January 2020 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Awesome report Patrick! So glad the straights are working out for you. You straight shavers are magicians

 

This headshave went considerably faster than the straight shave . Havent used the Canadian E2-E3 hybrid Shick version in awhile . Not much documentation on these razors but from what I gathered the Canadian factory used what was on hand and built a few different odd versions. ( chime in if you have more info).Either way it shaves perfectly well and only takes 1 blade and not 5. Thats my story and I'm Shicking to it .

 

Thanks Tim. I'm no magician but I started out with a shavette in my 2nd month of the 30 DC and haven't looked back as far as my search for finding sharp stuff to shave with goes . I still look forward to MAYhem as to look 'normal' when shaving with a butterknife/ Gem blade hybrid invention or anything else I can build to push the limits. After 30 boring years of carts I would have to say I have finally arrived .

 

Thanks for the mention Patrick. You have been a great friend here. I recall cheering you on through @Bama Samurai ('s) shavette challenge and being too fearful to try.

I have been blessed with the ability secure whatever gear I wanted as I moved through some of the learning curves of open edge tools. I wanted to see if I could help someone else out with what I firmly believe the top need, a known edge.

The 4/8 Wagner came to me in a mystery box TSD raffle from @Queen of Blades. It was the first straight I ever held and gave me an incredible urge to try. I honed it and had it checked by Glen. The edge was freshly redone before you got it, and now you know a piece of the history.

The Gold Dollar was for my educational purposes in learning to hone. The last time I honed it, I was so surprised that it was outshaving tools I spent 30x the $ for.

Providing both seemed to set up a foundation similar to the one I used.

I also will not forget the incredible support and coaching I got right here at TSD's 30DC, an entity that cannot be hijacked, cloned, or copied.... and 'we have seen them try'

Well done Patrick..... Kudos

 

Thank you Bill for the history of the 2 blades . I too am amazed at how well the Gold Dollar shaves . I love the Wagner for those hard to get areas also as I learn my skills . Its funny you mentioned that shavette challenge with Chris @Bama Samurai . He kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to do it. Haha. If he only knew how bad I hoped he would pick me for one of those shavettes. Not knowing what I was getting into but having blind faith in the support of a bunch of guys I just barely met makes me laugh when looking back. We are a special group in that like you stated we can never be duplicated or disassembled. It boggles my mind to think that in less than 2 weeks I will have spent another year in here after popping in for a question I had about wet shaving. The friendliness I received was way more than I ever expected for a welcome and in no time felt like I knew these fellas all my life. Makes me smile every time a new guy shows up on here and gets that same warm welcome . We can share our ups and downs in shaving and in daily life without the fear of someone chopping us down . The Lord blessed me when I landed at the doors of the Shave Den and for giving me friends like you Bill, and all the other wonderful guys on here in the 30DC.

 

Thanks, Patrick.

 

Really like that brush handle!

 

thank you Patrick..

 

cool shave and pic Keith..

 

fine shave and pic Patrick..congrats on your progress with the straight..

 

cool schick shave Patrick..

 

good morning gents ,saturday shave.most of the snow is gone now but the shave remained.loaded the sheraton with a platinum,lathered the murphy and mcneil soap with the made rite 82 badger,and got a lovely smooth bbs in 2+ passes with minor pick ups..gael laoch aftershave to finish..nice mild menthol hit as well awesome..have a fine day everyone..

 

SOTD 01/11/20

Well, I have to admit, the Occam’s DE is one heck of a shaving tool. I have the full set with both caps and the three plates. The least aggressive plate is apparently a clone of the Muehle R89. I selected the most aggressive plate which appears very similar to the plate on my Eclipse Red Ring. Directions on Classic Shaving’s site recommend the use of a Feather blade in this safety razor. So that’s what I used. I fell back on my favorite soap, MWF and PAA’s Preshave Cube coupled with my Viking Silvertip Badger to provide a known ideal lathering platform for my first pass with this new razor. The razor is beautifully balanced in the hand and an incredibly smooth shaver that reminded me of my AS-D2, albeit with a much more generous sweet spot. I understand why people like this razor. Two clean effortless, bloodless passes on the face and one and a half on the dome and that’s all she wrote! The razor was allegedly designed for new DE shavers. A 316L SS safety razor based on a MIM process with these kind of tolerances, three plates and two caps was an amazing buy for under 65 dollars during their pre-Christmas pricing. This is one excellent shaving tool. I’m really going to be enjoying my shaves with this razor over the next few days. I feel clean, refreshed, and oh so very smooooth!

RAZOR: Classic Shaving’s Occam’s DE
BLADE: Feather
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with PAA’s Charcoal-Menthol Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Royall Lyme AS Splash

 

Terrific shave and report, Patrick! Congrats on the progress!

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

 

Beautiful picture and shave, Gary!

Wonderful first outing with the Occam's DE, Jeff!

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

 

It is interesting how different soaps are reacting in yout experiment.

 

Patrick, congratulations on your exceptional progress in straight shaving. The more straight shaves under your belt than the more proficient you become. I recommend that you increase the number of your straight shaves to really master it. They say 100 shaves are needed to be proficient, but I think that number depends on the shaver. Again, glad to hear that you climbed and conquered that mountain.

 

Thanks, Jim!

 

Gary, it's a grade A shave and I like the pic.

 

Very awesome progress and report Patrick!

Two things you pointed out....are very important daily routines for straight razor shaving (but not always mentioned in day to day straight razor user's posts, including mine). Stropping and slightly thin(ner) lather.

For my world, I'd add to the thinner lather....slick lather. Not all soaps are created equal. I can tell immediately when shaving a particular lather isn't slick. Some soaps, after shaving an area, will leave the skin still too slippery to easily use your free hand to stretch from (some add alum to their fingertips). These soaps you can shave an area, then still buff the area without new lather applied. Other soaps (usually lesser quality, but not always) leave the skin so clean, it's squeaky, and buffing without soap is irritation city (with any razor).