May 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread

Ah, there are many defective tools in the toolbox of life!

 

I have a puck...I will commit. Or should be committed, something like that!

I will put the razor up for a group vote!

 

I super enjoy your photos of that straight! Beautiful scales!

 

Flare Tips are smooth! Is Lucky Tiger your fave AS?

 

Love it!

 

I would say it is now my go to A/S. I refer to Lucky Tiger (Soothe & Refresh) as truth in advertising.

 

Haven't any of us learned that nothing good comes from asking our wetshaving peers what tools we should use? They don't seem to pick anything nice...

 

I love looking at old strops, love seeing them used even more. BTW, the CCCP strop, does it say cowhide on it anywhere? Shell typicly refers to Shell Cordovan, made from Horsehide. The super slick description and the shiny finish look like Cordovan to me. Cordovan is made from the very fine fibers under the grain of the leather on the shells of the hide. (Shells are the rump of the animal, each one is 1-2 square feet, and can take up to six months to produce.) Part of the processing removes all the grain, and the leather remaining is very dense and slick. It is prized for strops and footwear because you can work skuffs out of it, since there is no grain surface to damage.

"Russian Leather" is often made from cowhide. It involves having the grain surface removed, and smoothing the fibers into a smooth surface. Oils and waxes can be added to change the draw of the leather. I am not sure what type of leather the Red Imp is from the picture alone. Horsehide strops are typicly vegetable tanned leather from the waist area of the animal. Might be neat to do a strop show off thread in the straight razor area.

 

I'm hoping I don't find another defective tool like that one.....but I'm not optimistic. The infamous Flying Eagle is only days away and its reputation is horrid!

 

I have a couple of "mystery" razors on the way. Not saying anything else about them at this point. If we can't figure out the right razor maybe one of those would work. I'd never lead you astray....after all I'm an honest salesman!

 

It's not that they don't pick out nice things...they just prefer to witness a challenge. Yeah, that's it.

 

After a day off from shaving ( first day off), I had the most amazing shave! My minor May Mayhem included the first use of Derby menthol shave cream, and the 1951 Canadian fat handled Tech, with the Israeli Red Personna(2). I mug lathered, shaved slow, and ended up with an absolutely irritation free, no weeper, BBS shave..... WOW. Good thing no one is around, as I constantly feel my face while watching hockey.... GOAL!!!!!

 

Awesome! Quite a nice picture of the moment he's closing the deal.

 

You may be right on the CCCP strop being horsehide as it feels nothing like any cowhide strops I've come across. Plus I recently learned that Certifyd did in fact use cordovan on some of their upper tier strops. Whether this CCCP is indeed cordovan, I'll leave to you leather experts! The tail information stamp is difficult to read, but it is in the same styling as the Red Imp strop (see photo at bottom).
The middle picture in the triptych photo below shows the textured back of the CCCP leather component.


Ooooooo…shiney!

The Red IMP strops were the top-of-the-line of a company that made a variety of pro barber strops ... Certifyd. It is a cordovan shell with a linen second component.
Here is the tail of that strop and the backside…A heavy, thick component!

 

Those are pretty strops! Its hard to tell without touching what kind of leather they are. I haven't seen any leather other than Cordovan referred to as Shell. I have an old Shell strop that isn't in as nice of shape as yours, but when I compare it with the Shell Cordovan leather I have purchased, its obvious they are similar. I only know of one tannery in the US that still produces Cordovan, but there may be others in Europe and Russia.

 

Great pictures and information Kevin. Even though I'm back on DE's for the month I'm taking lots of notes from this month as I plan to return to straights in the not too distant future. I will definitely be back to the CJB and then on to a true kamisori style so the strop information especially is good stuff! Great to have you following along this month.

 

May 10 - shave 6
Prep: Stirling Metha Preshave oil
Soap: Col Conk lime with 3 drops of M bomb (thanks TSD store!)
Straight: Whipped Dog Sight Unseen Straight - Clover Brand, 5/8, Round
Strop: Gemstar Bench Strop x 30
DE Razor: Merkur Progress
DE Blade: Wilkinson Sword (6)
Post: Cold water, alum, Stirling Barbershop AF, Stirling post shave balm
Growth 1.5 days

Tomorrow morning is going to be busy with my swim workout at 5am, then getting the kids off to school, dropping my car off at the shop for major engine repair, and then getting to work for a 9am sales meeting, I figured I'd get my straight in tonight. I've fallen into a grove using the Whipped Dog for the full straight experience yesterday and wanted to continue that good progress.

Enjoyed a nice mothers day with my dad and mom coming over - while bbq'ing in the backyard, pop's and I started talking about shaving and I asked if he ever used a straight. His response was unexpected. He said yes - his first ever shave in his teens was with his fathers straight. First pass was great, from SB to JL. 2nd stroke, he started at the JL and rather than move the blade down his jawline, he went across. And pointed to a 1" long scar on his jawline. He DIDN'T have the collective knowledge of the den working for him!

I planned a 2 pass straight shave wtg and xtg. Then, I decided that I was going to try and complete a full pass with my dominant left hand. I ended up going both WTG and XTG - one for each side. Switching to a three finger grip was the best move so far. I have more control over the blade. Funny how on my first pass I avoid my chin but as the shave progresses, I go back to it with more confidence.

With only using the DE for ATG post straights, I'm getting much more life out of the blades. I could have squeezed another 2 or 3 shaves out of the Wilkinson But the boy wanted a shave like dad tonight as well. So I pull the blade and shaved him up!

If someone could respond, post shave included cold water splash, alum rub, and stirling aftershave immediately after the shave. I ended up having to wait 20 minutes or so before I put the postshave balm on and was only reminded because my face felt like it was tightening up. Does it make a difference when you put a post shave balm or lotion on post shave?

Thanks Gents!

No blade present!

BBS finish?

 

5/11/15 - Badger brush focus - Today I used the TGN finest brush I received from @HoosierTrooper last month. I also switched up to using the TSD wheat shaving cream as it seems to me in the short amount of time I've used badgers that they do better with creams than with hard soaps. Today I needed to add more cream as my lather was a little thin. I really like the softness of this brush, but it is a little floppy with the fan knot. I'll keep after it and see if I can make it behave the way I would like.

 

May 11th , SOTD (Shave 6 of this focus)
Two days’ growth
Prep: Hot Shower
Razor: Wade and Butcher 5/8 Square point (pre- 1890)
Strop: Chromexcel Horsehide- Didn’t use before shave, but did strop after to dry the edge
DE Razor: 1969 Gillette Black Handle SuperSpeed (O1) Anodized Aluminum handle
DE Blade: Shark- (4th shave on blade)
Soap: Barrister & Mann's Lime, Lavender, & Cedarwood w/ TSD M-Bomb
Brush: Omega Boar 10066
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman w/ TSD M-Bomb

So my other straight razor was beginning to tug a little bit, and I decided to try and freshen it up on a finishing stone. Did a sideburn to jawline shave test with it. Now it tugs even more, without the benefit of removing many whiskers. Apparently my enthusiasm has exceeded my abilities, at least for now. This is why I had a second razor honed, right?
This razor is also a Wade & Butcher Sheffield, but is pre 1890. Also square tip and about a 5/8. It is a little longer and heavier than my other razor. It was my first purchase for wet shaving, and I paid way too much for it on the Bay. It has worm eaten horn scales, but the blade is in pretty good shape. Today I wiped the oil off the blade from when it was honed, and started shaving. No tugging at all. Did a N/S pass, and all whiskers were mowed down. Lathered back up for a S/N pass, and had no problems until I got to my chin. Managed to nick myself a few times, but completed the pass. At this point, I had a DFS with a few spots that I wasn’t happy with. I know exactly how to get the spots on my neck with a DE, but haven’t quite figured them out with a straight yet. Same with the area between the bars on my horseshoe mustache. Cleaned those up, and ended up with almost a BBS.
Alum had some bite, but not horrible. The menthol in the soap felt good while I was shaving. My three post shaves seem to be the right combination to keep my face from being red for most of the day.

 

Me too. Happy Monday!