May 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread

Lol. I'm all in on this adventure since I have such great resources here! I'll deal with a little razor burn as long as I have folks at the tsd to get input from. One of the many reasons I love this place.
E

 

May 3rd , SOTD (Shave 3 of this focus)
One days’ growth
Prep: Hot Shower
Razor: Wade and Butcher 5/8 Square point (post 1890)
Strop: Chromexcel Horsehide- 30 laps on linen, 40 on leather
DE Razor: 1941 National Razor Company Bakelite Razor
DE Blade: Astra SP- Stropped 30 times per edge (2nd shave on blade)
Soap: Barrister & Mann's Bay Rum
Brush: Vie-long Horsehair
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Barrister & Mann's Kyovu Original

I rarely shave with less than a day and a half to two days growth. I spent most of the day working outside on Sunday, so showered in the evening. I didn’t want to do a no shower shave on Monday, so I went ahead. I did a single pass, ATG or S/N on the face and neck with the straight. The whiskers on my chin are difficult. Half way through those, I decided to try XTG instead, and caught my cut from last week and opened it right back up. I think I will be avoiding this area with my straight for a while, which is a shame because it’s the area I need to focus on the most to improve my straight razor shaves. I did touch up with the Bakelite Razor. All in all a CCS, but not very long lasting. Monday morning, and I already have visible stubble again. This is why I can’t shave every day.

@Seabs- I feel your pain. I am trying to get this down as well. Most helpful thing I have heard is to keep the angle at 2 spine widths of the razor from your face. Your trick with the alum on the fingers for skin stretching really helped too. When you strop, are you putting any pressure on the blade, or just using the weight of the razor?

The Kyovu aftershave balm works very well, if you don’t mind the smell. It has a strong Aloe scent to me. I grew up getting aloe smeared on me for all kinds of scrapes, cuts, and sunburns, and don’t really like the smell. Brush worked great, and I think I am getting the water ratio down for these soaps. Bakelite razor isn’t quite as mild as I had originally thought. Not quite red tip, but more than my other superspeeds.

 

Aggressive Apri...errrr May? - Day 23 (5/4/15)

Prep: Hot shower
Soap: Arko
Brush: Omega 13522
Razor: Cadet OC
Blade: Sputnik
Post: Witch Hazel, Nivea Sensitive Balm
Scent: Tommy Bahama Very Cool

Great shave today! 2 pass WTG & ATG to a DFS! Happy International Firefighters Day to my brother and sister firefighters!

 

Blade Focus Day 4:

Homemade PS Oil
Vie-long Horsehair Brush
Musco Real Classic
EJ Chatsworth Barley
Feather blade
Stirling Unscented PSB
Musco Real Classic AS

Switched to the Feather this morning, which is my first experience with them. I also skipped the Menthol Monday as I have been saving my favorite Musco Real Classic for my day off, and that just happened to fall on Monday. Everything came together for a great near BBS shave this morning. I got to take my time and enjoy it, which has been unusual for the past three weeks or so. The best part was I got to shave with my little boy. We hadn't done that in several weeks; I sure hope he is building the same memories as I am on these shaves. It just makes everything perfect!

I really like the Feather. I had heard how sharp they are, and it was, but it also provides a smooth shave for me. I am going to use this for the next few days, but this is another keeper for me.

 

May 4 - shave 3.0
Prep: Shower
Soap: Col Conk Amber
Straight: Gemstar DFS Razor #214- blade AJ Jordan, 5/8, Double Hollow Grind, Spike point
Post: Cold water, alum block
Growth 15 days

In an effort to get better with the straight, I decided to practice this morning on my arm to discover the proper angle.
Initial thoughts: My expectations are too high! TSR is not like shaving with a DE. Maintaining the proper angle can be difficult. If I go to shallow I simply wipe of the shaving cream off, too steep I scrap. I suppose over time you find the "sweet spot" but I drag a blade over my whiskers, I expect them to be gone. With the straight, it's a little unevenly sliced away.

Shave 3.5 will come tonight as I turn the blade to my face.

Cheers!
Eric

 

DAY 3….
My typical pre-shave Straight Razor routine:

• Hot shower with very hot washcloth applied to beard area
• Apply pre-shave balm (if using)
• Razor Strop: 25-30 on linen; 40-50 on leather. Thumb pad 'test' (looking for a 'sticky' feel to the edge)
• Face lather; dip razor in water—begin…..

Smooth 3-pass shave. No tenderness I experienced yesterday.

 

For the arm hair test (no lather necessary!), I lay the razor practically flat on the forearm with a slight downward pressure on the edge. I draw/pull the razor towards me, not push it away, with short, repetitive strokes. Hairs will or should pop as the edge strikes them.

Watch this: I'm not nearly as hairy as this guy, but you get the idea….

 

Try try again. if they don't pop, a rehone is in order?

 

Good picture!!!

 

Thank you Doug

 

Brush Focus: Day 3
Brush: Fendrihan Sliver Tip 2, 22/49
Gillette Super Speed, 1947 Birth Razor.
Gillette Platinum Blade
Bowl: KO Shave
Soap: Jack's Soap
AS: Clubman Mush
Old Spice Coffee Mug.

This brush is supposed to be the same as yesterdays brush with a different handle. It has been different since I received it. Never lost a hair and hold lots of lather. Although it's not my favorite brush it is right up there. Some brushes are very similar in apply soap, some are not.

 

Rotating through the blade sampler. Each will get 3 consecutive days so they all get a chance.
Run through the lineup again.

Variables:
Lord
Shark
7 am Durablade
Sharp Durablade
Astra
(Already tried the Dorco, Derby, and BIC.)

Constants:
Pre: Hot washcloth
Soap: Nivea gel
Brush: Vie-long horsehair
Post: CW and WH

Learning goals:

1. Which blades suit this face
2. Better lathering
3. Manage the curve of the jaw
4. 3 times through the grinder - WTG, XTG, ATG

 

MAYhem & Mercy
May 4, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Tweezerman Badger
Soap - Williams (I see bubbles...any lather in there?)Mug Shaving Soap
Razor - Rapira
Blade - (3)
Post - Alum, Nivea Replenishing Post Shave Balm

Third and final day with the unimpressive Zaza from Turkey. Decided to throw it in the exceptionally cheap and poorly made Rapira razor. And, I was a bit surprised at the result. I discovered that the Rapira is a rather aggressive razor. I've only used it once with a Voskhod and didn't like how it worked at all. Seemed like it turned the normally sharp and smooth Voskhod into a killer. Well, it took the Zaza with its lack of sharpness and turned it into an actual functioning blade! Two passes to a very good DFS, the best I've had with the Zaza. A full third pass and the baby would be caught. Hmmmmmmm. Decided to take a look at the razor close up.



Notice the even but wide gap on the blade in the top picture and the angle in the second? The head doesn't bend the blade much in this razor and that creates an aggressive setup not unlike the Gillette Old Style OC. In fact the shave felt a lot like the 1918 I use sometimes. Apparently pairing this blade with the more aggressive Rapira (compared to the Soyuz 1) helped it perform. So, in the MAYhem portion of the Zaza trial it appears it can function well in an aggressive razor. Even a cheap one. Does technique trump tools in this case? I would prefer to say that technique allows the tools to work, even if cheap and low-tech. I'm eager to see what happens in a couple of weeks when I put the Zaza into some much better gear.

I'm also looking forward to using it with much better soap. The Williams just foams and bubbles but doesn't seem to ever get to the lather stage. Here's a picture of the soap tonight after sitting all day. Notice the bubbles around the edge? That's the size I see when trying to lather.


Still working on finding a way to make this soap work better. It is so far the most frustrating part of the shave aside from the floppy badger. I already miss my boars. But, we press on to tomorrow where the 7 a.m. blade from Bangladesh takes center stage in the Soyuz 1. Happy Monday everyone!

​

 

Several places I read that a drop of glycerin will really help Williams soap to lather. I have not tried this, just read it several places.

 

I think I've seen that. Hadn't thought of it. I will be chasing some down in the near future!

 

oooh! Lucky Tiger! Old school classic.

 

Shaves two through five this report:

Razor: 1951 Fat handled Canadian Tech
Blade Voskhod
Soap Arko
A/S varied

Voskhod (1) a very smooth shave, with no irritation. I know I like the Teflon coating on the SE blades I use. I got a close 2 pass shave (DFS) but not as close as with the feather
Voskhod (2) again, smooth shave, but not as smooth as with the feather. The neck was a bit rough.
Voskhod(3) same neck irritation, or so I thought. It was gone with the use of the aftershave balm. Ended up with a BBS shave
Voskhod(4) a very nice "slippery" 2 pass shave. BBS result. The aftershave was 2 drops of Mbomb with the Nivea aftershave Balm. Happy menthol Monday! No irritation today...

All in All, I really like the Voskhod, and understand why so many like this blade. I can imagine that it would work quite well in a little more aggressive razor. I am happy with it in the tech.

I will try it again in an adjustable, later this month.

 

Blade Focus Day 5:

Homemade PS Oil
Vie-long Horsehair Brush
Stirling Barber Shop
EJ Chatsworth Barley
Feather Blade
Stirling Unscented PSB
Clubman Vanilla AS

The Feather is proving to be a good blade for me, as I got another good shave. One more day on this one, then I'll try something else.

 

05/5/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade –Feather Super Pro (9)
Brush –Rudy Vey with TGN Finest
Lather – TSD Yin Yang
Post - Witch Hazel and Myrsol Limon Sample



Fantastic near BBS 2 pass shave with touch ups this morning. This was the first time I have used the TSD soap. The scent was very impressive with a mixture of lime and lavender. The soap was very easy to lather and super slick. Finished off the shave with witch hazel and a splash of Myrsol Limon Aftershave from a sampler pack. The combination of the TSD soap and Myrsol made for a fantastic post shave feel.

 

DAY 4
VARIATION!
Contrary to the established 30-day rule, I made an exception this morning by switching out the Böker (my one of four German-made razors to be used in this 30-day period) for a razor I had just finished restoring and honing.
Using the same routine and soap of the previous 3 days, I introduced a significantly different straight razor into the mix. I always test-shave the razors I restore and hone, and so I took the opportunity to give this big Sheffield blade a test drive this morning. This Wade & Butcher is considerably larger ( nearly 1" wide vs 5/8") and heavier than the typical straight razor, with a slight smile.

Despite the additional heft and width, the razor feels comfortable in maneuvering about the face. Audibly, the shaving feedback is considerably less prominent than the thinner, full-hollow Böker, but the noise is still present (unlike the 'silent whisker killer' effect when using a large wedge blade). I did notice that it required more effort (strokes) to effectively remove stubble on the nose (tip) end, meaning I'll probably take this razor back to the hones and touch-up the nose to bring it to the same level of keenness and the rest of the blade. This is one of the reasons why I test shave a razor and don't simply rely on thumb-pad or hanging-hair tests.

Not quite a DFS result, and I have some tenderness in the areas that required multiple passes. This type of result is not uncommon when the razor it not as sharp as it need be. As with DE razors with old blades, shaving with a blade that isn't sufficiently sharp leads to more effort and potential skin aggravation. A keenly-sharp SR removes hair quickly and effortlessly, leaving the skin feeling BBS after a single pass.