October 2018 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thank you, John! In reality, I never changed the blade because I never thought about it and/or was too lazy. I usually go 3-4 shaves on a blade and dump them, but I also usually change razors quite a bit more. Since I kept using this same razor for a while, I just never thought to change the blade.

 

You forgot "Trebuchet MS" Get with it Charlie!
BTW, that's what happens when you sing opera for 30+ years.

 

Welcome to the thread, Michael! As others have said, practice will help you quite a bit. Stick around for a while, and these guys will have you getting terrific shaves just about every time. They've helped me a bunch since I have been here, so they have lots of great advice.

 

Thank you, Jim and Joseph!

 

You, my friend, are the epitome of 30DC success stories. I'm glad we could help you.

I do think, however, that the performance of your 20-shave Voskie is a tad below average.

 

I'm afraid the "shrinkage" of the vodka inventory might be too high.......if you catch my drift. However, that would just make him equal to the minions themselves. Eh....why not?

 

Another valid suggestion.

 

Welcome Michael @Michael Bilyard! You have an opportunity to skip all the bad habits the rest of us developed over decades of mediocre shaves. Good job of finding the beating heart of TSD where blood flows. Sometime from self inflicted wounds. Don't be shy about telling us what went wrong with your shaves. There's another thread called Shave Of The Day where you'll see pretty pictures referred to as "Shave Porn". Very few of those post give the nitty gritty details. This is where we figure out what went wrong so we can get it right.

There are three Techniques often repeated in The 30 Day discussion because they work. Generally for older guys that have been doing it wrong, so it's about Unlearning those bad habits.

1) Skin Stretching - when your face gets old the skin sags. Using your other hand, pulling the skin gets it taunt like a drum head so the razor doesn't catch on wrinkles and folds. Doesn't apply to your youthful face except that it may help flatten out curves. By moving your jaw to make "shaving faces" or pulling the slack out the skin shifts around. Could place the skin in a flatter position to make a pass. Every straight razor shaver does this, many DE &SE shavers find is beneficial.

2) Less Pressure - Another bad habit you don't have to unlearn. If you spent years mashing a cartridge razor against your beard trying to get passed those lube strips, bumpers & guards, and making the flippy floppy blade align you'd not know that a razor can cut your beard easy as wiping off the lather. That's all the pressure you need. When you ease off and give a gentle touch there will be less nicks, cuts, and razor burn. You'll be cutting hair but not scraping skin.

3) Angle of attack - also referred to as Ride The Cap. That flippy floppy self leveling modern razor assumes you can't hold your razor in it's best angle. The best example to follow is a straight razor, but it follows through for all razors. The blade lays almost flat to your face, slightly tipped away. It's different for each kind of razor depending on how the blade is held. The big secret is once you figure out the angle for one, they are all the same.

There's a Fourth Technique that ought to help you as your beard fills in - Face Mapping. The hairs don't all grow in the same direction. When you are getting started on each shave, going WTG (With The Grain) means knowing which way the hairs lay and making that swipe in the same direction. For most folks that means on your cheeks starting high and making the stroke towards the low (North to South). Here's where you have to Map Your Face. Your hair may not be like everyones. If you ATG (Against The Grain) there's a good chance to shave closer with the side effect of causing irritation. Stick to WTG for a while, then you can add Across The Grain (XTG) before that tricky ATG pass.

TLDR; Take your time. It gets better!

Very handsome brush! It's hard to beat the aesthetics of a Rubberset 400 type handle with a tall boar knot.

Alternative audio track for Peaches vids?

 

Tuesday morning OCtober 30





Kampfe Bros. Star Razor lathercatcher / Gem PTFE (2)
JR #320 mahogany handle with APShaveCo 28mm SynBad knot
The Dry Dock lather bowl
Stirling Scots Pine Sheep soap
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Original Astringent and Murray & Lanman Florida Water

I finally found I did have a lathercatcher after all. I had been looking for a Star tin box and mine is actually in a leather case. I loaded it up today for a Gem OC shave that did not involve an MMOC. I found I had to shim the blade to get the edge to angle downwards enough to engage the small bladestops securely. Otherwise the back spring catch would drive the blade right past the guard. Once that was fixed, I lathered up and started driving.

Interesting razor. The blade sits almost naked and is laid flat against your face. Very loud rasping noise as it mowed through the whiskers. And overall a much milder and easier razor than the MMOC which has the blade almost entirely hidden by the cap and the heavy comb. I did two passes, decent closeness, no blood, but the alum was a bit warm everywhere (although that could partly be residual from the last few shaves).

I finished with the old-fashioned Thayers original formula astringent witch hazel, then topped off my early 20th century shave with a period splash -- Florida Water.

The lathercatcher is quite a nice razor, although I am not sure I prefer it over the Gem 1912 or the Damaskeene. I used it today with a larger zebrawood handle made for the early Gem razors by Jim @Jayaruh. The original handle is a very thin hollow (and light) metal tube that doesn't provide a very secure grip. Truth is, on the whole, I am still not a huge fan of any of the Gem SEs. I can use them but much prefer a nice DE or injector...

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

 

Thank you, Rick! I'll start the defunking process when I get home from work this evening. It'll be ready for No Variance/No Promises November.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

Speak for yourself Rick...

 

Great shave and photo Jim Bravo on the 20 shaves per blade

Wonderful shave and photo Perry. Good luck tonight.

Love the photo Jim.

Beautiful razor John. Great report as usual.

 

That is a very good idea Charlie. Maybe, just maybe.

 

Thank you, Clint.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

Thanks, Clint. Waiting to see your photo for today...

 

Just getting to it. I was up an moving early this morning for a full day.

 

That is a beautiful razor congratulations on finding in your seemingly bottomless razor pit! I feel dizzy thinking about it

 

October 30, 2018
Wolfman SS OC with Triad Ti
Feather
Zenith B27
Proraso Cypress & Vetyver
Cream and Balm


​

A very busy morning around the house today with a lot of things going on. The contractors are starting on the new roof today so I had to get out of the garage before I was blocked in. I will be glad to have the project done but I am not at all happy about how much it will cost. I have a full afternoon of meetings so I needed to be spiffed up and ready to go. At least the hardware and software with this lineup are pretty much hassle and drama free. The Proraso SE was easy to lather and very slick. Two passes, touch ups along my jawline and buffing my neck caught the baby. Operator error did cause some weepers due to my aggressive buffing. Overall a very good close shave. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

 

OCtober Focus

Mike's Bay Rum~~Rubberset 400/3~~1941 Gillette Ranger Tech~~Personna 74~~Dominica Bay Rum
Once again, I have ignored the pre-requisite for this month's shave.
Instead, opting for my beloved (weird choice of adjective) Ranger Tech.
Cue: Beethoven-Ode to Joy.
"Freude, Schöne, Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium..." (Text by Friedrich Schiller, FYI)
Feel free to join in.
Lest I digress, I shall now return to my shave.
Mike's Bay Rum is my favorite, and believe me, I have used a myriad of Bay Rum soaps and scents.
Mike's, in general, is a soap that NEVER irritates my skin. I get a burn from Krampert's, WSP,
even Captain's Choice. Never Mike's. (To be fair, never from B&M either, another excellent Bay Rum)
I guess you could call Mike's soaps, "plain Jane", but do they ever deliver! Not to mention, they are priced fairly.
A tablespoon of water on the soap softened it up nicely for my Rubberset. Got my load on and went right to the face.
A few extra drops of water were needed for the lather.
Once again I used the same Personna 74 blade. Still going strong.
3 passes for a lovely BBS---even on the lower neck! I usually NEVER push that envelope, except when I am using the Ranger Tech.
Last minute substitution of the Dominica. Chose the Grand Bay Bay Rum.
Until production resumes of the Dominica, I am in "hoarding" mode.​

 

Things are a little tight is SE Texas, so I may need to see if I can get another month or two out of the blade. I am getting worried that they may say something about the no visible growth.