I did try a BIC early on. Too sharp for this boy in that razor. Needed to skip a day after that one. Of the sharp blades, I tried BIC, Feather, Perma Sharp and a Black Mamba in the Timeless. Also tried a few medium sharp blades: Wizamet, and a Personna (German version). Only the Kai worked from that testing - at least for me.
Professor Flanders's Journal of Nerdy Observations and silly camaraderie
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I am with you on that, they have long been my default blade. Many people mistakenly believe that they are much sharper than they really are because the increase in blade exposure is pretty substantial and I suspect they don't have another way to communicate what they are feeling. The Bics require a change in technique to work, but for speed shaving they are unmatched.
I have an unopen Tuck of Kai blades that are up in my rotation, I was hesitant to use them because of the ultra-sharp reputation.
I have around 100 Kai blades but I don't use them much. When I have, I find they do bump up the efficiency of the razor. I don't think of them as extra sharp... just a tad wider. I get smooth and comfortable shaves with them...For me, they are the same sharpness as my other top blades like the Perma-Sharps and Nacets... etc.
As always, there's that B&B mantra: YMMV.
Agreed. The BICs are my go to for a 'super sharp' blade (particularly on shaves 2-4)
I think Aaron is right. It's not that they are so sharp, but that they provide greater exposure (are they also a tad more rigid???). Refined Shave (site is now gone) did a review of these a few years back and the Kai blades tested 'dull'. They were at the bottom of the sharpness test results. The tester was so surprised that he retested using a different blade. Same result. When I put a Kai in my Timeless .95, it almost feels like an AC shave. It's the only DE blade that does that for me.
I know the Kai blades are just a bit wider on the short dimension so it's quite possible they aren't as sharp as the sharper blades but feel like they are because they increase the blade exposure. I'm not a scientist by any stretch so that's just a guess.
I've read this a few places, I did not know they were wider. Good information to know, thanks.
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I have done some trigonometry using the blade angle and the measured width and the amount they add is more than the exposure that most razors have with a standard blade! I still maintain that blade feel is a better measuring stick than published numbers. My Aylsworth has nearly the same blade exposure as my +++ Henson, but it takes a Wide Boi(HT Thom) in the Aylsworth for the blade feel to match. I was about to type up something about my shave with these this morning...
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- #1,090
Better late than never! Also glad I had more time to think about the shave quality as elaborated below.
I had another nice(last) shave with the Timeless two days ago, but the results are really lacking. I know I am taking it easy, I don't like getting bit by this razor. I am not being timid, in fact speed is one of this razors best tricks! I looked at myself in the mirror the next morning and was not pleased, it takes a lot for me to spontaneously notice excess regrowth. It was completely ridiculous, if I still shaved at night I wouldn't be presentable in the morning. I know the 68OC is a beloved razor for many, but I doubt that the 95 adds anything other than risk. I am finally tired of this and putting it away again for awhile.
Yesterday, I still had my Aylsworth lying around with the same Kai I had loaded two weeks ago, lol! I have a hard time letting things go, I know. It was just working so nice and it still did on this fifth shave, but I MUST END THIS(I had to take the blade out otherwise I wouldn't). After my Timeless shave I had another unprompted revelation, I didn't really appreciate how good this combination really is; I could feel it immediately. It wasn't perfect, there are still areas that I can't buff completely clean even with the Wide Boi that my Blackbird makes short work of, but the shave duration was excellent. I was easily still presentable 24hrs later, much more so than 12hrs after the Timeless shave. There is something satisfying about trying to master any given razor, but there is something even more enjoyable about returning to a known razor that works after spending time in the wilderness(that's a bit of hyperbole, not literal).
This morning was another step up in the efficiency department, not my Blackbird actually! I spontaneously decided to return to my favourite AC razor combination: my Colonial General and a Feather Pro Super. Man are these things smooth and sharp, exactly the opposite of what I like in a DE. They have a unique quality about them that is different than the regular Pro blade and I am not the only one who has reported this, I have read some saying that the Pro is actually the sharper one. Once again, additional blade exposure can be mistaken for increased sharpness if one isn't accustomed to it. I tried one of the Pros a couple weeks ago and immediately returned the cartridge to my Feather DX barber razor that they work so well in. The Supers are not only wider, but thicker too and that has to increase the bevel angle any way you try to figure it out. There is a SEM image of the apex of one of these blades online that I can't link to, but they are incredibly well finished for something at such a small scale. The more I return to my General, the more I feel the Le Faulx calling to me. I really can't spend the money right now, but strangely keeping it at the front of my mind keeps me from making smaller frivolous purchases. I am also not sure if the + is actually the one for me or not if I am going to be using a Super blade with it. I have thought that I would start with the + and a Kai Mild blade which should be an ideal combination that just isn't quite enough in my General. I also plan to order a custom Maurice hollow handle with it so that it will be made compatible, but man that final bill....
Also, I am grateful to have Eric back today! I was so relieved when I saw his first post pop up, it's been like having a key feature of the website down for maintenance. I am glad that he is happy to be back in Nashville and the move is mostly over with. I am sorry that I keep failing to return to the coffee thread, I keep trying but all these journals!
The wilderness ... I love it!
Darn you for mentioning the La Faulx. It's been haunting me as well. The good news (as you wrote) is that keeping focus on this reduces the urge to make smaller, frivolous purchases. I'm with ya ... focus on the big picture.
... Thom
Aaron, thanks for your kind words. I appreciate it very much. Just some minor unpacking to do, but everything is falling right into place. I'm grateful for this and for all of you.
I've been AWOL from the coffee threads for a while myself. I used to post in the morning, but now my mornings are loaded with meditation, prayers, and journaling, which left no time to post in the coffee thread.
You are both missed there.
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- #1,095
So I am having one of those weekends where I have a few different things bouncing around in my head...
The first one is that I am just generally thinking about AC safety razors more because I am preparing to fork out a car payment for a La Faulx. I have a plan in place to make this happen, but it's going to be July before I can comfortable proceed. In the meantime, I am paying close attention to my AC razor shaves. I am constantly amazed at how perfect the Feather Pro Super blade is for me and I am trying to figure out which plates I am going to buy when I do. I went and looked it up again, since it has been awhile, and the additional blade exposure is 0.2mm! That's a lot, even with my neutral exposure General; it's also exactly the kind of thing that I like. The thing is, I don't want to replicate what I already have with the General so I am planning to go two directions: one that still allows me to use these blades and one that allows me to get back to using the Kai Mild blades. If I could replicate the blade exposure that the Super gives me with a standard blade, that would be ideal. So I am planning to go with the + plate and the +++ plate, skipping the middle one. The + will give me a little bit more than the General, but I think the safety bar design will offset that to some extent. I am hoping that the 0.15mm exposure will be enough with a standard blade, it probably will unless the safety bar mutes it too much. I have no use for an in between one and the price per plate is not cheap. I am not buying this unless I get everything that I want which means basic polished finish, a custom handle, stand and the two plates. Like I said, it's literally a car payment for me and will be about double what I paid for my Ti Bird.
One of the tricks I employ with the AC razor that makes full use of it's extra width is a type of scything stroke: I start a Gillette slide down my cheeks to about half way and then transition to a diagonal stroke from ear to chin and then twist the handle to create a stroke that goes from my neck to my chin. This is WTG for that part of my face. I can do that on each side and then I am left with the goatee area which must be attacked from top down to reduce it gradually. If I am in a hurry, I can complete this three part shave, along with a full lathering, within 15 minutes no problem. If I need a closer shave, I can do another pass that basically does everything in reverse, but it definitely adds time because I have to be more careful. I sometimes don't like the extra blade width, but by developing a specific technique for this platform I can make it work well.
The last thing that I am playing with is kind of a two parter: the first one will horrify a few and the other will be familiar as there have been discussions around this earlier this year. So I decided to see what would happen if I put my pre-shave into the bowl and then integrated it while adding water to my lather. I have long had a suspicion that this is enough to get some benefit out of it short of doing a really thorough pre-shave procedure. I am wetting my face first and am trying to keep it wet while I build my lather. I really have my doubts that applying the pre-shave while wetting my face is doing anything more than getting it spread out so it protects my face, but probably doesn't do much to soften my beard. The thing is that I shave every day and I don't have much stubble to hydrate, I am more concerned about protecting my face. This leads to the second thing, which I hinted at, which is the return of the lather bowl. Not a full return though, just as a half measure to jump start my lather before moving it to my face. The logic behind this is that I have some soaps that I find difficult to get started until there is enough water in the lather and the other soaps will require less time adding water on the face. Part of the rational of this is that I have to be careful how much water I add when face lathering so I don't make a mess, but some of these soaps need a larger amount of water to even begin to produce usable lather. So I am saving some time and I am getting some of the benefit of face lathering without having the stiff brush phase to push through. This also resists over hydrating a synthetic because the brush is facing down, but it will still run some water down the handle once moved to the face because there is quite a bit of water in it at that point. I need to work on fine tuning that. I am using a more basic bowl that isn't optimised for perfect lather creation so I still do need to use the face lathering part of the procedure. This is a new thing and is an ongoing experiment, I have had the bowl sitting on the counter staring at me for months since the last time I was doing this. I think it's return is long over due.
The first one is that I am just generally thinking about AC safety razors more because I am preparing to fork out a car payment for a La Faulx. I have a plan in place to make this happen, but it's going to be July before I can comfortable proceed. In the meantime, I am paying close attention to my AC razor shaves. I am constantly amazed at how perfect the Feather Pro Super blade is for me and I am trying to figure out which plates I am going to buy when I do. I went and looked it up again, since it has been awhile, and the additional blade exposure is 0.2mm! That's a lot, even with my neutral exposure General; it's also exactly the kind of thing that I like. The thing is, I don't want to replicate what I already have with the General so I am planning to go two directions: one that still allows me to use these blades and one that allows me to get back to using the Kai Mild blades. If I could replicate the blade exposure that the Super gives me with a standard blade, that would be ideal. So I am planning to go with the + plate and the +++ plate, skipping the middle one. The + will give me a little bit more than the General, but I think the safety bar design will offset that to some extent. I am hoping that the 0.15mm exposure will be enough with a standard blade, it probably will unless the safety bar mutes it too much. I have no use for an in between one and the price per plate is not cheap. I am not buying this unless I get everything that I want which means basic polished finish, a custom handle, stand and the two plates. Like I said, it's literally a car payment for me and will be about double what I paid for my Ti Bird.
One of the tricks I employ with the AC razor that makes full use of it's extra width is a type of scything stroke: I start a Gillette slide down my cheeks to about half way and then transition to a diagonal stroke from ear to chin and then twist the handle to create a stroke that goes from my neck to my chin. This is WTG for that part of my face. I can do that on each side and then I am left with the goatee area which must be attacked from top down to reduce it gradually. If I am in a hurry, I can complete this three part shave, along with a full lathering, within 15 minutes no problem. If I need a closer shave, I can do another pass that basically does everything in reverse, but it definitely adds time because I have to be more careful. I sometimes don't like the extra blade width, but by developing a specific technique for this platform I can make it work well.
The last thing that I am playing with is kind of a two parter: the first one will horrify a few and the other will be familiar as there have been discussions around this earlier this year. So I decided to see what would happen if I put my pre-shave into the bowl and then integrated it while adding water to my lather. I have long had a suspicion that this is enough to get some benefit out of it short of doing a really thorough pre-shave procedure. I am wetting my face first and am trying to keep it wet while I build my lather. I really have my doubts that applying the pre-shave while wetting my face is doing anything more than getting it spread out so it protects my face, but probably doesn't do much to soften my beard. The thing is that I shave every day and I don't have much stubble to hydrate, I am more concerned about protecting my face. This leads to the second thing, which I hinted at, which is the return of the lather bowl. Not a full return though, just as a half measure to jump start my lather before moving it to my face. The logic behind this is that I have some soaps that I find difficult to get started until there is enough water in the lather and the other soaps will require less time adding water on the face. Part of the rational of this is that I have to be careful how much water I add when face lathering so I don't make a mess, but some of these soaps need a larger amount of water to even begin to produce usable lather. So I am saving some time and I am getting some of the benefit of face lathering without having the stiff brush phase to push through. This also resists over hydrating a synthetic because the brush is facing down, but it will still run some water down the handle once moved to the face because there is quite a bit of water in it at that point. I need to work on fine tuning that. I am using a more basic bowl that isn't optimised for perfect lather creation so I still do need to use the face lathering part of the procedure. This is a new thing and is an ongoing experiment, I have had the bowl sitting on the counter staring at me for months since the last time I was doing this. I think it's return is long over due.
This is nice timing I‘ve just started doing much the same and I’m interested in your results. For the last few weeks I’ve been using a Timeless bowl after pretty much exclusively face lathering for months. I prefer to get it as wet as possible without breaking down or becoming too messy. With creams and MDC face lathering worked well, but with Stirling and especially Noble Otter soaps I was really flirting with redness and irritation. I would apply pre-shave (I use Giovanni Tea Tree brushless cream as a pre-shave) and let it sit while I partially worked the lather in the bowl then finish by face lathering on top of the pre-shave. Like you, Im not sure it was really doing very much. This morning I added the Giovanni to the bowl before building my lather with MDC as I normally would. The result was a surprise to me. I have played with the idea of “super lather“ before using various creams, but this was different. I was able to add an unbelievable amount of water while retaining stability and slickness. Like seriously super slick and creamy. I don’t know what products you’re working with for this experiment, but I can say my version was a success beyond my expectations. I can’t wait to see how this performs with Noble Otter.
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- #1,097
That’s great to hear that you found something that works for you! I mostly use Grooming Dept pre-shave, I have others and have experimented with creating a super lather in the past. This pre-shave combined with SV has been one of my bigger successes, pretty similar to yours with MdC.
I haven't used my Grooming Department or Baume.be pre-shaves for a while. I'm not sure why... It could be because I have the Cube 2.0 and the Stirling Pre-shave melted into two Captain's Choice soap lockers and I've been applying them with a brush.
That said, I like both the GD and the Baume.be pre-shaves. They are excellent products.... a bit more expensive and not as easy to find.
This pre-shave concept dovetails with something I've been mulling over recently - never having used any pre-shave products.
My question centers around the concept of lubricating your beard vs. conditioning (softening) it so it cuts more easily.
I'd expect a lube to further coat your beard, preventing water from penetrating and softening it. This would seem to place greater emphasis on an extended face soak before coating your beard with oil. Wouldn't it?
My current routine begins with a face wash using soap that's pretty good at stripping oils, followed by multiple hot water splashes.
Yesterday, I received my 3rd STF brush - this one from Rudy Vey. I had hardly any stubble from the previous day's close shave, but I wanted to try a test lather - mainly to refresh my memory of how these knots break in. Yes, it's a bit stiffer than my broken in STF knots.
Anyhoo, I lathered up with some Cella Red - a soap I've been ignoring recently in favor of my Haslingers Shafmilch.
After rinsing off and drying my face, my skin felt fairly dry. I thought this odd, because the Cella feels pretty slippery during shaving, although not as slick as my Shafmilch.
I'm not sure where to take this, apart from trying some pre-shaves after a face wash/oil removal, but I'm curious about others' thoughts, experiences and processes.
... Thom
My question centers around the concept of lubricating your beard vs. conditioning (softening) it so it cuts more easily.
I'd expect a lube to further coat your beard, preventing water from penetrating and softening it. This would seem to place greater emphasis on an extended face soak before coating your beard with oil. Wouldn't it?
My current routine begins with a face wash using soap that's pretty good at stripping oils, followed by multiple hot water splashes.
Yesterday, I received my 3rd STF brush - this one from Rudy Vey. I had hardly any stubble from the previous day's close shave, but I wanted to try a test lather - mainly to refresh my memory of how these knots break in. Yes, it's a bit stiffer than my broken in STF knots.
Anyhoo, I lathered up with some Cella Red - a soap I've been ignoring recently in favor of my Haslingers Shafmilch.
After rinsing off and drying my face, my skin felt fairly dry. I thought this odd, because the Cella feels pretty slippery during shaving, although not as slick as my Shafmilch.
I'm not sure where to take this, apart from trying some pre-shaves after a face wash/oil removal, but I'm curious about others' thoughts, experiences and processes.
... Thom
It seems to me that there are 2 reasons for using a preshave: softening, and lubrication.
For the first, if you don’t shower before shaving, a preshave to soften your whiskers is probably a good idea. If you do shower, or spend a couple of minutes washing your face or applying a wet washcloth, it’s probably not necessary.
As for the second reason, I would think that if you need a lubricant (preshave) between your skin and your lubricant (lather), then there’s probably something wrong with the latter lubricant.
