January 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

Thats a good idea and I think you will find it will work out exactly how you say.

 

That's good to know. The dark side is about to gain another recruit it grows stronger by the day.

 

So with my focus being on my badger brush I was doing some research on Finest badger. A member of the forum notified me that finest is a grade of silvertip badger hair. Can anyone verify this? I do want a silvertip badger brush in my collection but would save a ton of money if my 28mm Finest Badger from Manhandled wood shop is already one.

 

Jan 7 Focus Shave 5

We have a new entry into the edge test focus, a new acquired Feon 172 from our Shave Den colleague @entropy1049. My pictures does not do the razor justice it in new condition. The razor was finished on a Suehiro Gokumyo 20K, something I have never experienced. The edge was very comfortable, given the condition of the razor and the great edge it just reinforces why I only want to buy razors from a know source.

The edge is very kind, it felt smooth on the skin for every pass. 4 passes and no blood and no discomfort. The alum test gave on a tickle. I just missed BBS.

Irritation A Closeness A- Smoothness A Keenness A-

AoS Sandalwood cream and tallow soap
Rooney Silver Tip
Feon 172 finished on a Suehiro Gokumyo 20K
Pre stropped
Speick AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Le Labo Santal 33

 

According to Manhandled, they use "TGN's finest badger knot."
According to TGN, they have a broad range of badger with the following classifications...High Mountain White ($48-65/knot) - Silvertip ($27-43/knot) - Super Badger ($30-33/knot)- Best ($25-70)- Finest ($27-35/knot) - Pure & Black ($13-19/knot)
It appears TGN classifies their 'high mountain white', 'Silvertip' and 'Super 'as silvertip badger hair; the others (Best, Finest, Pure, Black) are not labeled as silvertip.

 

I tried the not stropping after the finishing stone and found the shave to be very rough.

 

Not stropping a razor after being honed is akin to not using a kitchen steel on your favorite butcher knife before use. The knife may still cut, but not nearly as smoothly.

 

Lesson learned. Someone had suggested so I had to try it..... just goes to show you can't trust everything you read on the internet.

 

6 January 2016

Day 6 - 90 Day Intro to SR



Ralf Aust 5/8
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Route 66 Lumberjack
Alum
Osage Rub​

In prep for today's shave, I did 30 green laps, 20 red laps and 20 laps on leather. The blade seemed a bit better and smoother than yesterday. Apparently the crisis of confidence has passed. Using everything I've learned in the last year, I decided a slow, precise and deliberate two pass shave was the idea. Really tried to stretch the skin well today, and made sure the Route 66 had enough water to make it do its voodoo. The good news...other than a small bleeding nick on my chin (set blade down badly), I am DFS with no need for touch up today. Day 6, I am proud to say I completed a full shave. Apparently my angles still need a bit of work, there is a bit of irritation under my jaw and in the neck folds. The Alum encouraged me to keep trying to master angles, Osage cooled it all off, I made sure not to get nuts with it! This straight razor thing gets easier each day. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.​

Have a triumphant Thursday!

​

 

2 Quickly learning are you.

 

Except for the scraping and nicking parts, it's not been too bad. It will be a while before BBS or quick shaves happen, but I am really encouraged by my first week. I will add, waiting a year before trying really helped me out, as I already knew how to lather, prep, post, etc. Straight razor would have been really intimidating without being on TSD for over a year reading.

 

Sounds like things are going well for you. Is that a Freudian Slip I see?

 

She should have samples soon. NB16 will keep me from ordering them.

 

Oh boy…a NEW addition to my signature line…...

 

Yeah, I won't be doing that again.

 

This one got an out loud chuckle

 

Oops, it will stop me too

 

Add another one for me and technology....

 

SOTD January 7, 2016
Focus day 4

Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Rapira Swedish Supersteel (4)
Razor: Wet Shave Club 3-piece
Brush: Satin Tip 'The Purest' synthetic
Lather: Proraso White
Post: Witch hazel splash, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, XTG, minor touch-up

Day four with this combination. Pretty good shave this morning with CCS results. No nicks or weepers. I'm proud that I've improved in that category! I had a little irritation on my right cheek (a couple of red dots) which is unusual. It may be due to the weather changes here and perhaps the skin being a little dry. I'm going to watch it and see.

I'm trying to fight off a cold so my head was pretty stuffy when shaving this morning. I decided for two fairly quick passes with minor touch-up on the neck and jaw.

Tomorrow and this weekend I will switch up the blade and soap while keeping the same razor. I'll return to this setup on Monday.

Have a terrific day!

 

1. Turn off auto correct
2. Always proofread
3. Always proofread
4. Count on hearing about it
5. Take a little time and proofread my work


Glad I could help.