What Straight Razor Did You Use Today?

Thanks Gary!

 

SK-3

 

That is definitely a unique razor, I like wedges and would love to try one like that someday!

 

If you like wedges, this would be a cool experience. These small wedges seem different to me because of the mass.

My brain is connecting with the “let the razor do the work” for the weight of the larger wedges and the noise for the smaller, hollow grinds. These smaller wedges don’t have the weight or the noise, so if I don’t pay attention I add pressure.

Just something I need to think about when I pick these up.

 

Shave 100 with the Filly 14 Sub Cero this morning, the edge is still performing well. No pastes or abrasives, maintenance tools are a Tony Miller linen and a 3-piece Kanoyama. Here are some things that I’ve noted during this ‘experiment’.

- The edge hasn’t degraded much since shave 35-40.
- Soap makes a difference in shave quality with a high-mileage edge.
- The Sub Cero is holding up considerably better than the Cape 1000 and the Filly 14 Doble Temple, both normally tempered razors.
- Good stropping makes a difference. I feel like that I have improved mine even though I’ve been stropping for almost 10 years.

In early March, I visited Alex Gilmore and had the use of the excellent 325x microscope that he uses. When I looked at my stropped edges, it was clear that the heel was not stropped as well as the rest of the edge, maybe out at the toe too. The edge that I was looking at smiled a little and we all know most straight razors aren’t, but a strop is pretty flat side to side. After thinking about what I was seeing, I decided to slow down, watch the razor on the strop, and make sure that all the edge was being stropped equally well. That required a little change in technique, but again, mostly just paying attention rather than swiping away and assuming that all of a smiling edge was equally stropped.

Going forward, I am probably going to add 10 linen and canvas to the 35 suede and 65 leather. Adding the linen seems to help the edge stay stable. That’s about the only thing that I’ll do differently, and I was already adding 20 linen once a week.

Here’s a little background for those that are interested.

I honed the razor on May 24th, 2019 with 1 layer of 1 mil Kapton. The steel is very hard. It’s made ~250-300 passes across my face (2 pass shaves and a touchup), 10,000+ passes across suede and leather, and probably 200+ across canvas/linen.

The Sub Cero was a test that I never really intended to do. I wondered how long an edge would last with only stropping, and the Filly 14 DT and Cape 1000 both averaged 65 shaves, 63 for the Cape and 67 for the Filly, which I pushed a bit longer. I stopped the test for those when the razor began pulling/tugging and the shave was no longer fun, but you could certainly get a decent shave with either of them even with the tugging. When I bought the Sub Cero from Stefan, I started thinking about some forum comments that the Sub Cero and Novodur branding were just marketing gimmicks. I knew from honing the Sub Cero that the steel in this razor was very hard, so I decided to find out if the selling point of ice-hardened steel was just marketing. Apparently it isn’t.

Alfredo got ~130 shaves from a TI (also hard steel), and Iwasaki claimed that a barber got 1000 shaves from a razor using linen and leather, though the ‘linen’ was probably jute, cotton canvas, or hemp and not flax linen. Victor (Bluesman7) is over 100 on one of his. I began using Alfredo’s regimen of 35 suede and 65 leather, then added linen as I felt was beneficial. What I did/am doing is consistent with another maintenance thread on SRP.

And I have no idea how many more shaves that edge has in it! Lol, it has surprised me.

 

Most impressive and thank you for the detailed write up.

 

YW sir!

 

April 29th SOTD
F Herder (Ace of Spades) 7/8 Sq Pt

 

After yesterday’s razor that wouldn’t be my first choice in size/grind, it is only natural that I turn to...
“The Razor that fits your face”
Robeson Shuredge

This is the 15-A-250 model, or the medium beard with skin exposed to the weather...

I love this old brochure! But with the grey whiskers showing up on the chin, maybe I need the 16-C-250 for wiry beards, or maybe even a round point for the “nervous man.”

Pick your razor and enjoy your shave.
Tom

 

Blade Brian Brown 7/8
Brush BSSW
Soap Declaration Grooming Cuir Et Épices
Splash PAA Lather Blaster 3000
Balm PAA Mysterium Serum

Effortless and enjoyable shave from the fresh Nakayama edge on this B. Brown razor. The brush/razor combo has been a game-changer for my shaving experiences.

 

Between-the-wars 6/8 Boker French point in 3-pin butterscotch scales, classic German razors of the period. Some MdC and SMN lavender soap and AS finished up a BDBS shave.

 

I had to push myself a little to choose this razor today as near wedges and wedges generally don’t do it for me. But this near wedge was recently honed by @gssixgun and I was pleasantly surprised by the shave when it came back. Yup, another simply wonderful shave today.

Hot water preparation
Argan Oil PSO
Romera Wengue Chubby Manchurian Badger
Castle Forbes Lavender Shave Cream
Lund 11/16
Castle Forbes Lavender After Shave Balm



Happy shaving - Karl

 

May 1
Böker King Cutter 5/8 RP

 

cool razor Joe..

 

6/8 CVH No 130, AoS lemon tallow is in the UFO bowl, and Myrsol Limon topped off a great shave.

 

Such a beautiful pair Steve!

 

Hoshi Tombo 6000 asymmetrical razor, fresh off the stones last night. The smell of the Cypress Lime is very nice. Great experience.

Enjoy your shave.
Tom

 

cool shave and pic Tom.happy May..

 

Thank you Gary. Here’s to a better month for all.

 

i hope so sir .best to you and yours....and all.