What Straight Razor Did You Use Today?

Boker 6/8 extra hollow with etching

Just keeps getting better with each shave...

 

Revisor 8/8
Kevin, you can see I even used Pinaud Lilac Vegetal. You may remember me saying how I hated all the Pinaud fragrances, including Clubman. This week I used both...and I liked them. Amazing.

As an aside, if you want a Thiers-Issard Legend razor for 30% off, go to fendrihan.com and as you proceed add legend3014 to get the deal. The deal lasts as long as "quantities" last.

 

SOTD:

Razor: NY made Thistle 6/8 ca 1890-1917 never tried one ??? hehehe you should
Brush: HMW Re-knot
Strop: SRD Premium 1 20/40
Shave Cream: Confianca O'Melhor
Lather Bowl: Stolen from the Wife after the candle was used up 1/2" thick glass
After Shave Balm: Para Depois 444

Many thanks to my friend Leon Barber for sending some of the products to me, what a great trade

Awesome results !!




Vintage American steel rocks

 

My experience with LV
The difference between love and hate equals about 30 minutes on the skin..

Sniff the bottle = YUCK !!!
30 minutes after application = Hmmmm not bad, wow the wife likes it too now

 

Oh dear..it appears another has succumbed to the Veg's Siren call.......

 

I liken the use of the Veg to the toad in a pot of water on a hot stove.
The toad is immune to his circumstances until it's too late.... and the water is beginning to boil. Fortunately, the Veg is less lethal...at least to the wearer!

 

The wedges came in a twofer deal, and so this morning I got to try the other half of the bargain - a Wade & Butcher "Fine India Steel Razor" 13/16. It's more of a near wedge than the Savage I think, as I can see a bit of daylight underneath a straight edge. Not quite as pot-marked as the Savage either, though still enough wear & tear that it seems at home on the shelf with the rest of my ragamuffin gear.

I'm really liking the way these wedges feel as they shave! Sooo smooth!!
And these photos are poached from the auction pages...my photos are never this crisp!

 

Wedges are smooth. You have to keep checking to see if any whiskers are cut. I like the noise of full hollows.

 

That's good to know, Robert, as I have just finished a FR 'Near Wedge' —its heading for the honing stones soon for a first time shave with one…

 

Now that's a wedge!

 

Tosuke size 1

The seller told me this was a Tosuke. It has a Tosuke rubber grip. The Tosuke grips are found on a lot of other makers' razors. Maybe someone can read the kanji and let me know the maker name.



The traditional kamisori works like a wedge, some more wedgey than others. I have a size 2 and a size 3+. The wedge shape is really visible in the 3+ and the blade width is close to 8/8 and the length is atypical for traditional blade, as long as the western style straights, almost 3 inches.

The Tosuke has a blade length of 1 and 7/8 inches and the width starts at 5/8 at the heel goes to almost 6/8 at the toe. You can shave traditionally with just one side of the blade. I use both sides.

People also have different honing techniques for the traditional kamisori,12 to 1, 7 to 1, 5 to 1, 3 to 1, 2 to 1 or 1 to 1. 1 to 1 is the typical lap pattern for western straights. The side with the kanji gets less honing laps. Also, you set bevels and hone using finer grit stones than you would with a western style razor. I still have trouble keeping the edges at the level of keeness of the original honemeisters' edges.

 

I don't read Kanji but I haven't seen the Circled R on any other Tosuke..

Google images has dozens on pics to look at under the search "Tosuke Kamisori" so you can compare..

I love me some Kamisori

 

Never tried one. I'm more of a Yakitori guy myself, but I'll also do a little sukiyaki if the chef appears capable.

 

The Garland 5/8 this morning and a very nice shave indeed.

I know what you mean lindyhopper66/Robert re: the hollow ground blades (or at least I think I do! ). The auditory feedback is something I enjoy with any piece of shave hardware as it just adds that extra dimension to the shave - sort of like our own version of the snap, crackle and pop. I've a 1914 Ever-Ready SR (that hasn't been getting much love lately...) that's a veritable whisker poppin' amplifier! The big semi-dome-like head acts like an amplifier of sorts and the effect is wonderful! I'm still not completely square on the nomenclature around hollow blades though. Half Hollow, Full Hollow...it all gets a bit fuzzy for me. But in addition to the auditory feedback, and whether they're half or full hollows, the edges on the 3 hollow ground razors that I've been using feel like they actually have just a bit of give to them, call it bend or warp or flex or whatever, but there's definitely a different feel to the hollow ground blades as compared with the wedges.

But by way of contrast the edge on a wedge/near wedge feels really solid without any give to it. And the auditory effect is completely different as you mention. I think that part of what's so enjoyable about it all for me personally at this point is that I really had no idea the heavier blades even existed. I'd always thought about giving the straight razor a go for years and years (then I'd talk myself out of the idea for one reason or another ), but I'd only ever noticed the hollow ground blades. Most of that time was pre-internet/ebay, or at least it was for me, and I'd only ever come across the odd blade here and there, but the look and feel of a hollow ground blade was the only model I had in my mind previously.

Anyway, early days for me still, but it sure is a lot of fun!

 

Shumate Barber 5/8 extra hollow. This little guy gave me an epic shave in 2 passes. Even the hollows of my neck are smooth.

 

Now you're making me hungry, Kevin.

 

Those are some crazy scales what are they?

 

Somebody has to do it!!!

 

Why would somebody want to take out the smile? Wouldn't the smile be a more efficient cutting edge compared to a straight edge?

 

Someone who did not know what they were doing. Dragging a razor through an electric knife sharpener will tend to 'cure' any smile that exists, and practically make the razor unusable.