I second the thrift store as a source for shaving utensils. I have found a few lather bowls and a set of Pyrex soap bowls. When I first went to the thrift store I saw a scuttle and wondered what it was. A few days later, on this forum, discovered what a scuttle was. The next day I went back and the scuttle was gone. I check back at least once a month expecting to find another scuttle.
My vote is for thrift shops too I've had some great finds in them, sometimes there are finds in multi dealer antique shops, then there are stores like Walmart, bowls for $1 or your kitchen cabinet.
I like bowl lathering and I believe for certain soaps you get better life out of a container when you just scoop enough and spread it in the lathering bowl, when you add water and facial greases to the main puck it can go bad over time is my opinion if hardly used. Hard soaps not so much a problem but croaps can be a issue IMO so I use a bowl regardless if possible or face lather with a face stick soap. The bowl with the JB Marine weld adhesive glued in nickels is my favorite, it holds pressed in soap well and easy to hold and the glue was from a another razor repair and those nickels are not coming off. I glued a nickel on a jar and placed it in -40 degree weather and for over a year outside and still can not pry it off.(money laundering every day almost) Old spice soap Mug is almost to small for a 24> mm synthetic brush that a lot of folks like to use. Have some great shaves!
Green Frankoma soup bowl that the wife claims is collectible and blue Michigan coffee mug I got the other day at a thrift store for 50 cents.
I keep a bowl in certain areas all over so I have one handy when needed. The Fine bowl and VdH bowl are in my quarters, the Q-Shave and Captain's Choice Copper Bowl are in my work bag, the Q-Shave scuttle is for creams, and the Turkish Hammered Copper bowl with a mug are at the house. No idea what I'm going to do when I finally retire with all my stuff. I have a feeling my daughter will find a use for them. There's Modern Williams, and then there's everything else. BigD
I like to make a different bowl up every once in a while(3rd one) and I believe ceramic is a great choice to use or maybe stainless, copper metals (ceramic retains a lot of heat longer than metals). Every once in a while my wife goes to a thrift store and this time I was with her, I was looking at this bowl and was thinking is it a Fondo or cereal bowl? No it is going to be a new lather bowl so I purchased it back a few months ago for $1.00 Can. I used Marine JB weld and this stuff is amazing for strength, it takes thermal shock well from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to + 180 degrees Fahrenheit with no coins coming loose. (tested my other similar bowl for over a year.) This is all the soap you need to bring on a rich lather in 1- 2 minutes easily at most. These are my results almost all the time with these bowls I re-purposed. Bonus with a handled ceramic bowl. I pour hot water from the tap with the lather inside over the outside to heat up the lather for those cold winter months. The lather is still warm on the last pass if your curious how long it lasts. Just started doing this recently and in about 20-30 seconds of hot tap water over the ceramic creating it nice and warm and so I started to spoil my self in the morning shaves. The lather does not see any of the water it seems and it works very well.(it doesn't get much better with warm lather in winter months IMO.) Have some great shaves!
Glueing coins and other items to a bowl is a good idea. I puck lather by building my lather on the puck and sometimes a puck will spin around or get floppy in a smooth bowl. Those bowls are very popular, does anyone have one with the lid
Mine came with the lid. The lid has a hole in the top as it was originally a microwave stoneware pot.
I picked up my first bowl from West Coast Shaving, Captain's Choice ceramic and am happy with it. Pros- fits in the palm, ridges on the bottom, well balanced and good weight- not too heavy or light. Con- I do wish it had a bit more depth to it.