Bear with me guys. This might get long. Scroll down if you're the type that just wants to see pictures.
I've entered this deep dark world of straights. I'm not quite sure how it happened - Oh yes I do. It was an estate sale. Since last summer I've been looking out for straights and scoring a few hits here and there. I'm generally frugal, but my wife is more so. I knew that I had to reach critical mass in a very short while. (Critical mass is defined as that stage at which she doesn't know the difference between a new find and a former find.) Soon I had about 30 or so in varying shapes, sizes, and condition.
Maybe you've been there too. I did what every other thinking gentlemen would do. I sold some of them on B/S/T. That was a mistake!!! Oh, I'm thrilled for the new owners and don't regret the sales. But I suddenly had a couple hundred $$$ in the PayPal account. That's the scary part. New guys, watch out for this trap.
Enter the hones. Wow, that happened fast. One day I was content with wet/dry paper, a norton 4k/8k and a pasted strop, when out of the Belgian Blue I get hit with HAD! In the BST sale I spoke about I thought that I'd sell a particular Boker. It was my first rescale project and I was pretty happy with it. But that razor fought back. It took parts off of my face that God intended to stay there. So rather than sell it I traded it to RodB for a WHIG (Welsh Hone of Indeterminate Grit). Shave the Wales, I say!!
Somehow or other one hone gets lonely and cries out at night. I woke up several times and checked in on it. Sleeping like a rock. But I wasn't...something was wrong in my world that only another stone could fix. I did the reasonable thing, I'm sure. I sent off some funds to the Superior Shave (they have shameless pictures of naked rocks, some of them wet) for a new Coticule.
Thought that was the end of the story didn't you? So did I.
Back to the BST (only to check on my own posting, of course) when I saw a new posting that included the words "thuringian". A year ago I thought that was a sausage. And this one says it's celebrated. A celebrated thuringian? I'm thinking finish line at the 5th inning sausage race at a Milwaukee Brewers game with the crowds shouting, "Thur-ee, Thur-ee, Thur-ee" but then it all comes together. I have to have that stone! Before I could think (remember I now have money in that paypal, I mean, "the investment account" just sitting there collecting no interest), I hit the Private Message link and was off to the races.
Which leads us to today. I know that you guys probably didn't know this, but you can actually track packages. Why work when you can hit refresh every five minutes or so? At 2 pm I heard the sound that only a USPS truck can make. I rushed to the window and threw open the sash. And what to my wondering eyes did appear... Oops sorry, wrong story. Well, I brought it right to the deck in the back of the house and took the pictures you now see. It's a lovely rock I think. It's there with the WHIG on the left and a barber hone on the right for comparison. It's 7x2ish and quite clean.
It's my first Coti so it was a new experience. It gave more feedback than I expected. But I worked through a heavy slurry to a moderate slurry to just water. I checked it under a 10x loop and was pleased. I note, however, that the bevel on one side is smaller than the other side. I think I need to go back to the master for more honing lessons.
The shave was very, very nice. I'm no expert, but I'm beginning to see that close and comfortable is not an oxymoron. In one of the passes, I felt the sensation of the blade but no sharpness. It was almost as if I had a butter knife in my hands. But remembering the Boker I behaved better. My face is not a biscuit.
First impressions are favorable. I have a lot to learn, but I think that I'm off to a good start. 30-40 shaves. 30ish razors. A couple of really fun rocks (and one coming tomorrow, I've checked twice since starting to write this). And a really happy wife. She loves to touch my face, especially now that the parts are staying on it.
The JR Torrey razor is one that I've picked up for restoration. It was already pretty clean, but I did the whole dremel with compound routine that's worked for me. I worked on the scales with Matt, Randy Tuttle, and Rod B (check out a different forum and look for our buckthorn scale project). They are Wenge wood with a salvaged wedge from a donor razor (I'm so glad he signed that consent form). I'm very happy the way it turned out. The balance of the razor with the scales is spot on! Heavy in a dignified sort of way. This one is a keeper, I think. For sure. Probably. Keep your eyes on the BST.
Off to the promised pics:
Padre
I've entered this deep dark world of straights. I'm not quite sure how it happened - Oh yes I do. It was an estate sale. Since last summer I've been looking out for straights and scoring a few hits here and there. I'm generally frugal, but my wife is more so. I knew that I had to reach critical mass in a very short while. (Critical mass is defined as that stage at which she doesn't know the difference between a new find and a former find.) Soon I had about 30 or so in varying shapes, sizes, and condition.
Maybe you've been there too. I did what every other thinking gentlemen would do. I sold some of them on B/S/T. That was a mistake!!! Oh, I'm thrilled for the new owners and don't regret the sales. But I suddenly had a couple hundred $$$ in the PayPal account. That's the scary part. New guys, watch out for this trap.
Enter the hones. Wow, that happened fast. One day I was content with wet/dry paper, a norton 4k/8k and a pasted strop, when out of the Belgian Blue I get hit with HAD! In the BST sale I spoke about I thought that I'd sell a particular Boker. It was my first rescale project and I was pretty happy with it. But that razor fought back. It took parts off of my face that God intended to stay there. So rather than sell it I traded it to RodB for a WHIG (Welsh Hone of Indeterminate Grit). Shave the Wales, I say!!
Somehow or other one hone gets lonely and cries out at night. I woke up several times and checked in on it. Sleeping like a rock. But I wasn't...something was wrong in my world that only another stone could fix. I did the reasonable thing, I'm sure. I sent off some funds to the Superior Shave (they have shameless pictures of naked rocks, some of them wet) for a new Coticule.
Thought that was the end of the story didn't you? So did I.
Back to the BST (only to check on my own posting, of course) when I saw a new posting that included the words "thuringian". A year ago I thought that was a sausage. And this one says it's celebrated. A celebrated thuringian? I'm thinking finish line at the 5th inning sausage race at a Milwaukee Brewers game with the crowds shouting, "Thur-ee, Thur-ee, Thur-ee" but then it all comes together. I have to have that stone! Before I could think (remember I now have money in that paypal, I mean, "the investment account" just sitting there collecting no interest), I hit the Private Message link and was off to the races.
Which leads us to today. I know that you guys probably didn't know this, but you can actually track packages. Why work when you can hit refresh every five minutes or so? At 2 pm I heard the sound that only a USPS truck can make. I rushed to the window and threw open the sash. And what to my wondering eyes did appear... Oops sorry, wrong story. Well, I brought it right to the deck in the back of the house and took the pictures you now see. It's a lovely rock I think. It's there with the WHIG on the left and a barber hone on the right for comparison. It's 7x2ish and quite clean.
It's my first Coti so it was a new experience. It gave more feedback than I expected. But I worked through a heavy slurry to a moderate slurry to just water. I checked it under a 10x loop and was pleased. I note, however, that the bevel on one side is smaller than the other side. I think I need to go back to the master for more honing lessons.
The shave was very, very nice. I'm no expert, but I'm beginning to see that close and comfortable is not an oxymoron. In one of the passes, I felt the sensation of the blade but no sharpness. It was almost as if I had a butter knife in my hands. But remembering the Boker I behaved better. My face is not a biscuit.
First impressions are favorable. I have a lot to learn, but I think that I'm off to a good start. 30-40 shaves. 30ish razors. A couple of really fun rocks (and one coming tomorrow, I've checked twice since starting to write this). And a really happy wife. She loves to touch my face, especially now that the parts are staying on it.
The JR Torrey razor is one that I've picked up for restoration. It was already pretty clean, but I did the whole dremel with compound routine that's worked for me. I worked on the scales with Matt, Randy Tuttle, and Rod B (check out a different forum and look for our buckthorn scale project). They are Wenge wood with a salvaged wedge from a donor razor (I'm so glad he signed that consent form). I'm very happy the way it turned out. The balance of the razor with the scales is spot on! Heavy in a dignified sort of way. This one is a keeper, I think. For sure. Probably. Keep your eyes on the BST.
Off to the promised pics:
Padre
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