I agree there is something going on. Very few people get so few face shaves out of a GEM SS blade. However Tom, if you are counting face and head shaves as 1 shave then maybe 3 or 4 is not so bad. The Gem razors tend to self enforce the correct shaving angle. I need to be off the correct angle very little before I get a painful reminder.
I've decided what my February and March foci will be. February will be an attempt to use one Persona blue blade for the entire month of face shaves only. March will be a blade trial. I may be putting a call out to trade for some blades so I can give a fair trial. I'll start a thread for a potential trade sometime in the next few days.
I am getting 3 head shaves per blade I only really do my neck so I don't count the face really. I tried changing my angle and it hasn't gone well. The most sting from the alum I've had since the beginning. I think my original angle was ok. I suppose my head counts as 2 face shaves area wise and the hair is very coarse. Also I'm still not happy with my technique using the 1924 I will be extending the focus on it by two weeks.
I have many DE labels laying about my stash, if there's anything you are looking for, please list it. If I have any of them, I will send them to Pueblo in the name of science!
I've actually not done SE shaves other than Schick injector. My comments were just an observation of my own learning curve. It seems to me you must be right, those SE blades would tear up some skin if applied at a poor angle.
They do, this has been a painful focus. I figure if I stick with it I need not fear any razor or blade in the future, even a straight honed on a bench grinder.
@Drygulch @Holy Rollah @Keithmax I've been stropping on the hanging strop for a while with the WD. Much smoother! I've been learning on it. 20-25 on the poly web, 40-50 on the leather. What effect is neatsfoot oil going to have on the strop?
28 January 2016 Planned Day 28 - 90 Day Intro to SR Whipped Dog "Sight Unseen" 5/8 L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic Route 66 - Lumberjack Alum TSD ISZ AS under Clubman Have a nice evening!
Good shave today. Went back to the beginning for the honing, and got this razor cutting better, while not quite as refined as I would like. I apologize to those reading the thread that my focus on finishers has turned into a honing focus. (Again.) That’s kind of been my stuck point for a while with my straights. This time rather than focusing on the finisher, I focused on getting the bevel set correctly, and didn’t do half the polishing with finer stones I have been doing. And I got a better shave than my last four. Makes sense, if you don’t set the foundation right all the other pieces won’t make it better. Good news is that as of now, all razors I have used this month have not only been Vintage and American Made, they have also all had edges created by me. I’m proud of that.
I haven't been able to make out the stamp on the tang of this razor. Who is the maker? Neatsfoot Oil will increase the draw of the strop, sometimes drastically. If you rub your hand across the leather a few times a week, you will transfer enough oil that you shouldn't need to use Neatsfoot Oil. I only oil strops when they are dry from not being used, or if I want to increase the draw.
How's that Stephan Island Lime? Can it be used as an aftershave as well? I had their Bay Rum, and liked it.
SOTD January 29, 2016 Focus day 26 Prep: Warm shower Blade: Personna med prep (1) Razor: Wet Shave Club 3-piece Brush: Badger Lather: Country Club for Men Cahaba Blues Post: Witch hazel splash, Nivea sensitive balm WTG, XTG (neck and jaw only) TGIF!! Nice CCS results this morning. A few observations: Blade - This was my first shave with the Personna med prep. It felt pretty sharp! I was using Astra SP all week previous to today and the Personna felt a tad sharper than the Astra. Perhaps it was only placebo effect. But I liked this blade today. Brush - Today was an Escali badger brush - inexpensive and ubiquitous. I had not used it in the past couple of weeks and felt that a good many hairs came out in just today's shave. That was disappointing. It's not appetizing to look in your soap container and see all those errant hairs stuck in the lather. I tried to fish some out but couldn't get all of them. Oh well. I may have to retire this brush soon. Lather - Country Club Cahaba Blues is a terrific soap! It's made only about 15 minutes from where I live. I whipped up some dense, thick, rich, yogurty lather in less than 20 seconds of brush loading. It's really good stuff. Face lathering was a cinch. I have not tried any of their other scents or varieties but will conclude that Cahaba Blues is great. Technique - My skills have vastly improved throughout this month. I am getting irritation-free shaves on a consistent basis and haven't had a nick or weeper in the past week. The discipline to commit to a one pass with touch-up approach has worked well for me. I'm eager to continue improving and exploring soaps and perhaps a personalized witch hazel concoction for post shave. This was a good way to start off Friday. I hope you all have a great day!
I like this aftershave quite a bit. It's cheap, smells good, is cheap, has a really good skin feel, and is cheap. I want to try thier lilac smell. If it works like this and skips the cat piss smell the Veg has it should be great.
