seemed all right. On one stroke I noticed I failed to keep the blade parallel briefly and I think I caught my cheek with the corner of the blade... I stopped, looked and didn't see anything. I continued with the shave, moving on to the neck and then the right cheek. While I was focused on the right cheek I saw a small red bubble begin to form, and I had no idea what I did there. Then I noticed blood oozing from a wound on my left cheek and down my face, most likely the spot I thought I nicked with the blade corner. I then noticed three red spots on different locations on my neck. All in all, I had 5 nicks or weepers which bled. I pulled out the Styptic pencil to stop all of the bleeding.

In retrospect, I think I got over-confident. I was in a bit of a hurry today so I wanted to get finished quickly, so I threw caution into the wind. To be on the safe side, I'm going to put in a fresh blade tomorrow. I had some trouble loading this one in today, and it didn't seem a perfect fit at first... so just in case it wasn't just me, I'll use a new one.

Have a great week, my friends!

 

That's funny. I saw that one coming if you didn't.

 

Lovely photo Dan. It happens to all of us. My chin is still recovering from the nick last week.

 

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Father, I pray You will bring Your blessings of wisdom to the doctors and Your power of healing to this man. For Your glory, in Jesus's name. Amen.

 

Beautiful picture, Dan! I know all about being a bit over confident!

 

Sorry to hear. Will be thinking of them.

 

I'm sorry, Chris. I too will pray for him, his wife and you. Take care.

 

So today, I realized something. Most forums talk a lot about the blade gap as the measure of how aggressive a razor is. The blade gap is a means to an end, not the end itself. Having a larger gap, based on the geometry of the head, allows the user to use a more shallow angle, which is what makes the shave more comfortable if your technique is good. If your technique isn't good, it also allows the razor to bite. I think that's where the idea of "aggressive" razors came from. My neck was pretty torn up and irritated from my last two shave with the Toggle on setting Neal. I decided to grab something more comfortable on my neck, and grabbed a 5/8 straight. Its not a fancy one, but a straight lets me get the blade angle down to almost flat against the skin when it is irritated. 5/8 is the perfect size to have an easy gentle shave. Three passes and a solid DFS, and very little irritation. I didn't get the soap quite dialed in until the third pass, so I will use it again on Wednesday. Overall, a very relaxing shave.

 

Thanks, Clint!

Thanks, Jim! Thought about using another razor next time, but I need to maintain my focus on that shavette.

 

You know what your problem is, Jason? No sense of adventure. How are you ever going to stretch your boundaries as a lathe artist if you aren't willing even to try little projects like a shaving stand (or 20 to 30 of them) or even a piffling little razor handle?

 

Oh, I will definitely check that out. Thanks!

Yeah for now I am going for CCS and my goal is to go DFS when I get the hang of it.

I know that is what I am doing wrong (the most). I put too much pressure where I know I should be putting none. Will get there....
Already have the alum stick. Boy did it surprise me the first time I put some on my face... Let me tell ya, it wasn't just tingling, it burned like he11... Yesterday was quite fine though.

I am doing something similar right now. Nice to know I am not the only one

Got it!

Wow thanks, that will be helpful!

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome you guys rock.

 

I find that when I start telling myself in the middle of a shave that I've got this razor mastered and there's nothing to it anymore ... that's always when I get bit. Never fails.

Nice picture. I like that stand the brush is sitting in. More of your wife's work?

 

I would like to offer another round of thanks to Adam and my Secret Santa for introducing me to Jeeves Of Hudson St. soaps. I find myself going to them more and more often. I wouldn't have ordered Black Tea on my own, and it has grown on me more every time I use it. And this Bay Rum is by far my favorite of all the Bay Rums I have tried. So thanks, gentlemen, for the many positive shave results to come this year as a result of your generosity.

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A Message From the Cartel

Oh ye of little faith. First, @BaylorGator suffers the gulag and still nearly starts a rebellion over Cartel Cookies. He nearly pushed us to the nuclear option claiming that we were untrustworthy and making the cookies up. Because this is a benevolent dictorshi...er......democrac.....ummmmm whatever it is.......a special cookie shipment was arranged to bring this comrade back into the fold.

There have been attempts by some, including our Yakuza shaving brethren, to depict the entire cartel as just a figment of some poor lonely soul's imagination. Yet, when a call came down from Yakuza HQ over the weekend, and @Bama Samurai requested a mattress for his spare bedroom, said mattress was provided by the benevolent Czar in his "other" role as a simple mattress salesman. And when the mattress was delivered today who did our beloved Samurai report delivered it? Why, two young Russian gentlemen. Coincidence? I think not.

Moral of this story? Take your pick. It either speaks to the futility of doubting the Cartel, or it speaks to the boredom of the Czar in his "other" role. I think you'll choose wisely.

I now return you to our regular programming.

 

Monday January 8 - new week, new setup, still Jeeves



Gillette Canadian pre-War triangle-slot Fat-Handled Tech / Voskhod ( 1)
Simpsons CH2 Synthetic brush
Jeeves Turkish Bath soap
Alum and Jeeves Barbershop splash

I am enjoying using the same setup each week. Last week I switched brushes most days but kept everything else the same. This week, I think I will stick to one brush as well as one razor, blade, soap and splash. The photo shows the weapons of choice, which will not change until next Monday:

The Gillette Tech razor belonged to my father. As long as I knew him, he was always a Braun Electric man, but this razor (which I assume was his from when he first started to shave until he went electric in the early 1960s) always sat in the medicine cabinet as his emergency backup and armpit razor. It's in great shape, as I would expect of anything Dad owned.

I went with a Voskhod blade. It's sharp and decently smooth in this razor. I expect it will last the week.

The soap this week is Jeeves Turkish Bath with the matching renamed Barbershop splash. It's a great scent.

The first shave of the week was excellent. This version of the Tech is mild but very efficient. Two passes gave me a high grade DFS with zero irritation. Just a simple shave with no fuss, muss or bother.