What Straight Razor Did You Use Today?

Frederick Reynolds

 

Dabo solingen
Synthetic
Tacit GD (4)

 

It is no pic Tuesday. Today I used my Mastro Livi Gifretto in olive wood scales.

 

7/8” ERN 1166
The Crown and Sword Razor

Enjoy your shave!
Tom

 

Art Razor Pegasus

 

I like the shape of that Pegasus Brian, reminds me of the old swayback English shorties that I’m very fond of.

Another no pic Tuesday, shave #55 on the Filly 14 DT and still going well. Soap was Martin de Candre fougere lathered with a Rooney 3/2 and finished off with Harris Pink AS followed by a dab of SMN Pre-Dopo Barba which can also be used as an AS balm.

Cheers, Steve

 

Koraat 14 2.0 double bellied hollow

 

Schulze (Tuesday) part of a 7 day set.
Taconic Pre and Aftershave Balm
Simpson's Chubby #2 Best Badger
Poraso Azur Lime Cream

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

6/8 Waterville
Had a fantastic shave with this Vintage Blade .

 

Well today's shave was a bit less than satisfactory. No major issues, just not the excellent results I'd expect. The new brush is hard to put down so that part of the shave is good as gold. The Leviathon, although not my best soap, was certainly more than adequate to get the job done. What confused me is the razor. I purchased this custom made razor and had to do some work on it to get it sharp. It took some time, but this weekend I took out the hones and went through every one of my straights to make sure they were all tree topping hairs like a boss. This one required the stones, but ultimately mowed down hairs with the best of them, so I know it's plenty sharp. It just gives a rough shave, and doesn't give BBS results at all. Never has. I'm a bit confounded. I'm sharpening it and finishing it exactly the same as all my other razors, every one of which shaves without a hitch. I don't get it.

 

If you have a loupe take a look at the edge and see if it is chipping? Has this razor ever given you a smooth shave? It could be the steel, it may not be hardened properly so it looses its edge and chops easily. What stones do you have and what did you finish it on?

 

No chips. This is the only one of my razors that has never given a smooth, close shave. I use Notrton 1K, 4K, 8K, Naniwa 12K, diamond spray on felt, leather strop. Same as all my other razors. This one is the only one that doesn’t respond. This weekend I took it down to bevel set and back up, and it tree topped arm hair, so I assumed it was shave ready now. I hate to blame the gear, because that’s usually a cop out, but I’m starting to wonder.

 

Sometimes it is the gear. Try it without the diamond spray and see if that helps.

 

Hart Steel 7/8 first shave after touch up.

 

Today's shave was with an old English Razor. I mowed down 3 days growth, like a hot knife going through butter. This was an absolute beauty to shave with. It was a rust bucket, about 1 1/2 years ago, so It is one of my "rescue razors". This razor left me BBS, with no effort, and zero issues.
Anyone have any idea the age of this razor. Without shoulders, and being a 1/4 hollow, I figure it to be mid-1800's. I couldn't get my Google Fu on, tonight. So, I'm in the dark, about it.

Razor- M.J.Higgins. "Old English Razor". Sheffield. !/4 Hollow.
Brush- RazoRock 400, WD High Mountain Badger.
Soap- Arko/Sandalwood
Aftershave- Pinaud Clubman

 

Diamond spray might be too agressive, at first, in my thinking. Plus, I'm not a big fan of Diamond spray. Start small, and work up. I would use a Balsa Strop, with CroX on one side, followed by Ferric Oxide on the other. Then a hundred laps on the leather strop. If that doesn't do it, then go back to the 8k, and work your way up. I would hate to think it bad steel.

 

Unmarked old English razor is my guess...

I expected this shave was going to be more about the experience than the quality, but I was pleasantly surprised. Just cool
Enjoy your shave!
Tom

 

Nice save.

 

That sucker is old. Beautiful job, Tom. You really kept the character of its age while bringing it back to a restored and (hopefully) shave ready condition. Curious to know how it shaves...

 

Using this 8/8 Wade & Butcher chopper this morning made me wonder why in the world I don’t use it more often. It is just a boss! Warning - if, in overconfidence, you start slinging it around like a crazed ninja chasing the baby, the weight and size of the razor can make the blade dig deep into the skin on an errant touch down. Other than that minor glitch, an epic shave ensued!