March 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Another great write up. I am really enjoying following along.


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Looks like winter returned and you had the perfect soap. Great pic, also.


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I used to think that there was a big difference in sharpness between DE, SE blades(Feather) and straights until I cut myself a few times. I think it is more the feeling of the edge than a difference in sharpness. Straight razors edges do not have any coatings like DE and SE blades. The goal in honing a straight is for both sharpness and a smooth feeling. With a well honed straight it feel so smooth you don't notice the sharpness until you make a mistake. Then again it could all be in my head. I don't know the final grit used for DE and SE blades and I am not sure if the are stroppped from the factory. The coatings on DE and SE blades are there to create a feeeling of smoothness and maybe longevity of the edge.

 

Great write up. I am curious why you give this brush such high marks, yet not really care for it? I think that was a question.

 

There was a noticeable difference in both. The smoothness reminded me of a Feather Super on its first shave. I sort of chalked this up to amateur stropping.

Normally with the Feathers I do two WTG passes, then go ATG. Doing the same thing with this razor, the ATG was difficult. I was able to go ATG on my neck without any weepers though, which would never happen with a duller blade. In retrospect I would have gone XTG. That's fine, but a noticeable difference. I do not know how much angle has an effect on this. I will pay a little more attention next time, but it felt like I was doing okay. I was running pretty shallow.

Maybe it is just a smoothness thing. It is tough with nothing to compare it to.

 

I don't know, maybe. If I can't get a better shave than with my AC razors, then I maybe doubt it.

Or I will catch on and have a full blown AD outbreak.

 

Great picture, Doug!

 

Thanks very much Jim.

 

Thank you Clint.

 

Sounds better than my first ten straight shaves. The shaves I get today equal my Feather AC SS. It took a while though. I guess the reason I stay with the straights is the ritual. I enjoy it. I'm interested to see how it works out for you over time. Have fun.

 

The first rule of Mattress Mafia...

 

Make some lather, mix any oil with it, see what happens.

Most vets give up pso. The general experience is that we forget to use it one day, have a great shave, and leave it out of the routine permanently. It's bad chemistry, and cannot improve the performance of a lather.

As to your question, soap and lather are not the same thing. Manufacturers add oils to make Soaps less drying on the skin, but there is a window for that in terms of ratio within the recipe. Go beyond that, and the soap fails.

 

March 6 (Monday) - fingertip control and Gem SE foci

EverReady 1912 SE / Gem PTFE (3)
Muhle blacktip synthetic Rytmoish brush
The Eternal Tub of TOBS Avocado Cream ( croap )
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Aftershave

For the last several days, I have practiced extreme light pressure by running my entire normal rotation of DE and injector razors through a session of shaving while held just with the fingertips at the tip of the handle. (except for my Fatboy. -- I seem to have overlooked it somehow.)

Today I started working with my Gem-style SEs. I have about a dozen SEs and early wedge blade razors that I acquired early in my antique safety razor collecting phase without ever thinking of even trying to shave with them. Now that I have the right blades, I have started by adding two to my rotation -- a Gem and an EverReady 1912. In the last couple months, I have used them 3 or 4 times.

I started today using the EverReady, held lightly at the tip of the handle. I could hear the blade cutting the stubble as I did my usual XTG crisscross passes. Riding the cap is very easy with these razors given the wide flat cap; maneuvering over contours and around the nose is harder than with most DEs given the wide flat cap. It's sort of like going from driving a compact car to driving a minivan. I ended up with a good but not great shave -- no cuts, nicks, weepers or irritation but also nothing close to a BBS. I would call it a DFS or DFS-.

I will continue tomorrow with the Gem 1912 and then alternate between the two as I become more familiar with handling these bigger beasties. I know there are some shavers who absolutely swear by the Gem-type SEs and will use nothing else, but so far, I am rather underwhelmed by them -- they are okay but nothing to write home about. I am certainly not prepared to abandon either my DEs or my injectors for them.

 

The ATG should let you know if the edge sharp or not. It could also be the angle as you mentioned, I tend us a larger angle when using a straight versus my Feather DX.

 

Third shave and wrap up Filarmonica, Tabac, Simpson Chubby setup:

It was a cold morning so I went with the tea kettle and scuttle for some hot lather. This brush does not splay, so the lather was just warm not hot. I did four passes and finished smooth but with some light feedback from the alum.

Irritation A- Closeness A Smoothness A+ Sharpness A+

This razor has a smooth but wickedly sharp edge. It is a very thin grind and struggles a little when hits some tough whiskers compared to my other blades. I only tried one other razor that had more flex than this razor and that was 7/8 TI. I bought this razor because all the hype made me curious. My Dovo shoulder less razors shaves circles around this Filarmonica, they are also louder while having less blade flex.

The brush is oh soft and no scritch but it has lots of backbone given a very dense knot. It can be stubborn about releasing lather but it does feel good on the face. It is a good match for Tabac I just need to load extra.

 

OK, so I revisited this shave today. Got the lather dialed in, took my time, and had a great shave with only one problem: I couldn't really tell a noticeable difference between the blades. Both performed well and the results were, for all practical purposes, identical. I even went halfsies on the head shave and still couldn't call a real winner. So I thought I would call the winner based on price, and even that seems pretty much the same. So today's winner is...?

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March Madness & Spring Cleaning!!

March 6

Razor - Fatip Piccolo
Blade - (1)
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum, Nivea

It was a dark and stormy night. Well, dark so far but the storms are on their way. Tornado watch here until 4AM so it's time we can say IT'S SPRING!! Actually this is our second watch of the year so it's an early and windy Spring.

I was asked about the Nacet blade earlier today and realized it's been well over a year since I had one in a razor. And, since I'm using aggressive razors and needed another night for everything to heal before going back to the Greager, I grabbed the Fatip and threw a Nacet in it to reacquaint myself with it. Still one of the more unique designs on the label. And, what looks like Arabic is printed on the back of the packaging so I'm pretty sure these are marketed into the Middle East/Southern Asia area. Of course they're a Gillette Russian made in St. Pete.

I chose the Fat for the soap as I've been ignoring it in favor of trying new ones. It responded with an incredible amount of the slickest lather imaginable. Still the top soap in my den.

Two full passes and the only issue was a couple of reminders where I cut my neck with the Greager the other night. No blood, though, just a rough spot. The blade was very smooth and very effective. I have a solid DFS and the alum was quiet. This blade reminds me of the Ladas from Moscow. Both are stainless coated so that's not too shocking they would feel similar. While stainless coating isn't my favorite type of blade both the Ladas and Nacet perform very well for me.

Hope your Monday was good to you!

 

Depending on where you buy them the Rapiras are usually a touch cheaper. You seem to be dialed in, though, as these are two of the best Mostochlegmash blades. The difference would become a bit more obvious if you repeated the shave for three of four days. The Rapira tends to wear out before the Voskhod does.

 

I just received a Fendrihan Scientist razor that was PIFed to me from John (Screwtape) so I decided that the inner scientist should come out to play. I decided to test the theory that oil destroys lather.

I have some diy preshave oil made from equal parts castor, olive, jojoba, and grape seed oils. I also grabbed some TOBS for this.

Sorry for the sideways images. I straightened them out in Paint but it didn't take.

To start, I squirted about a nickel's worth of PSO and an equal part water into the bowl. This is how much PSO I would use to lubricate and moisturize my face.





Next I grabbed a good almond size dallop of TOBS Sandalwood and added it to a brush that I just ran under water to dampen it but not soaked.



I proceeded to whip it and mix it well for all of 45 seconds until it looked nice and creamy. I then proceeded to add water as usual. I was not trying to make perfect lather, only show that lather can be made. After 2 dribbles of water, this resulted:


To me, that lather looks pretty good!!!

I proceeded to do my usual and continue adding water until larger bubbles formed. I was told, this indicated I went too far adding water. this resulted.




to me, it seems that my PSO will still make lather!!! No destroyed lather resulted to me! NOw, the amount I put in the bowl of PSO clearly isn't what will remain on the face since some quantity gets absorbed into the skin so even this amount is much more than normal in my opinion.