Great shave, Andrew! Auto Strops are great razors. I sold all but 5 of the 6 C models. They are all great shavers. I just had too many danged Auto Strops. Glad your shave went well, even given your Veg predilections. Hope your day is going well!

Very nice. Yes, the thickness of those blades allows them to be ground to a very sharp edge when made. That Ever-Ready looks very similar to my GEM Jr, Evan. Especially the handle. I don't know enough about the history of ER/Gems to know if they were ever produced together. Perhaps @PLAla or one of the other SE experts knows exactly.

There's that or using the Proguard blades. Bill (@Edison Carter) likes them. My son loaned me one, but I prefer my Supers. But you're right, that light touch makes all the difference. You're more experienced in this open edge shaving than me, so I can't distinguish anything other than that smoothness characteristic on my touched up straights. I shaved with a razor sharpened by Ben's Guru up in Boston and found it to be just as sharp as my Super. So I guess my honing skills aren't up there with the pros, but I'm quite happy with my results thus far.

An amazing photo, Blair. Your professionalism shines through today, no question. I'm curious about what you use that small anvil for. Is it shave related?

Aieee!!!! Glad you're in Indiana, Maestro!

Such a unique hardware combo today, Pierpaolo. Is that brush new, I don't recall seeing it. Is there a significance grip-wise to that hole in the handle, or is it for asthetics?

I'm not a fan of butterscotch brushes per se, Joseph, but that Duke is a beauty. Are virtually all of your Simpson brushes now from the 'grey box' era? Is it only the hair you see as different than the 'red box' modern ones? I can tell you that not all Red Box labels are centred or straight...

Did he employ a particular honing technique?

I don't remember using preshaves regularly. When I was traveling a lot and using a Panasonic Electric I remember using Electric Shave preshave and dimly remember using Atra from Mennen a few times, but for the most part it was just a cold water rinse, Barbasol and one pass until the shave forums led me to the light!

I have a vintage Gillette with your name on it, Paul. Just say the words...

Thank you, Jim!

Here's a copy of the video that Ben says demonstrates his method.

Thank you, Bruce!

Just beautiful, Doug. Interesting comments on that Omega '49. It looks like it is either set a mm or two lower in the handle, or that the hole is quite tight to the knot. Either would dense it up a bit, of course. I have an '83 (same size knot) that I wedged into a smaller hole in one of my brushes that I moved on and it did make a difference.

Any experience with Gun Kote, Clint? I think you need a new hobby...

Thanks, Jeff! It was a wonderful shave.
Today is a nice sunny day for a change. Hope all is well in PA.

Life's like that right now, Bruce. Any participation from you will be valued, for sure. A great couple of SE shaves to start the month. You mentioned 'used to be Ol Shedder'. Did you re knot it? or did it stop dropping copious amounts of bristles?

A great looking vintage combo, Andrew. One doesn't need to be a fan of The Veg to admire that antique bottle. Do you load your vintage Williams directly from the puck, or do you rehydrate it via @Primotenore 's method (or one similar)?

Thank you, Jim! This is my first vintage soap puck, so I decided to use it without modification to see how it performed. I just soaked the puck overnight before the first use. I did read through the thread describing the rehydrating process and may try it with another vintage puck.