thank you Blair..

Caught in the Jedi mind trick vortex. CH2 synthetic purchase this morning.....before you posted this!

Makes complete sense to me Paul. Had that little problem with the shavette for a while.

Love the image and shiny razor Jason! Is that one of your bowls?

That is very cool Myles! Sweet looking decanter it's in.

Another great looking score of OS!

thank you Blair..

Thank you Blair

Too funny. I have been so conditioned when I see a Simpson Synthetic tweet to go and buy, I almost caught myself.

Great job on the OT Evan! Love the images and setups.

I was looking cause y'all were talking about the T2 vs T3.....and I'm like, hey, what's that? There's more to scroll down to? Hook, line, sunk.

Thank you, Blair!
Congrats on the new brush! I can't wait to see it!

Congrats on the new brush. Which one did you get?

Don't feel bad, I have been looking and reading on DFS about the new Blackland Tradere. Big mistake, I have just about talked myself into it. I am such a weak person.

the originals are a well regarded razor i hear..not on the market long and sought after.....

Hi James! With what you have, you have everything you need before you need to use stones or lapping films. If you straight shave 4x a week and Crox it once a month, then you should be able to maintain the edge at least 4 months without worrying about using a hone to bring it back to a nice sharp edge. I am assuming good stropping and shaving techniques. I would invest in lapping films to because it's inexepensive, and easier to hone a razor. Also, I hardly use the fabric, but I do anywhere between 40 to 60 laps on leather. Glad that you are learning how to straight shave!

That is a great image James! I certainly agree that slick lather = straight razor greatness.

Been thinking about the Blackland Tradere also.....may wait it out, see y'alls reviews. I do have a coupon for any Blackland purchase (as the Sept pre-order for the Polished Vector I bit on took 4+ months)....still a bit spendy with the coupon though.

Definitely spend some time on the TSD Straights section! Lots of knowledge there.

Just remember it doesn't have to get spendy on the maintenance side, but it definitely can.

Lapping films are some of the inexpensive options to get started. Joe @Trigger is having great success there. Then there's pasted balsa, pasted strops (what I use), then manufactured stones/ceramics (which I also have), then natural stones. Natural stones border on the esoteric 'oh my gosh' money in my mind. Glen (gssixgun) did an experiment in 2009(!) where he honed a razor to his standards of 'shave ready'. It was chronicled on another forum. Then, only using pasted balsa, gave up the experiment some 75+ shaves later saying an edge could be maintained indefinitely with just a pasted balsa setup in conjunction with a standard linen/leather strop. FWIW. YMMV. I'm trying to duplicate that idea/experiment as long as possible with pasted strops....but I'm not nearly as accomplished as Glen, and I think a couple razors are going to see some 12k ceramic hone time soon (I've just been lazy).

Very true. I didn't know what I was missing when I passed on them back in 2014.

That is the wise approach. Can you remind me again next Friday to be patient and wise.

Uh, sure. But...you gotta admit Shane does some incredible work on polishing (not to mention design). There's only 2, maybe 3 razor artisans I've seen who take it to that level or better. I'm sure the Blackland Tradere is gonna be super shiny and shave incredibly awesome. Ok, I've already forgotten, what did you want me to remind you?

You had to try for a different strategy with the shavette in order to avoid the weepers, eh?

I hear you.


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See....proof. Shiny toy = me distracted like a cat chasing a laser pointer. Forgot to answer this question.

Chubby 2 Synthetic Fibre - Royal Pearl

That is a very cool looking color. It will look great in photos. I just realized, I would not have nearly as many razors and brushes if I did not take SOTD photos.