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- #21
Indeed it is! Thanks for providing me the opportunity to use a 3 incher!
rockviper's journal of shaving, gardening and chess adventures
- Thread starter rockviper
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #23
Shave#8
Azuma kami
Robert Jones 9x3 strop, pasted with Dovo Black
Star "Big Daddy" strop
Col.Conk Amber
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Since the "Big Daddy" has passed its test run, I popped some of my Dovo Black paste (Thanks Jarrod!) on my Robert Jones 9x3 piece of leather last night. I have another piece from Mr.Jones on the way to make a Red'n'Black paddle strop with. Applying paste is always fun, but I think I got the right amount as the 9x3 looks a nice, almost even, grey now. Stropped about 20 times on it, which might be a little much, but what the heck; it's the first time the Azuma is getting a touch-up.
A quick wipe down followed by around 30 laps on the Big Daddy felt and another 50 or so on the leather side and we should be good to go... I think.
Standard prep this morning: shower and then rub my Conk Amber stick over my scruff. Lathering with the Omega Mighty Midget is a breeze. I've had the Wee Scot before and this blows it away at less than half of the price. Easier to hold as well and seems to hold as much lather as 20mm brush.... 3 passes are NOT a problem for this little guy.
My first pass was WTG/XTG combo and... Hey! What's going on? This isn't tugging on the parts of my face that it normally does. Hmmm..... on to pass-2. Decided to do a "proper" XTG pass. Ear->Nose on my left side and Nose->Ear on my right. Gee, This is working out nice!
Dare I try an ATG pass? What the heck, it's Sunday and I'll have a day to get stitches and heal up. Pass-3 was a little tuggy, but I think that's attributable to user-error and the result was pretty gosh-darn good.
Not quite as smooth as a 3-pass DE shave, but about 90% there, which is a MAJOR step up from previous shaves!
Azuma kami
Robert Jones 9x3 strop, pasted with Dovo Black
Star "Big Daddy" strop
Col.Conk Amber
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Since the "Big Daddy" has passed its test run, I popped some of my Dovo Black paste (Thanks Jarrod!) on my Robert Jones 9x3 piece of leather last night. I have another piece from Mr.Jones on the way to make a Red'n'Black paddle strop with. Applying paste is always fun, but I think I got the right amount as the 9x3 looks a nice, almost even, grey now. Stropped about 20 times on it, which might be a little much, but what the heck; it's the first time the Azuma is getting a touch-up.
A quick wipe down followed by around 30 laps on the Big Daddy felt and another 50 or so on the leather side and we should be good to go... I think.
Standard prep this morning: shower and then rub my Conk Amber stick over my scruff. Lathering with the Omega Mighty Midget is a breeze. I've had the Wee Scot before and this blows it away at less than half of the price. Easier to hold as well and seems to hold as much lather as 20mm brush.... 3 passes are NOT a problem for this little guy.
My first pass was WTG/XTG combo and... Hey! What's going on? This isn't tugging on the parts of my face that it normally does. Hmmm..... on to pass-2. Decided to do a "proper" XTG pass. Ear->Nose on my left side and Nose->Ear on my right. Gee, This is working out nice!
Dare I try an ATG pass? What the heck, it's Sunday and I'll have a day to get stitches and heal up. Pass-3 was a little tuggy, but I think that's attributable to user-error and the result was pretty gosh-darn good.
Not quite as smooth as a 3-pass DE shave, but about 90% there, which is a MAJOR step up from previous shaves!
- Thread starter
- #24
Shave#9
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Did a small post-shave touch-up with 5-6 laps on the Dovo Black, followed by stropping on felt and leather. A HHT test with a hair "borrowed" from SWMBO's brush shows that the edge is sharper than a few days ago. Who would have though that a small black crayon would make such a difference?
Since the Col.Conk Amber finished yesterday, I am moving on to a new VDH puck. While I have a bunch of soaps and creams that I really like, I'll work though the VDH just to remove it from my stockpile.
2 simple and easy WTG/XTG combo passes and I'm done. Not as close as yesterday's shave, but it was before 6am and before coffee so I'm not going to complain. I actually finished in about as long as it takes to do my 3-pass DE shave, so things are looking up!
Happy Monday, folks!
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Did a small post-shave touch-up with 5-6 laps on the Dovo Black, followed by stropping on felt and leather. A HHT test with a hair "borrowed" from SWMBO's brush shows that the edge is sharper than a few days ago. Who would have though that a small black crayon would make such a difference?
Since the Col.Conk Amber finished yesterday, I am moving on to a new VDH puck. While I have a bunch of soaps and creams that I really like, I'll work though the VDH just to remove it from my stockpile.
2 simple and easy WTG/XTG combo passes and I'm done. Not as close as yesterday's shave, but it was before 6am and before coffee so I'm not going to complain. I actually finished in about as long as it takes to do my 3-pass DE shave, so things are looking up!
Happy Monday, folks!
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- Thread starter
- #25
Shave#10
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
An excellent shave this morning! You know, I think this is THE first time I can say that about a straight shave, not counting when I went to a barber back in the '80s in downtown Toronto.
Nice easy 1st WTG pass, followed by a slightly awkward XTG pass on the cheeks and a very nice ATG on the neck. In and out of the bathroom this morning in only 1-2 minutes longer than my DE routine and the shave is a DFS in my book. Whee!
Over the past few days, I played with my stroke and now use a quick series of very short strokes which is almost akin to buffing. Seems to be working out very nice for me!
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
An excellent shave this morning! You know, I think this is THE first time I can say that about a straight shave, not counting when I went to a barber back in the '80s in downtown Toronto.
Nice easy 1st WTG pass, followed by a slightly awkward XTG pass on the cheeks and a very nice ATG on the neck. In and out of the bathroom this morning in only 1-2 minutes longer than my DE routine and the shave is a DFS in my book. Whee!
Over the past few days, I played with my stroke and now use a quick series of very short strokes which is almost akin to buffing. Seems to be working out very nice for me!
- Thread starter
- #26
Shave#11
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Nothing too exciting or breakthrough to report this shave. Nice 2-pass shave : 1st was WTG, 2nd was XTG on the cheeks and ATG on the neck. One or two weepers and a small ear nick about the size of a pinhead, but nothing the alum block couldn't deal with, so I'm happy once again this morning.
Post-shave stropping is 5 laps on Dovo black pasted leather, 25 on felt and 50 on the Dig Daddy, All ready for tomorrow morning!
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Nothing too exciting or breakthrough to report this shave. Nice 2-pass shave : 1st was WTG, 2nd was XTG on the cheeks and ATG on the neck. One or two weepers and a small ear nick about the size of a pinhead, but nothing the alum block couldn't deal with, so I'm happy once again this morning.
Post-shave stropping is 5 laps on Dovo black pasted leather, 25 on felt and 50 on the Dig Daddy, All ready for tomorrow morning!
- Thread starter
- #27
Well, I know the razor is sharp enough! Noticed one or two new very small slices from having the razor touch my skin before starting my stroke. Nothing concerning at all, but my alum didn't even tingle this morning.
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awesome sam. glad you are getting some good shaves and enjoying it.
you are a braver man then me
- Thread starter
- #29
Thanks, Bruce. I struggled for about 4 months on my first go round with straights. I think my problem then was expecting a DFS right out of the gate, even though I "knew" it could take a few months. This time around, my strategy was to emulate SWMBO and "settle for less" as she did with me 15 years ago. 
Seems to be working out quite nicely on both accounts
Shave#12
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
SOC
Reverted to my 2 WTG/XTG combo passes this morning, paying more attention to how the blade makes initial contact with my skin. Nice shave, but I can still see a tiny bit of stubble running just below my jawline. More than acceptable for sure.
My coti and barbers hone have arrived (thanks Wid!) and both look simply stunning and are perfectly flat to boot.
Laissez les bon temps roulez!
Seems to be working out quite nicely on both accounts Shave#12
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
SOC
Reverted to my 2 WTG/XTG combo passes this morning, paying more attention to how the blade makes initial contact with my skin. Nice shave, but I can still see a tiny bit of stubble running just below my jawline. More than acceptable for sure.
My coti and barbers hone have arrived (thanks Wid!) and both look simply stunning and are perfectly flat to boot.
Laissez les bon temps roulez!
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Lol i know where im stopping on the way home if i ever find a vintage guy in the wild,... glad things are going well Sam
- Thread starter
- #31
I'm just gathering stuff for you to try out, James
- Thread starter
- #32
Shave#13
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Used my slim yesterday (2 x 3-hour meetings with vendors, such fun *sigh*), but returned to the kami today.
The little Omega continues to amaze me. I had thought my Berkeley was a great travel brush, but this one works much better in that capacity as it dries faster and still manages to hold 3+ passes of lather. I really thought it would be a 2-passer when I first received it.
2 WTG passes, which really is a WTG/XTG/ATG combo on the neck going N-S, followed by an Ear-Nose pass on both cheeks. Normally my XTG is left to right for both cheeks, but I decided to follow my DE pattern this morning. A little awkward on the right cheek, but no issues and muscle memory will eventually kick in.
No nicks, but still the sporadic tiny weeper on one or two spots on my neck, which is not uncommon for me even when using my slim, so I'm happy. I have noticed an improvement in the quality of my shaves over the past 3 weeks. Even though some older "cat scratches" are still visible, I have nothing to complain about..... other than the price of gas.
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Used my slim yesterday (2 x 3-hour meetings with vendors, such fun *sigh*), but returned to the kami today.
The little Omega continues to amaze me. I had thought my Berkeley was a great travel brush, but this one works much better in that capacity as it dries faster and still manages to hold 3+ passes of lather. I really thought it would be a 2-passer when I first received it.
2 WTG passes, which really is a WTG/XTG/ATG combo on the neck going N-S, followed by an Ear-Nose pass on both cheeks. Normally my XTG is left to right for both cheeks, but I decided to follow my DE pattern this morning. A little awkward on the right cheek, but no issues and muscle memory will eventually kick in.
No nicks, but still the sporadic tiny weeper on one or two spots on my neck, which is not uncommon for me even when using my slim, so I'm happy. I have noticed an improvement in the quality of my shaves over the past 3 weeks. Even though some older "cat scratches" are still visible, I have nothing to complain about..... other than the price of gas.
- Thread starter
- #33
Shave#14
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
You know, I really should get around to honing the Dovo/Col.Conk I picked up from the BST as well as continue working on taking the shoulder out of the super-expensive eBay Gold Dollar 66. Folks might think that I have only one straight
I thought about using the slim this morning, as I'm operating on about 3-4 hours sleep due to having to work this weekend (shutdown and startup data centre for building power maintenance .... generator hasn't worked properly for years, go figure), but I stuck with the kami.
WTG pass as the first go-round, followed by an XTG (ear->nose) cheek pass with ATG on the neck. I'm still struggling with the right way to go XTG on my right cheek as well as ATG on the right side of my neck. I use only my right hand (left for stretching) and this seems to be the areas I need to focus more on, but who can focus at 5:30am??
I really do need to mute the kami's tip as I still nick some small touches with it in the strangest areas.
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
You know, I really should get around to honing the Dovo/Col.Conk I picked up from the BST as well as continue working on taking the shoulder out of the super-expensive eBay Gold Dollar 66. Folks might think that I have only one straight
I thought about using the slim this morning, as I'm operating on about 3-4 hours sleep due to having to work this weekend (shutdown and startup data centre for building power maintenance .... generator hasn't worked properly for years, go figure), but I stuck with the kami.
WTG pass as the first go-round, followed by an XTG (ear->nose) cheek pass with ATG on the neck. I'm still struggling with the right way to go XTG on my right cheek as well as ATG on the right side of my neck. I use only my right hand (left for stretching) and this seems to be the areas I need to focus more on, but who can focus at 5:30am??
I really do need to mute the kami's tip as I still nick some small touches with it in the strangest areas.
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- Thread starter
- #34
Shave#15
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Pretty standard results with what I've been doing so far, so I can't complain. Did manage to put a very small vertical line just below the jawline when I touched the blade on a XTG pass for the right side and also caught in a previous "scratch" on the same side lower on my neck. Alum and the pencil took care of it quite nicely.
Thinking that soon I wil either have to go to the Dovo red paste (2-4u) or touch up on the coti, as a little tugging once again on the 1st WTG pass, but not on the 2nd one.
Cheers folks!
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Pretty standard results with what I've been doing so far, so I can't complain. Did manage to put a very small vertical line just below the jawline when I touched the blade on a XTG pass for the right side and also caught in a previous "scratch" on the same side lower on my neck. Alum and the pencil took care of it quite nicely.
Thinking that soon I wil either have to go to the Dovo red paste (2-4u) or touch up on the coti, as a little tugging once again on the 1st WTG pass, but not on the 2nd one.
Cheers folks!
- Thread starter
- #35
Shave#16
Col.Conk/Dovo 6/8
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
A different razor today! Yaaaayyyyy
Acquired the Conk/Dovo last month from the BST and decided to work on it a little last night. Only spent around 15 mins with it on the DMT8EE and coti and the edge wasn't quite there but decided to give it a go this morning anyway. As expected, it didn't work out and I switched back to the kami after 3 strokes on one cheek. Think I'll try to find some time in the next few days to work on it with the coti from a bevel-set on up.
Back to a simple 2-pass WTG/XTG combo shave with the kamisori. Nice and easy, not even a weeper this time *knock on wood* and a CCS, almost DFS result.
Time to make breakfast and lunch for SWMBO and I.
Col.Conk/Dovo 6/8
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
A different razor today! Yaaaayyyyy
Acquired the Conk/Dovo last month from the BST and decided to work on it a little last night. Only spent around 15 mins with it on the DMT8EE and coti and the edge wasn't quite there but decided to give it a go this morning anyway. As expected, it didn't work out and I switched back to the kami after 3 strokes on one cheek. Think I'll try to find some time in the next few days to work on it with the coti from a bevel-set on up.
Back to a simple 2-pass WTG/XTG combo shave with the kamisori. Nice and easy, not even a weeper this time *knock on wood* and a CCS, almost DFS result.
Time to make breakfast and lunch for SWMBO and I.
now you are just showing off 
Back to back, 2 pass shaves, this last one not even a weeper!
congrats Sam....looks like it's all coming together for you...now we need to see pics of that Moustache you are growing
Back to back, 2 pass shaves, this last one not even a weeper!
congrats Sam....looks like it's all coming together for you...now we need to see pics of that Moustache you are growing
- Thread starter
- #37
Bruce, Settling for less than a DFS while I'm learning seems have have done wonders in terms of managing weepers and nicks. Sure, I'm a little scruffy by end of the workday, but until then, the elevator at work (mirrors on all walls) seems to say the job is more than good enough.
Poor guy, wanting a pic of my ugly mug, deviated septum and all.
So here's 15 day's growth..... Oh my, I guess I need to trim my ears again.
On the way into work this morning, SWMBO says to me, "That's a lot of grey. I married an old man."
Poor guy, wanting a pic of my ugly mug, deviated septum and all.
So here's 15 day's growth..... Oh my, I guess I need to trim my ears again.
On the way into work this morning, SWMBO says to me, "That's a lot of grey. I married an old man."
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Looking good Sam!
can't wait to see if you get it long enough to start the handlebars like Tim
can't wait to see if you get it long enough to start the handlebars like Tim
- Thread starter
- #39
Shave#17
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
VERY tired this morning and thought about using the slim, but hey, it's Friday and I'll have the weekend to heal up if I have an accident in my sleepy stupor. 2 very nice WTG/XTG combo passes, followed by and ATG on the neck. Looking good and feeling great (now that I've woken up)!
This pretty much confirms that the tugging from my earlier shaves is attributable to poor technique, because there's no way my stropping improved upon the wickedly sharp edge Gamma put on this for me.
I'll be heading out to Buffalo on Sunday. Anyone know if there's a place that sells Naniwa's down there? I know there's a Woodcraft in Rochester, but that's about 2-3 hrs roundtrip from Buffalo and we don't have that time.
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
VERY tired this morning and thought about using the slim, but hey, it's Friday and I'll have the weekend to heal up if I have an accident in my sleepy stupor. 2 very nice WTG/XTG combo passes, followed by and ATG on the neck. Looking good and feeling great (now that I've woken up)!
This pretty much confirms that the tugging from my earlier shaves is attributable to poor technique, because there's no way my stropping improved upon the wickedly sharp edge Gamma put on this for me.
I'll be heading out to Buffalo on Sunday. Anyone know if there's a place that sells Naniwa's down there? I know there's a Woodcraft in Rochester, but that's about 2-3 hrs roundtrip from Buffalo and we don't have that time.
- Thread starter
- #40
Shave#18
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Nice easy 2-pass using my normal WTG/XTG combo-pass and since it's Saturday morning, decided to go ATG on the neck. I use only my right hand and find the XTG/ATG work on the right side of my face a little awkward and as you can see in the pic, there's a nice nick and a few other cat scratches which seem to be telling me to re-learn to use my left hand as well The pic is about 6 hours after my shave this morning.
I figured brucered would get a kick out of this as he's jinxed me in comments earlier on about no weepers
Azuma kami
VDH deluxe
Omega mixed Mighty Midget
Nice easy 2-pass using my normal WTG/XTG combo-pass and since it's Saturday morning, decided to go ATG on the neck. I use only my right hand and find the XTG/ATG work on the right side of my face a little awkward and as you can see in the pic, there's a nice nick and a few other cat scratches which seem to be telling me to re-learn to use my left hand as well
The pic is about 6 hours after my shave this morning.I figured brucered would get a kick out of this as he's jinxed me in comments earlier on about no weepers
