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SOTD SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 28, 2021
It’s been a while since I shaved with one of my favorite wedges, the H. Hobson 6/8. The razor had begun to tug on my last shave with it, and I admit I put off touching it up because of the time required. It’s probably just my stiff old fingers, but having to apply three layers of tape to this old wavy girl is kind of a pain, not to mention the time spent rebuilding the edge on my Norton 4/8. What I really found pleasing though was the gorgeous, mirror-like finish I arrived at on the 9 Ball slate. A really sharp wedge is ghostly silent compared to the full and extra full hollows I regularly shave with. No “Buttering Toasr” tune for this shave, but the result spoke for itself, three passes to a porcelain smooth finish.
My G.E. Jones Shake Sharp had been neglected far too long. For those of us clued into this amazing little shaver, I have a relatively rare Bakelite Model 1.5 that sports the attached sliding lock head that later came to become the norm for the metal handled gold a nickel plated Model 2.0 that most of us see popping up on the wet-shaving BSTs and the big auction site. The original Bakelite Model 1.0 features a detachable sliding head. These razors were designed during the depression era to allow self sharpening of the thicker carbon steel DE blades of that era with the built in hone, and thus save money on blades, a real concern in those days.
The problem was that WWII intervened and thus the razors weren’t manufactured and made available until after the war in 1946 or so. Unfortunately, this was also the time that SS DE blades began to replace the thicker carbon steel blades of earlier days. These new blades were thinner and sharper. The prosperity and less expensive SS blades following the war did away with the need to concern oneself with reshsrpening. In any case I was introduced to this spectacular little razor by the resident TSD obscure razor historian and fellow dome scraper, Jeff Mudrick, who also recommended stacking two SS blades. I do wonder whether it’s even possible to nick oneself with this little beauty. My usual two ATG passes left your happy narrator smiling and put the baby to bed!
RAZOR: H. Hobson 6/8 Full Wedge (Mug), G.E. Jones Shake Sharp Model 1.5 (Noggin)
BLADE: Two Stacked Suneko DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: JT Sapele/Resin Handled Omega Pro48 Boar Knot
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm.
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