Welcome, you will be surprised how much improvement you make in 30 days. You are destined for the Dark Side, my only regret was not starting with straights sooner. We make it fun so hopefully you’ll stick around.
Inspired prep for Tuesday’s shave, thanks @Robstreperous. Took out the Wilkinson Sword Empire set, and opened Monday to start honing. This is one of the first Adjustable Safety Rasors made. Took the blade to a diamond plates to get the chips out, and now have the bevel set on a 1k waterstone. About six more stones and she should be ready to shave...
Prior to getting into wet shaving, I shaved twice a week at most, and still got irritated skin. Now I can shave daily for three or four days, but my neck and chin hurt a lot. Every other day is about perfect. I get good enough shaves that I don’t have a visible shadow until about 36 hours after my shave, and my skin is healed enough to handle another one. I am envious of you guys who get to shave every day. That would help get my soap collection down faster.
I’ve been on vacation this week and went the last five days without shaving or spending time online. I decided to whack all of the whiskers off with a favorite blade. I had a DFS with two passes and a messy sink CRSW El Caballero Soap Elk Antler Badger Brush Brian Brown Razor Works Razor Lucky Tiger Ogallala Bay Rum After Shave Have a blessed Sunday!
Glad you joined us. The theme is SE, but you can use any razor you like. Themes are optional and give Senior Members of The 30 Day Crew a chance to keep it fresh. Considering the amount of Old Timers disease we collectively share, some of us have to relearn the different types when they come up in rotation. There are three techniques that take care of most issues. These Techniques Trump Tools assuming the tools are not defective. Ride the cap keeps your razor at the optimal angle to shave effectively with less razor burn. Stretch the skin hold the surface taunt and reduced nicks by giving the best surface for your razor to glide across. Less pressure, and even less pressure is unlearning cartridge habits and letting the soap lubricate the razor head and not scrape skin. There's many little details that will come up as you figure out how these work for you. No such thing as a stupid question unless it's the one you don't ask. Amongst The 30DC we've seen every style of razor from vintage to prototype plus home made gizmos that you might not believe, lathered soaps from around the world - even modern Williams, and sampled every make of blade available. Give us a month and you'll be shaving like a pro.
That is just too cool for words. Looks like so much fun. I know I'm going to need to start looking into one. If you don't mind, how do you maintain the edge angle on a blade that small? Some sort of jig? BTW. Nice waterstones. They were my first.
Yeahhh... I always kind of figured as much.... Really want to get the hang of DEs right now... then it'll happen.
I’m treating it just like a straight blade. If you lay them flat on the stone, the spine will maintain a consistent angle. The tape on the spine is to keep the spine from wearing too much. I think straights are actually easier to hone in the sense that the angle.
My shavette Fu must shine through.... Thanks. I gotta few toys. Looks like someone beat me to the answer. Even modern carbon steel blades do not respond to the stropper in my experience. There is a SE and Injector thread here on TSD. Lot of good information. Welcome to the show. On the 1912 run'er flat and watch the pressure. No need for irriatation or blood. I did that with a Schick G1. It is a fun shave. Todaya shave brought to you by the Schick band razor and Stirling Electric Sheep!! Video posted across the street! http://theoriginalsafety2.com/thread/3118/fuzzy-shaves-schick-band-razor
Well, first shave of the month(6th wet shave ever) went well. My stupid self keeps forgetting to hold my skin; but, I am working on it. I took a lot of the advice on here and only went for 2 passes. I did WTG and XTG. It came out pretty well; however, I have one spot on my cheek that will not even looked shaved unless I go ATG on that tiny spot. I will attempt to work on technique on that spot and see what the deal is. TY for all the advice. Oh and a pic of the "starter kit" I put together. For $100 I am good for a LONG time.
If you mean a bevel on each side, as opposed to a chisel grind yes. There isn’t a micro bevel on these, the geometry of the blade makes keeping a consostant angle easy, as long as you don’t lift the spine.
Double report Sep 2 was a straight razor shave, so it qualifies as SE. Sep 2 I got with the program, Rocnel-G with a GEM blade and some very cold Sterling soap. Irritation A+ Closeness A Smoothness A+ Sharpness A+ Razor: C.V. Heljestrand 5/8 full hollow Strop: Herold Russian leather Brush: Thäter Pre: Proraso Soap: DR Harris AS: Alcoldo Glacial AS, Stirling ASB Scent: Creed Aventus Irritation A+ Closeness A Razor: Rocnel-G Brush: Romero Manchurian Soap: Stirling AS: Lucky Tigeer AS, Stirling ASB Scent: AdP Colonia
SEptember 2nd Gem MMOC w Gem Stainless (1) Stirling Bay Rum SS WD HM Badger / Cypress Thayers Pinaud Clubman Shaved tonight after driving back from my daughter’s Highland Dance competition in Calgary. First use of the MMOC (OCMM for some...) that I was the lucky winner of from one of Andrew’s @Linuxguile PIFs. For the other focus, today’s Stirling product is the Bay Rum. Got the usual excellent Stirling Lather and had 2 passes with a bit of touch up. I gave this MMOC the respect it’s reputation deserves and ended up with a very close shave. I know this is known as a fairly aggressive razor, and I do feel a little sting, but that is probably from the Clubman on some pretty windswept skin as well. Did get 2 really small weepers on my chin, but they decided to give up before I even got to the splash. I’ll spend the rest of the week getting this OC dialed in. On a related note, we were in a mall in Calgary, and my wife was with my daughter in a clothing store whose main clientele is prepubescent girls, and I wandered away and poked my head in one of those trendy barbershop places where everyone has beard balm and pomade and was amazed at what I saw- A wall of wetshaving products! - featuring a very nice supply of high end British products. Soaps, splashes, balms and EdTs by D.R.Harris, Castle Forbes, Truefitt and Hill. Other Euro stuff as well- LEA and Reutzel for sure. Multiple scent options in each British brand as well. Some North American stuff, but nothing noteworthy. DE razors mainly by Merkur and Rockwell. A whole bunch of straights, mainly Dovo. Brushes by Kent, Vulfix and the barbershop’s brand (Tommy Gun). Stuff was pretty pricey though, to be honest. My NB may be over, but I was the very model of restraint. I walked out without buying anything, but I did smell like DRHarris Arlington upon leaving (any maybe a bit like Truefitt and Hill 1805, and perhaps a smidge like Castle Forbes Lime...). There will definitely be an Arlington purchase in my future. Have a great holiday tomorrow, all!
