January 2018 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Good shave photo and an excellent clear description of your Williams technique.

Good shave photo!

Nice b&w photo today, Jason!

 

I think I channneled my inner Shavette Fu for this multi quote. Great pics all, gentlemen!

Yes, beautiful razors, Keith. Weather in the forties? I guess it is all relative...

I only have had it in the tub (like the one Chris is piffing). Didn’t like the lather, but that was a couple of years ago.

I trust you will all be safe. I’d worry about the people who aren’t used to driving in it, or don’t even have proper tires.

The L’Orange Noir is a nice scent, no question.

Classic combo! Nice set up.

Great match on the soap and brush handle, Mark.

A great razor on your ‘to sell’ pile? Maybe you need to work through that pile again!

Very jealous of all your vintage Old Spice scents, Doug!

Out of curiosity- What would the humidity be at with temperature there, Rick?

Too bad the Krona didn’t meet your needs. Perhaps that Rocket will make up for it. I’ve wondered how close the British Rockets were to the British Aristocrat Jr’s they sold in Canada.

 

Great setup, Rick. Tabac is one of my favorite cold weather shaves.

 

Great description with the Williams.
The inside of your suribachi appears to be glazed. I thought the inside was often left plain on those.

The E2 and brush handle look like they were made for one another.

 

It is cool that the E is working out for you. That is a cool picture. I’m naming it, “Planning a Heist”.

 

This is the first scent I got from Bryan. It’s probably my favorite of all of his. It’s a floral scent, not candy. The aftershave makes it even better.

 

Your shavette fu is most impressive.

 

Sounds like you hit your stride with it.

For me to get Williams to work, I do something very similar. When my old man taught me how to make lather, you built it on the puck. You flicked a few drops of water in with your hand as needed, and just kept working it til you had the lather you wanted in the amount you needed. Need more, whip up more. Made too much, is sits in the mug and dries.

I think that aside from it being a completely different soap, it relied on three basic things that hold true today: It got used every day, so it was perpetually soused. You worked over the puck, so there was always enough product, and you have to add water in very small increments.

 

Great shave. Thoughts on the soap yet, or too soon?

 

I need to stir up a small batch of this. Every time you mention it I think of Zoolander.

Just across the Sabine river we got freezing rain. The Authorities shut down Interstate bridges. No one has a plow, a salt truck, or snow tires.

It's always humid here.

 

January 2018

Shavettes and Jeeves January!

January 16 - Williams Showdown Part 1

Razor - 1959 (E1) Gillette Super Speed
Blades - (2)
Soap - Williams
Brush - Stirling Pro Style Synthetic
Post - Alum/Styptic

Ok, you can't say I'm not willing to go the extra mile to get something to work. Out of respect for Fuzzy and a few others who seem to believe the dream that Williams can produce a great lather, I broke out my puck (talk about a hunt) and decided to try with a synthetic brush and some new technique ideas. I was only going to do one night of this but, after the result tonight and a bit more reading, I'm going again tomorrow. More on that in a minute.

My Williams puck was extremely dried out, given its been sealed in a tin for probably 18 months. I put in in my VDH bowl to soak a bit while I got ready. Didn't take long to improve its looks and seemed ready to go. I dumped the water off the puck and gave the brush its usual 10 second soak followed by some vigorous shakes. Then, I loaded that puck like I hated it.

I will say I got the most lather up that I ever have. Clearly the synthetic helped as did the beating I gave it. Got the brush well loaded and finished the lather on my face. First pass I actually had some soap on my face the entire pass. It was thin but slick and that was an improvement over my earlier efforts. For the second pass I went back and added a bit of water and I'm pretty sure that was the wrong move. Seemed like the lather broke and the second pass I had to rush to beat the fast retreating lather. One nick on my right jawline from rushing, took styptic to stop it. The alum was a bit warm and I know the irritation is a bit high.

So, here's my plan. Tomorrow I'm going to treat it like MWF. Wet puck, dry brush. I've seen others do that with success. I will say there was a lot of lather left in the bowl, but it was quite airy and more like foam than lather. We'll see if I can improve on that tomorrow.

Overall result is a DFS, so no worries there. And the slickness wasn't the issue at all. Just the quality of the lather.

​

 

Well, they certainly look very similar. And on the "mr-razor" website, he shows one 1950s Aristocrat Jr variant listed as having a "Rocket style head". I suspect the only real difference between the models in that case was the presentation packaging.

The razor I have didn't come with a case. I called it an English Rocket because it's made in England and has the straight knurled handle and knob with a TTO mechanism that moves up and down when operated. But for all I know it's actually an Aristocrat Jr... Either way, it's a solid, heavy little beast with a smoothly working mechanism and I suspect will give me good shaves next wek.

 

This is my only Fine soap, and so far I’d say that it is a good performer. Lathers quite easily, has a slick enough and dense enough consistency. The scent is quite pleasant. Right now? A keeper but not my best. A better review with more uses I’d suspect, Jared.

 

Is the bottom of the handle rounded? What is the patent #? Somewhere on here is an Aristocrat Jr thread. I’ll look for it.

 

Found it
http://theshaveden.com/forums/threa...-the-gillette-aristocrat-junior-razors.51292/

 

Thank you.

 

Thanks for the link, Jason.

The bottom of the handle is rounded, not flat. The patent no. is 430030. And based on the linked thread, my English "Rocket" is actually a 1949-1952 English Aristocrat Jr., model 51 or 53 depending on what the original packaging looked like. Since it's in Canada, there's a strong possibility it was one of those "Canadian Rockets" consisting of an English Aristocrat Jr shipped to Canada and repackaged in a Canadian Rocket box... Cool!

 

Cool indeed, John. I have the same razor. Quite a mild shaver, I find.

 

Thx, Fuzzy for approval to proceed.

Thx, Jim.

Are the kids making snowmen again?

Thx, John!

Thx, Jason. The inside of the bowl is not glazed. Probably just the effect of lighting.

It’s working. That’s not to say there aren’t better and more consistent lathering soaps out there. But I’m learning to appreciate this easy to obtain soap.

You bring up a point I had not thought about. Back in the day these shave soaps were used by everyday shavers who weren’t hobbiests. They used them every shave and the pucks didn’t dry out.

Thx for reading and commenting, Jared.

 

Well-written and expressed review, Neal. I’m glad you’re using the Williams with a little patience and giving it a chance.