September 30 Day/Rule Focus Pix & Discussion

Sorry I don't have time to catch up but here is an update on two epic shaves.

Sunday was the first full day for my woman to be free after 2 weeks of quarantine. So for our first date I went with my big 8/8 Osiris with a 3/4 grind and a wonderful edge. I added a few drops of lanolin to the Castle Forbes and paired with a Silverloaf handle that has a Shavemac flat top knot.


Monday is back to work so a safety razor shave. I have not used the Merkur Futur in a long time. It used to be my favorite adjustable, so I decided to give it a go. I loaded it with a Kai (2) and set it wide open. I quickly found the angle. For ATG I turned her down two notches. It shaves as nice as any DE I own but it is a bit awkward to handle.

 

...

Well.......


tp

 

I can only read "It's true" from his mouth.

 

I've learned a lot from theses nut cases!
tp

 

All you've learned from me is that I love 3 Stooges marathons(nyuk nyuk).

 

Sometimes I get "analysis paralysis" when looking at all they have to offer.

 

They can get goofy-shows they love what they do.

 

Two beautiful shaves Keith. Glad you were able to have a date with the missus. I hope you had an enjoyable day.

 

Myles, about your Rat Pack avatar-I once saw Sammy Davis Jr. smoke a cigarette while he was singing....

 

They're my "Educational Televisions".




tp

 

LOL

 

My grandson and I make our own marathon.





tp

 

Lovely shave, Keith! That Osiris is drop dead gorgeous! Is that a modern artisan blade? Just curious? Congrats on having your bride home! I’m happy for you, my friend! I’m sure the date was great!

 

Mine was "Leave a message please" for a long time, but it was too short and I got a lot of dead air before people would realize it already beeped.

I sure love the conversations we have on this shaving forum. Never off topic here.

 

Thanks Blair! Both the brushes I did yesterday turned out awesome. Today my wife reminded me to order more aluminum and promissed one of her friends I would have a light blue dye soon. Apparently I am making a few makeup brushes.

I didn't put it together that women might like fancy makeup brushes as much as we like fancy shaving brushes.

Anyway, the last time my wife got really excited about the stuff I was making, she let my buy my lathe.

What do I buy this time, Blair? What do I buy this time?

 

I use an edgepro apex for knife sharpening. The inventor of this device published the chart below addressing different grit scales for Chosera (Naniwa mfg) and Shapton stones vs Edgepro OEM (2k-6k are diamond films). For that setup (and other rod guide systems) Shaptons were reportedly the top performers (also the most costly).



I have read articles explaining why this occurs and seen other similar conversion charts.

I am not versed well enough in the technicals to give an explanation of why, but I've read quite a few in blade forums discussing sharpening.

Your senses and 'feel' may not be deceptive at all.

 

@jgreenepa

WARNING.... Giant sucking sounds have been detected in South Eastern PA.

 

The last use of the Wacker Barbers Bride indicated it was time for me to work on the edge.

Made by a small family business in Solingen that had reportedly been commissioned to make razors for European Royalty, now in the 4th generation.

I elected to receive this piece 'shave ready' by the hands that made it. A good solid shaver right out of the box it was, not the best, but good. Originally maintained with an occasional use of pasted balsa strops loaded with Dovo green, red, and black pastes. Probably had about 40-50 uses when I thought it could use more work. I had it on my Naniwa 12k, then balked due to a warp I was not prepared to tackle. It was this that ultimately lead me to the antiquated European craftsman's practice of deliberately convexing a razor hone to address razors lacking perfect geometry. FWIW, the US advocate for this convexing practice has said he'd never seen a Japanese razor that is anything other than dead flat.

Numerous methods are commonly used by honing aficionados to work around this condition, the greatest is sometimes termed 'honing gymnastics'. I still have not acquired the necessary skills be successful in doing this well.

I chose to send the Barbers Bride to a gentleman whose reputation for great edges finishing on Shapton glass 30k.
It came back okay, but the good shaves didn't last long, and the tool was getting bench time while I played with other stuff.

The opportunity to work more with my new jasper stone was here. X strokes, rolling X strokes, hand held, bench style, different slurries, soap, water...... nothing seemed to get me where I wanted to be, mostly due to a lack of flatness.

Worth pointing out, that without a method to evaluate your work, most of this honing stuff is frustrating. People use arm hair topping, hanging hair tests, and many others for feedback. For me, the thumbpad test proved to be the most interpretive. I'd done it for years with knives, but originally shuddered at the thought of doing it with razors.

Ultimately it came around to a honing style that has worked well for me. A convexed black ark with a slurry from a coticule bout, then a 6 pasted balsa progression ending with .1 micron cBN. Then bench roo strop.

The shave test confirmed. This razor has never shaved smoother. There are both advocates and naysayers for those things I have made to work for me. I'm always shaving smoothly, but think I could be a little sharper.......... the never ending pursuit.

 

He is a modern artisan. He style is big blades with heavy grinds.

 

thank you Joe..i have the asian plum soap.fabulous stuff but at a loss what to pair it with..