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SOTD MONDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 14, 2020
Today’s mug shave will feature one of the two Thistle Cut Co. straight razors I own. The first Persian model is a bit beat and on its way to Glen Mercurio for scale shortening and his usual vintage razor spa treatment. This model is in excellent shape for a 120-130 year old razor and represents one of the best kept secrets in the vintage straight razor world. It’s all about the steel grasshopper! There are better known central New York makers that command higher prices (ie Case and Genco), but the extremely fine grained steel in these blades can take an edge second to none, according to one expert restorer who shall remain nameless. He informed me that they can take and hold a 30k Shapton edge that is truly whisker melting. Well you know I had to try!
After examining the edge under my USB microscope, it was apparent that there was a rudimentary bevel that was uneven and inconsistent. The blade was a bit wavy and the seller complained that he could never get a decent edge. $15 and a brand new $5 Gold Dollar and it was mine. The razor failed Dr Matt’s Tilt ‘n Wobble test which would have resulted in shoulder and/or spine metal removal to restore it to flatness by one of his adherents of which I am not one. Being retired and a long time custom knife collector, I’ve decades of knife sharpening experience where finding the proper sharpening angle could sometimes be a challenge. The beauty of sharpening (ie honing) a straight razor is that the angle is built in.
Being retired and not a professional honer where time is money, I have the luxury of time to assess my honing progress. Last night I traveled to my son’s workshop and made use of his Shapton series progression from 1k through 30k on this razor. In conjunction with my laptop and USB microscope, I first reset the bevel on the Shapton 1k by honing, stopping and reexamining, and then returning to the hone until I had a balanced even bevel along the entire length of the blade which passed the Lynn Abrams thumb pad test. As I worked my way up the stone progression through to 30k I followed the same methodology. The result was a gleaming mirror-like edge which I then stropped on chromeox pasted linen followed by .25 and .1 diamond sprayed linen, finishing on leather.
I passed on my usual dome shave this morning to give my scalp a chance to heal from the savage drubbing it took from my French Spadson safety razor yesterday whose top cap I repaired last night on my son’s belt grinder. After my shower this morning I whipped up the nice, thin, slick MWF lather I like for my mug shaves. I can honestly say that it felt like I was just brushing the lather away during my shave. There was no burning toast melody, just a series of my usual sweeping WTG strokes on that first pass leaving behind a smooth almost whisker-free surface. The same held true for the following ATG and XTG passes that followed. I now understand ‘whisker-melting sharp’!!! I feel clean and unbelievably velveteen!
RAZOR: Thistle Cut 5/8
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Old Spice Fresh Lime.
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