Thanks, Adam!

From a B&B post:
The blade gap for the Futur (and clone) is;
On setting
1) 1.12mm
2) 1.19mm
3) 1.35mm
4) 1.47mm
5) 1.60mm
6) 1.65mm

To give you a sample of some others
Above the Tie R1 = .58mm
Gillette Fatboy at 1 = .56mm
Gillette Fatboy at 9 = 1.14mm
Merkur 38C = .64mm
Merkur 34C = .71mm

Thank you, Clint! I definitely enjoy being able to take my time and enjoy a shave, but it is nice to know that a good shave can be had under less than ideal circumstances.

I am not allowed to touch my wife's Clinique face wash! Sounds like a good shave with a nice razor!

Beautiful picture, Mark! The bowl is fantastic.

Thank you, Charlie!

That is a beauty of a razor, Brian! Japanese straights are nice shavers, in my limited experience.

Great picture! I used my Futur this weekend, and they are great shavers, no doubt.

Have you tried Setting Neal?

I agree. This is one of the nicest razors in my collection. What a nice shave!

Thanks Jim, it has plenty of bite, even on setting 2.

Nope, I almost exfoliated part of my lower lip last night at "2" . I will leave anything higher to the Pros.

A Glacial and Artique, Mark? Now that's a Menthol Monday. Beautiful picture!

Neal said that if things with the Fat Boy up north get out of hand, you could crash at his house. You just have to buy beer, and keep the smoker fired while he's at work.

Don't know how you could go wrong for that price. The cost of these clones is plummeting. Pretty soon they'll be paying you to use one.

Razors and guns. Dangerous combination. We too have guys in this part with guns, but they usually work for the mafia! I try to make myself enjoy my own posts, since, i am not so hardcore as to really enjoy razor photograps most of the time. Especially the old, rusty ones.

From all i have read, including a local forum and a local website called "The Art of Shaving", which has even a section of "how to choose the right blade" and "How to hold the razor" (which is different than another shaving website that was advocating either holding near the balance point - what i naturally went for by instinct - or by the tip), as well as my preconceptions that come from the everyday work, my conclusion is:

1) There is a chance, that one day, one may become "Blade Jedi" and get BBS with anything. How much this chance is, i don't know. But certainly some people have also natural talent about some things.

2) I also think there is, individual variability of various factors (type of skin, hair, razor, that can affect the effectiveness of the blade and make it require more effort. This effort might be minimal for Blade Jedis). For those who don't manage to become Blade Jedis, it's YMMV.

3) By googling, i actually found some guys who did blind trial!

http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/community/index.php?threads/shaven-blind-blade-test.30685/page-5

My surprise was the ranking of Derby as sharper than Shark SS, but invidual variability can explain that (it's just 0.5 difference, that's within statistical error). However, Derby, in the preference rating, hits the bottom! I mean, there MUST be a reason!

Conclusion: Just in case i won't reach Blade Jedi level, i am going to order some hundreds of Astra SP, because even in the "blind trial" they scored very well! I must also shave again with Shark, as well as Dorco and Personna Red, to see if i like them. Frankly, for the price, the Astra is unbeatable. It's 10 cent more than the Derby in 100 pack and it's cheaper than Dorco and Shark. But, i wouldn't mind some blade rotation in the future, so i may as well buy not just Astras. My doubt about the Shark is that it was jumpy at first ATG in the throat. But, that might have been my inexperience or my joy for finding a better blade that made me lose concentration, because WTG the blade was very smooth.

About individual variability, even the way you hold the razor will change things. It's different weight distribution and it's different lever action. So, by now, i tend to believe that some blades and razors will work better. Blade Jedis might minimize this to a point and they might have individual characteristics that help (like hair that is easier to be clean cut rather than tugged or dry skin that favours the cutting action of a duller blade).

I reserve final judgement, but, like in Physics, one must try to find a theory that can explain everything. And i am biased towards YMMV, because people vary. Even the "normal values" that you see next to your blood test values, in reality isn't exactly "normal values", it's an "reference interval". The "normal values" are a statistical range. A group of "healthy individuals" is selected and they see what values they have. These values are then put in a Gauss distribution and the 95% of the values in the distribution is what becomes the "normal values". This doesn't mean that those in the 5% left outside are sick. They are healthy. They are just "out of the ordinary". Or simply, they are "too different than the 95% of the rest of the sample". For all i know, this 5% may exist also in shaving and they might be the Blade Jedis!

Like i said, i reserve final judgement after some years. But everyone swears about his own belief, so what should one believe... A "shaving guru" in a local forum, is of the opinion that "hand matters more than the blade". But he still believes that blades don't work equally well for all. Just to say, that one must try to combine all these experiences, in 1 theory. It's like searching for the holy Grail of physics law, where you must have a law that can be applied to every occasion. Or why Einstein had to say "Newton, forgive me".

Nice brush handle! Reminds me of flowerpot. I 'd probably break it sooner or later, but it's nice. Nice photo too (i like the background out of focus blurred).

@Shave Fu Thank you.

It's April, I used an Adjustable Focus

C.O.Bigelow, JR #130 synthetic
WD Brandt 100 SR - Abort
WD Gold Bug SR - Abort
Manhattan Cutlery SR - Abort
Gold Dollar SR - Abort
Simmons Hdwr SR - Abort
Curley's Ideal SR - Abort
'59 Fat Boy & Personna Med Prep - FTW
Alum block, Osage Rub AS


Straights, yeah? No. My personal brick wall with straights now recalled with sparkling (alum) clarity - Maintenance & Honing. I selected a SR from what I remember as my favorite. Stropped up twenty back-n-forths. I lathered up with rebranded Proraso Green and the trusty Maggard's knot. Tugging. Choose another SR, strop, refresh the cooling lather, tugging. Humm. Choose another repeat stropping, face getting cooler now, tugging. I used to shave with these razors? Through all straights I've gotten acceptable service out of that I haven't traded away. No straight love today. Relathered again over a single drop of red on my neck, my face is ready for some sunshine, and grabbed up the Fat Boy. All those aborted passes with open blades left me a patchy partially shave ice cube. Three standard go arounds to clean up the mess I made, and rinse the now full effect menthol lather away to reveal better that I expected results. The alum let me know I am all over both numb and irritated. Keeping with the theme a (facial) splash of Osage for a Menthol Monday to remember.
Thought for the Day; Send my straight out for honing or set them aside. There's a reason I switched to a shavette.
Good Shaves Y'all!

It's just the truth. It must be the prettiest brush handle i 've seen. The photo is also very pretty. You could also try to see if you can find a similar lathering bowl, to kind of make a set. Something like this:



That's a 1930 design (and not really lathering bowl), i don't really like the bumps on top, but the concept could fit very well with your brush.

Thank you for the kind words. Since I face lather I am pretty sure I won't buy a matching bowl. But you never know.