What Straight Razor Did You Use Today?

Gorgeous scales on that Swedish steel, Tom!

 

Thank you Jeff. Looks to be a single piece of material, but it works.

 

Thanks guys

 

Thanks Tom, I own a few Genco razors, and they are all top notch. They are well built, and excellent performing blades. One of the best manufactured razors in America, in my opinion.

 

Sunday shave, 555,, Respect Solingen. 11/16” razor that performs very well. Scales made out of plastic “Turtle”
Splash Floris Turnbull and Asser.



Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk

 

I have a great Genco 35, and agree, Scott. Glen attributes it to the fine grained NY/PA steel used in the blade manufacture. Other brands using the same steel are Case, Thistle, and Cattaraugus. I don’t own any Case or Cattaraugus, but can personally vouch for the Thistle Cut razors. I own two.

 

I have all but the Thistle, and can vouch for the Case and Cattaraugus being top notch.

 

Cape 1000 Swedish Steel in Lava Kirinite by Alfredo Gil - soap was Acca Kappa 1869 pre-reformulation and the AS was Myrsol Blue.

 

My Son's Work in Progress

This morning I shaved with my son, Ben’s, first forged Damascus 6/8 razor. He made the billet from welded layers of 1084 high carbon and 15N20 nickel steel. He then folded it and refolded it. He calls the pattern “swirling seas”. I call it a good first effort! The scales are made from Bhilwara Heartwood. It contains a wooden wedge, and thus is only pinned at the pivot point. I set the bevel on a Chosera 1k and then took it through 12k and finished on the 9 Ball Slate with a touch of Smith’s Honing Oil. Then through the pasted 4 sided Constroption with a finish on my newly acquired Roo-skin bench strop. The shave was buttery smooth, but it's longevity is what's in question.

According to, Ben, who's his own worst critic, the problem with most open-edged pattern welded damascus, and with this particular razor, has to do with forge welds screwing up the edge. He hasn't licked the problem like Vic Creazzi has. Vic's razors have a separate piece of forge-welded monosteel (1095) in Vic's case, that serves as an uncontaminated edge. Of course, there's always the easy way out, buying Damasteel billets and just doing stock removal, but actually forging pattern-welded Damascus using a SanMai technique like Vic and like Ben attempted with the razor I shaved with this morning, and having a pure monosteel edge is not a trivial forging technique. Vic with his 30+ yrs of forging experience is, of course, a master, but many others presenting pattern-welded Damascus blades have the edge contamination issue, something that generally isn't shared with customers. The fact that it doesn't hold a consistent edge along the blade is just shrugged off. Now melted or crucible Damascus (i.e. Wootz) steel doesn't suffer from this issue, but it is a real issue for others.

The fact is that Ben was not happy with the razor I shaved with today. If you examine the edge under USB microscope, there are sections with micro-fissures, in this razor's case near the heel fortunately, but there's really not telling until the blade is completed and one attempts to hone it. So although I enjoyed my shave with my son's first pattern-welded Damascus effort, I anticipate edge-holding issues, particularly near the heel where the micro fissures showed up.

 

That’s stunningly beautiful Jeff!

 

Can’t imagine anything cooler than shaving with a son’s creation! What a beautiful blade and awesome opportunity. Congrats to you and Ben.

 

cool razor Jeff..nice work..

 

Thanks, Steve! My son is very unhappy with it, and actually angry with me for posting a picture of it. He’s an engineer, but at 50, you’d think he’d outgrow the need for perfection, which I explained to him is the enemy of the good!

 

Thanks, Gary, but Not to my son!

 

Thanks, Tom! My son is quite unhappy with me. He doesn’t feel it’s even close to being ready! All I know is I got a great shave from it.

 

Jeff, I am a retired engineer, over 50!

Tell hm that I said to send me what he’s unhappy with.

Best,

Steve

 

Joseph Rodgers & Sons
Brush: Semogue Owners Club 2012 SE
Suds & Balm: Jabonman

This had to have had a few regrinds in its day… almost felt like a German hollow grind razor.

Still fun.
Enjoy your shave.
Tom

 

Shave #4 with this Non-JMP Filarmonica 13. Uber Sharp, and smooth. BDBS results. Zero issues.

Razor- Filarmonica 13 Doble Temple "Muleta"
Brush- Custom by @oscar11 , Synthetic Knot. Wonderful brush.
Soap- AOS Kingsman "Bourbon". My favorite AOS Cream.
Aftershave- Shulton Old Spice. Flying Cloud bottle.

 

An excellent result for his first attempt.

 

My weekend shaves; Filly 13 then a smiling Ali's Blade