October 24th SOTD
Two days’ growth
Preshave: Hot Shower
Razor: Union Cutlery Spike (near) Wedge, 11/16
Strop: Drygulch Leatherworks Oiled Latigo
Brush: Handturned Tulip Poplar Badger
Soap: The Holy Black, Gunpowder Spice
Postshave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: The Holy Black Whisker Whiskey, Gunpowder Spice
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Never got my last shave posted. I have also lost track of this month’s shaves. It’s been a crazy month for me, both at work and with personal stuff. My daughter turned three, my wife is 35 weeks pregnant, and my mother is having health issues. There hasn’t been a whole lot of time for shaving stuff.
That said, part of my focus this month was to get an eBay razor shave ready, to compare with my other two wedges. Today was the first time I have had to work on the razor, so this one might stretch into next month. I had originally planned to sand and polish this razor, and get a great shine out of it. That turned into wiping it down with denatured alcohol, and hitting it with a buffing wheel. Didn’t do a lot, just wanted to get the grime off. It needs to be sanded and polished still, but I did hone it. I set the bevel with a Naniwia 1k water stone. It took over an hour, but finally it started to cut arm hair. Looking at the edge under magnification showed that there were no chips, and the bevel was even. I moved on to four different natural stones, then Chromium Oxide on a linen strop, them 40 laps on my linen strop and 100 laps on oiled latigo. It wasn’t quite as smooth as edges more experienced honers have created for me, but I am pretty happy with it.
I have to travel to Phoenix in a few weeks, so I needed to get rid of my goatee, which was about a half inch long. I didn’t want a freshly shaved look for that trip, so I did it today. I have never intentionally taken large bits of facial hair off with a straight razor before. Usually, I use clippers before shaving it off. You can’t clog a straight razor though. It was freaking awesome. Like it makes me want to grow a beard just so I can shave it off with a straight razor awesome. (As a side note, my razor didn’t clog, but my sink did. Had to stop between my second pass and touch up to unclog the drain.)
Two pass plus touch up on the neck. Two nicks, but water closed them up. Just shy of BBS!! Chin is tender, but aftershave helped. I like this razor so far.
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