Perfect shave today. 2 pass shave with BDBS results. zero issues. Fantastic shaving razor. The Yardley soap is excellent. Razor- F.Herder's "45" Brush- J.R.#262, by @Jayaruh . Silvertip knot Soap- Vintage Yardley Lavender. Rarely do I break this out. Aftershave- Shulton Old Spice. Magic 1870 Decanter
Lol, no worries Scott, I’ve never been a paste guy. But there are plenty of people who say ‘I give my razor 5o laps on a diamond pasted strop after every shave and I never have to hone!’. I don’t know what they believe that they’re doing if not honing the razor. Every. Shave. If I gave my razor 50 laps on a jnat after every shave, I’d never have to hone either!
Wouldn't have much of a razor either. Many give their razors 15-20 laps on a Chromium Oxide pasted strop, when the edge starts to degrade. I really like the Yardley, but it's very difficult to come by. I dont remember when they stopped making it. As for the decanter, I have collected many different Shulton Old Spice decanters, and each is full of the good juice. There are a couple I am still looking for, but they slipped through my fingers. ..
This morning’s shave brings out a Thiers-Issard LE Oakwing G with Castle Forbes providing the lather and aftershave. A M&F 2XL Super Badger brush and a GP20 scuttle worked lather duties. The blade is a perfectly smooth whisker squeegee:
I just shaved with my newest razor, the Rasoir Sabre France Legend Köroğlu. I had to cut and paste the name into the post because I have no idea how to get those funny letters. This was the first brand new razor I've bought in quite a while, and in a way, it caused a little unexpected disillusionment. After my initial shave, I thought, "Oh yeah, this is what it's like to shave with a well honed razor!" Then I thought about all the attempts to hone my other razors and have never achieved an edge this good... And it makes me sad.
@The Fox - honing is just practice. If you’re not good enough you just need more practice and repetition. This one is not the one to practice on however.... Beautiful taxor, congrats!
Beautiful. The really sad thing is that factory edges are usually not that good. I would get a vintage razor, send it to a known Honemeister and see how that one shaves. ..
I've heard French razors are inconsistent and often not as sharp as German razors. I guess I'm lucky. I have two Dovos which were both equally good out of the box, and as their reputation goes, they looked flawless. But I also have two French razors and they both beat the Dovos hands down for the quality of their edges. Of course they do show some of that "French character" in other aspects like random blemishes in the steel and scales that don't quite match up. But they both shave excellent.
Reloaded with small Heljestrands... This one just has “4R” on the tail. Nice script C.V.H on the blade face. Also went with an orange theme by accident. Enjoy your shave. Tom
I can't understand how that pile of rocks you collect has not risen up in violent rebellion against you and your determination to top 100 with that blade.
Love my Rasoir Sabre. They are sold with instructions from the man who inscribed his name on your piece to dispatch as shave ready and not re-hone. It serves as a great target in my own honing.
Actually I’m not determined to reach any specific number, I’m just enjoying the ride. I’ve got time like many others these days, and just ‘spun up’ about a dozen Gold Monkeys and Gold Dollars, so the stones are not lonely!
Thank you, I will take some pics tonight and post tomorrow. I use FeO3 before each shave, about 5 - 10 laps. This extended the life of my edges, when there is any fall off I go to CrOx or Dovo red-black pastes. After a two times to the Dovo pastes or CrOx it is back to a finishing stone.
Using pastes is a proven way to maintain a SR edge and has been probably has been since the first straight razors. The idea that abrasive pastes which remove metal are somehow not the same as honing the razor just seems curious to me.
Today’s shave was a test of an older Nakayama from Takeda vs a small iro (multicolor) Nakayama koppa from Alex Gilmore’s ‘hoard’ stones. The razors were Gold Monkeys. The iro edged out a win for smoothness. Small stone but high powered. Soap was MdC agrumes lathered with a Rooney Silvertip, and Myrsol Limon was a perfect pairing to the agrumes soap.
