May 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread

Greetings fellow Denizens...

Pics and discussion for those doing a 30 DAY RULE or 30 DAY FOCUS in May 2015...here we go! Please read the provided link to @GDCarrington and his guidelines. Pics make these threads way more interesting.

If you are new to TSD, Welcome Aboard! Thanks for hanging out with us. If you are joining in again, welcome back! Let's have a blast working on some fundamentals. Direct chatter is highly encouraged, I also encourage all to quote posts when in discussion so we can all follow along.

I hope everyone learns a few things, makes a few friends and has a great time. See SOTD weekly thread if you want an example of how this thread might work.

The housekeeping-

These are the rules. Follow them.

So let's do this...I opened it now for general prep and discussion.

To Newbies: Welcome! TSD is participation driven... you should probably be on SOTD too! It is central The goings on at TSD. Feel free to jump in and post pics there too. They love pics. Coming up with unique interesting pics daily in May is quite possibly another fun time!

Lots of good reference found >here<.

Have fun, follow your plan...and we are off!



Chris

 

I'll jump in. I have 4 good brushes. I want to see how they will do with the same soap. I am going to use Dusy Kabinett for the month of May. I will use my New SC every day and will use Rapira Lux blades. The only thing I will change is the brush as I rotate through the lineup every 4 days.

 

I just recently received the remnants of a blade sampler pack that happens to contain several blades I have not tried. I am going to use my EJ Chatsworth Barley and work my way through these this month. Maybe I'll find a few I would like to include in my rotation.

 

Welcome back! Still thinking about my choice!

 

More to follow.....

 

My focus on the Mongoose will continue into May. It has really been my primary focus since the first of the year. I have finally found my blade for this razor. I want to continue to improve my technique and make the Goose with a Super blade my workday set up of choice. My long term goal is to have a work morning set up that requires little to no thought on my part that gives consistently fantastic results.

I will work other razors in on the weekends. I have at least one motorcyle trip during May during which I will use one of my injectors.

 

Awesome! I love blade trials and seeing the results. I see three in your lineup that I am a fan of. Waiting to see what you think.

 

Brushes are on my list of soon to be purchased items. I'll be watching!

 

Oh crap, I should have identified the brushes!

1. Omega 6214 silvertip badger
2. Omega 10006 boar
3. Vie-Long 13065M horsehair
4. TGN synthetic

I may add a late entry. I just received a Made Rite brush from Tom aka @HoosierTrooper. Not sure if it is vintage or restored. More details to follow.

 

Three of those are on my short list to purchase.

 

MAYHEM!!!!! Well, ok and mercy too. You can check out my focus HERE or by clicking the link in my signature. I won't repost the whole thing here. The grand experiment begins Friday morning...May 1st...a most glorious day in most glorious motherland.

 

OK for May I am doing a partial focus, and partial Mayhem. Going to lock down on the following:

• Razor: Wade and Butcher 5/8 Square point (post 1890)
• DE Razor: 1969 Gillette Black Handle SuperSpeed (O1) Anodized Aluminum handle
• Soap- Barrister & Mann(various flavors)
• Hand thrown soup bowl, Alum Bar

Mayhem on the following:

• Brushes: I will change them every shave. From right to left- Badger, Horse, Synthetic, Boar, Boar. Going to work in a couple of extra shaves, so I can use each one three times.
• DE Blades: Still working through my pile of orphans. Almost done with the bad ones and getting to the middle of the road ones. Have no idea on the VDH ones. Not sure I will get through all five of these this month.
• Aftershaves: Different one every other shave.
• Strops: Loaning my main one out, so will try some vintage ones, and a couple of new ones I wanted to make for me.

Goals for May:

1. Two pass no touch up DFS shave with the straight by the end of the month.
2. Maintain the edge of this straight, using strops or finishing stones.
3. Use up two to three aftershaves.
4. Get comfortable with the B&M soap, regardless of brush choice.
5. Poke fun at half of the people in the thread.

 

I am doing something similar with brushes this month. I have a few of the same ones.

 

Love it! Good luck with that straight. I'm pulling for you to achieve that first goal! And goal number 5 shouldn't be a problem around here.
Let me know what you think of the strops. I'm going to be needing one in the near future so any input on which one I should get for a kamisori would be helpful. I'll be contacting you at some point to arrange purchase of one I'm sure!

 

April was a fail month for me as far as the focus so here's to making up. My focus for May will be a Genco Henry XX and the goal is to get a comfortable and close 3 pass shave. I think I'm going to eliminate all other help so no DE to bail me out in times of need.....my hope is that it will speed progress, but it could just add stress we'll find out. Work has been pretty busy this week so I've skipped several days and the next shave will kick off my focus.

 

Making up is the fun part right? Oh wait, we're talking about shaving. I like the boldness of leaving the DE off the list to help progress. I tried that in April and it was a mixed bag. When I swore I wouldn't pick up the DE I think it made me tense up and try too hard with the CJB. But when I figured I had a way of finishing with the DE I had some of my best shaves with the CJB. It's a lot of mental work, no doubt about it. I'm eager to see how you do with the straight.

 

My May items are:
Razors: RazoRock Stealth Slants v.3 (Steel and Aluminum), Ikon DLC Slant-OSS Handle, & Ikon ShaveCraft 102 with OSS Handle and Muhle #106. Maybe my Merkur Vision
Blades: Polsilver Iridium, Gillette Silver Blue, and Rapira Swede
Brushes: Semogue Oeners Club Silvertip Badger and Premium Boar, Omega Hi-Brush Synthetic
Soaps: Martin de Candre (regular not Fougere), Soap Commander Love, Tiki Bar The Captain, and P.A.A. The Beach
Bowl: Captain's Choice (Cobalt Blue)
Pre Shave: RazoRock lime
Post Shave: Thayers Witch Hazel (Various), RazoRock XXX Splash, Holy Kaw (Various), RazoRock One X Milk, Fine Platinum, and Old Spice Classic.

 

I will start sending photos of what I discuss or new products that I try

 

I have picked up the top ten try a blade package (x2), and an ebay Russian blade sample pack. These will be my focus this merry month of May. I will keep the soap and brush consistent, and I am still deciding on the razor, as I still have a few coming in..... RAD in full bloom.

 

I am also still think of my setup for May and what I want to accomplish.