August 2020 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thank you Jeff. I hope my Tradere arrives today or tomorrow.

 

Exceptional razor, Clint! I'm glad it lived up to expectations.

 

Gorgeous, Clint.

 

Wonderful shave and photo, James. Welcome to the world of Tabac. Now consider Alt Innsbruck as a pairing.

 

Superb shave, Keith.

 

Very pleased with my shave this morning. I wanted to use "leuke-cool" water as I had the Stoylin Glacial Lime...didn't want to "warm it up" too much. 0:30 at the loading dock to get the Crown King brush ready for work. I might cut down to 25 seconds, as I find the soap gets a little too wet in the jar. My first passes always have been on the wet side-I should say VERY wet. I always have to do an extra load(just for a few seconds though).. By the time for the second pass, the soap is stronger, thicker. No cuts, no (K)nicks. I took a little extra time at both ends of Porcupine Alley, and that paid off well. Good work again at Cactus Nation. Mennen Skin-Bracer to close. I'm proud to give this one a Top Of The World Excellent.

 

Great first shave with your beautiful new razor, Clint!

Thank you, Andrew!

My Tradere made it to the local post office. I should have it today.

Thanks, Joseph!

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Marvelous shave report, Paul! Glad you reached the mountaintop today.

 

Thank you Andrew...I think the Glacial soap will be around for a few summers into the future. Good .

 

Thank you Andrew. @Boojum1 Mark and I tend to like similar razors. He really liked the WR-2 so I was pretty sure I would like it.

 

Thank you Joseph.

 

Thank you Jim. My Tradere is still stuck at the distribution center.

 

Sorry, there's no "dislike" button.

 

Tuesday's Shave

Vintage Merkur Slant
Gillette Platinum (4)
Omega 11126 Boar
Tabac Shaving Soap Stick
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Tabac Aftershave

I haven't used the Merkur slant in a while, but it called out to me today so that it could be with it's German software brothers. As for the vintage designation of the razor, the case says "Made in West Germany," so I'm sure the razor is at least from the Berlin Wall era. The handle also has that weird, white "stuff" that won't polish or scrub off.

3 passes today provided a BBS result with no irritation or mishaps. I didn't really need the 3rd full pass, but I was enjoying the newfound Tabac goodness...
This razor is comfortable and efficient, but the shave yesterday with the Gillette NEW LC actually felt better.

 

Lots of information so far. There are way too many honing options, and everyone has an opinion that their method is the only one that works 'best'.

I suggest researching those who hone and/or restore straight razors as a professional. They have YT videos and/or tutorials on their website. Another route is following what an artisan straight razor forger would do, they want you to have a good shave the very first get go, so they have to be able to hone well also as part of their craft. Several have maintenance videos on their websites.

We have a professional honer here at TSD that participates in the straight razor thread, Glen Mercurio, @gssixgun. One that's retired is Lynn Abrams. These two guys have lots of videos. Professionals like Razor Emporium, A Sharper Razor (which is an outlet of Wet Shaving Products), Classic Shaving and many more.

Now....for my opinion

Strops are required, choose what you like and fits the budget. Many say a minimum is a linen/leather combo.

I am a true believer that straight razor honing and maintenance does not have to be wildly expensive to achieve awesome results. In order to know what a real edge felt like, I had Glen do a hone/rescale on my Friodur. It's awesome. Then, my job was and still is to match it for my other couple dozen straights/kamis. I do have some history here....loved keeping all my own knifes sharp since I was a teenager.

Have I spent too much for SR honing, yes, initially. But....knowing what I do now, the total of stones that I use when required is less than the Blackland Tradere, which retails at $265. My setup now for honing is a mix of a bevel set stone, in case I mess up (drop or ding) an edge, and a finishing ceramic stone with a slurry stone. That's it for stones in use. I should probably BST the others. I'll add that I have an extra linen strop with chromium oxide, and a diamond pasted strop setup (4) for in between honing on stones. Count those, it's an added ~$90.

@Trigger decided to go with films. His expenditures are about 25-30% of what I did. Absolutely nothing wrong with this option. It works and gets the job done.

And then....there's all those other esoteric options for the final 1% of edge finishing that get wildly expensive, and those who spend that amount of $ usually feel better self justifying it. Does it make a better edge?

As our @Terry always made you wonder.....I'll leave it with.....

Well........

 

SOTD TUESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 18, 2020

Today my shave featured two new shaving tools. One was a new/old Tanifuji Airi Shaving Sword (hey, that’s how it was marketed) and the other my brand new Tradere. I’d been reading about Japanese straights and Silver Steel when Ben called my attention to this straight razor available from a friend of his in NYC who’s apparently also a vintage Japanese straight razor nut. 95% of Ben’s vintage Straights are Japanese. He sold most of his Sheffield and Solingen straights. Only has a few collectibles in those categories. The razor arrived yesterday, passed the tilt ‘n wobble test with flying colors, and was touched up by Ben on his 20k jnat. Well fellers, I now understand what you mean by buttery, velvet edge! This was without doubt the best straight shave I’ve ever had, albeit with the same DFS below the jawline!

Enter the Tradere! At 118.5 grams it feels great in the hand. Shane of Blackland was 100% faithful to the original design, and I understand now why its entry eight years ago rocked the wet shaving community! It’s simply an incredible shaver. Loaded with a Feather blade, it cleaned up my neck Shearing away the stubble right down to the skin line while gliding along on its mentholated MWF lather cushion. There was little, if any, blade feel, but boy did it do the job. One and a half passes (ATG, ATG) on the noggin tucked the baby in and put him right to bed! It’s a combination of the weight coupled with the almost complete lack of auditory feedback. I was contacted by Wolfman regarding my order, but after this shave have no interest in pursuing it. This is without doubt one of, if not, the best modern artisan safety razors in my den! I feel cool, refreshed, clean and supremely velveteen!

RAZOR: Tanifuji Airi Silver Steel Shaving Sword (Mug), Blackland Tradere (Dome)
BLADE: Polsilver
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Rooney Ebony Pure Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Krampert’s Frostbite AS Splash.

 

Thanks Andrew. I can’t be too disappointed that I get to play with a new Wolfman.


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AUgust Focus

Santa Maria Novella~~Simpson PL8~~1908 Gillette/Wizamet SI~~Aramis
Cha-Ching. Gold Medal. As a matter of fact, I am the only one on the podium.
1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Let's start with the lather...
And the winner is: SMN. Booyakasha.
From scent to slickness to menthol to post shave. It's all there and more.
To make it even better, the brand new (to me) PL8 was stunning.
Just a minuscule hint of scrub 'n scritch, especially when compared to the Grey Box Best Badger hair.

Shimmed...yes, shimmed the 112-year-old Gillette with the same Wizamet SI from yesterday.
Mowed down the stubble. Nothing stood in its way.
As close to an actual BBS on my neck as I ever get.
Now, an in-game substitution occurred.
I was relishing the Tobacco Toscano scent of the SMN and I thought,
Primo, why it heaven's name would you want to finish this shave with a different
tobacco scent...
So..I didn't.
I have a very small vial of SMN Tobacco Toscano cologne from which I
mixed a few precious drops into a small dollop of Stirling Unscented Glacial ASB.
And THAT'S why, my friends, Primo x3 occupies the medal podium all alone.
​

 

Congratulations on the new razors and the great shave, Jeff.