March 2019 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thank you, Joe!

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Great shave, Clint!

 

I am glad you defeated The Mighty Chin!

 

Great shave report, Terry!

 

As a travel razor the VDH is perfect. As an heirloom - not so much.

 

Super, Andrew!

 

Thanks Joe.......Williams is like the Rockwell 6s, dependable and just gets the job done. Have a great weekend!

 

March Madness!!

March 29 - The Eye of the Tiger



Razor - Parker SRX Shavette
Blade - (1)
Soap - Jeeves of Hudson Street Blood on Steel 30DC LE
Brush - Stirling 24mm Finest Badger
Post - Alum

Are you ready to RUMMMMMBBBBBLLLLLEEEE!!!!! It's Tiger shave night and it's all to acid-test a theory. As more of us have tried and even shifted to full time use of shavettes, there has been a growing awareness that DE blades that we might otherwise avoid become quite effective when used in a shavette. The reason? Most likely the fact that the blade is "unlocked" from the forced angle of the DE razor and therefore free to be adapted through technique to provide the optimal result. Blades that might otherwise seem dull and draggy suddenly become quite efficient tools to shave with. Even the Zorrik, which I used earlier this month, was improved considerably over three passes when in a shavette as opposed to a DE. So how far does this apply when considering "bad blades"? Well, one of the absolute worst is on trial tonight. The Tiger. It's a carbon blade, old style three hole, and it was a son of a gun to get snapped in half. But snap it in half I did. This is the blade that has never, in the history of the 30DC, given anything other than an absolutely horrid result. Can the shavette tame the Tiger?

Well, to give it its best shot I figured I'd use the soap that seems most appropriate for this shave anyway. Blood on Steel. Now, I've never cut myself with a Tiger, but who knows, right? Besides, the Jeeves soap is slick and very protective. I need all of that I can get just to avoid the potential irritation load. The Stirling badger brush made easy work of loading and lathering so no worries there. I chose the Parker shavette just because. I thought about the Luxor Pro, but I'm really not concerned about the corners of the Tiger. Besides, with this blade design the corners aren't as wicked as most.

So, lather done, and here we go. I grabbed the usual starting angle, stretched the skin as tight as I could get it and prepared to feel yanking, tugging, and all around misery. Only......I didn't. I can't say it was smooth, but it wasn't "Tiger rough" that I've always felt before. Ok, this is promising. A slight chuckle because I didn't expect to say anything positive and onward I went. I completed the right side and while I won't say it was a smooth shave it was far from horrible. On to the left I go. Finished that first pass on the left side with the same result. Yeah it's dragging, and yes I've had smoother, but I managed to finish a pass without wishing for death. That's an improvement.

Are you amazed yet? Surprised? Feel like the theory is vindicated? Well hold on for just a few more seconds. While the pass wasn't terribly uncomfortable it was also - shall we say - a waste of effort. Seriously, when I rinsed to lather again it felt like nothing on my face had changed from the start. Had I even reduced the beard at all? Hmmmmmmmm. I went for the second pass turning XTG. Still not smooth but not horrible, but I began to pay close attention to the lather as it came off of my face on the razor. Not one shred of evidence that there was any stubble removed. None. I even finished my right side neck without rinsing the blade, then scooped the lather off the razor to search for signs of beard stubble. Nothing. Well, maybe one or two specks, but that was it. And after half of an XTG pass I still couldn't feel any reduction. This dog isn't cutting the beard. Apparently it's just bending it over and moving on. So, enough of that. I grabbed my '47 Superspeed with a Sharp Star in it and did a quick two pass finish that netted a near-BBS along with one nick (talk about irony) from a bad setdown near my right ear.

So........it's more comfortable to use a Tiger with a shavette - but it's totally useless. Wow. I didn't really expect that result, but there you go. Now, I will say that I did see some signs of cutting, albeit few and far between, but to succeed in shaving with this blade in a shavette you'd need at least 8 hours by my estimate. And I'm pretty sure you'd only succeed by friction eventually wearing the beard away. Yep. The Tiger is the Tiger. It's a defective blade and not even a shavette can turn it into a useful object. Technique Trumps Tools! Unless the tools are defective!

Hope you have a great Saturday and a fantastic weekend! Two more days at work for me!

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Thanks, Jim!

 

Great report.

 

Your welcome, Chris. Tossing in an innocuous bon mot is just one of the services I provide.

Jason! We broke 7k. It's OK to Shavette Fu.
I didn't intend to influence anyone else's style.

Since I'm posting at 11:43 PM Central but reading nine hours ago history, I'm doing vignettes rather than a novella.

 

March - all Focus out the window

Stirling Glastonbury SS
Surrey/VdH boar brush
Suribachi bowl, cool water
'59 Fat Boy, Gillette Silver Blue
Stirling Glastonbury AS
I'm the happiest Hippy on my block tonight. Didn't wait to finish the sample of soap in the Old Spice mug. Using a shedding old boar on the dry new puck I loaded well, and generated one of those glossy butter cream lathers that ought to be photographed. Instead I went straight on to applying it to my stubble. Moved the slightly used GSB to the Fat Boy, set it to MAX, and after two passes could have been done. Too much lather still in the bowl? OK, I'll take another pass, and enough touch ups to not leave any vacation on my face. One nick on that horizontal crease between bottom lip and chin that self sealed. A splash of the AS gave what scents just a bit piney compared to the soap. Still good stuff.
Good Shaves Y'all!

 

nice set up and pic sir..

 

Thanks Joe!

Have you tried a shave with a Gillette Flare Tip? It's the inspiration / blueprint for the Weishi DE, but made of all brass with a thick nickle plating. If you can pick up a straight vintage for less than $20 in good or better condition you won't need to replace it.

 

Thank you Gary!

Left it out of the shave report, but I sampled a bar of bath soap before the shave. Those folks at Stirling are sneaky enablers of the highest caliber. Go ahead and order something. They'll toss in a sample that ties in. Shadow Orchid is beef tallow instead of the mutton in the shave soap, but the patchouli is present.

 

I dunno about that 2 sided thingie......but your spot on about the williams.

 

Thank you Neal. Great writeup, as usual.

 

So it has been a busy few days. Here is my Williams Wednesday shave. Thanks to all that took part in this wunderfull day!! For the rest of you I sayyyyy...

Schick stick...modern Williams..big ol Jayaruh/omega boar...and.. Old Spice. I noticed half way throug the shave that the Schick was loaded with a twin. Outstanding!!

 

I look forward to hearing how that goes!

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I did think that this must be the case, but there are a lot of folks saying that it improves the tech. I would have assumed that efficiency has got everything to do with blade angle, gap, blade rigidity etc. etc.

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