Wow Josh, sounds like a roller coaster of a weekend. Nice Monday shave and photo though!
Ya like Dags? My foray into wet shaving and the honorable order of aquisition
- Thread starter Dagwoodz
- Start date
Hey Josh - just checking in as no shaves in the last two days - hopefully your mail call items from the auction have all arrived.
A belated congrats on #50, Josh. 
The Eiko is a fine looking piece of kit and the Blue Tip SS isn't too much of a slouch either.
The Eiko is a fine looking piece of kit and the Blue Tip SS isn't too much of a slouch either.- Thread starter
- #524
Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of updates the past two days. Having connectivity issues out here, so it may be a few days until I can post again. Everything is going ok though, just stupid computer networking stuff. Hope everyone's week is going well!!! I'll catch up when I'm back online!
Catching up - good reads.
- Thread starter
- #526
So this week has been interesting and quite busy, both at work and in other areas of my life. To top everything off, there were connectivity issues on my work computer, so getting online was difficult at best as its generally frowned upon to leave your workstation during the work day outside of necessary tasks. I did have time, however, to get some honing done and get two more razors either improved or refined. The first razor I used for Tuesday-todays shave, while Thursdays shave was done entirely with another of my new acquisitions, the Jectah!
Im not going to be doing a day by day round up, as I dont have the time, nor do I have any pictures uploaded. But suffice to say, the next razor I grabbed was the ERN 204, (pictured below). It was giving good shaves before I brought it to the Jnat for some touch ups with a full progression of naguras, and is shaving phenomenally well now. The edge is smooth and very keen, passing an HHT5 test across the entirety of the blade. I also was able to get the Hartford Cutlery razor doing much better on the HHT test, it also passing a HHT5 test across the blade. The CVH Mk 31 got some more time on the hone as well, because when I compared the bevel to the ERN and HCs, it still had quite a few of the larger grit marks remaining. So using the mejiro and tomo nagura progressions to a water only, I spent a good 45 minutes working those out. It was maybe an HHT2 before, but just like the others, is now popping hairs all over the place.
So out of the 15 razors I have in my possession, Ive been able to get great Jnat edges on the Torrey, HC, CVH Mk 31, and ERN 204. The Eiko came shave ready from Karl, so that wont be brought to a stone for a while. Next up is getting my Dubl Duck, Pumacker Black Diamond, Genco and Dovo on the stone for some refresh work before I start in on the two wedges I have, those being a Wade & Butcher near wedge and a Hellberg Spanish point full wedge. Going to work on cleaning up the two Jernbolagets after that. Ill be sending out the other Mk 31 and my Mk 32 for some new scales and a re-hone by Karl as well. They arent a priority, so it might be a while for those. Im starting to figure out what works, for me, with the Jnat, and its immensely fulfilling to know that I can take a razor from an uncomfortable shaver, or non-shaver to one that gives a great, smooth shave.
There are some fresh acquisitions and arrivals as well no pictures as of yet, but when I do theyll be posted in the C.E.C. room and the Sue Moore Auction Scores room. Heres whats arrived though
Stone Cottage Shaving Soap Fougere
Stone Cottage Shaving Soap Sandalwood
Schick Injector (Sue Moore Auction score!)
Wilkinson Sword Shaving Soap stick (Sue Moore Auction score!)
Williams Shaving soap - (Sue Moore Auction score!)
CBLindsays Bog Nymph edition Veg Soap (Sue Moore Auction score!)
CBLindsays Rosemary pre-shave soap
CBLindsays Jeris pre-shave soap (Sue Moore Auction score!)
CBLindsays Jeris shave soap (Sue Moore Auction score!)
TABACAVEG! (Sue Moore Auction score!)
CBLindsays Lavender for my hommies shave soap (Sue Moore Auction score!)
CBLindsays turkish linen strop (Sue Moore Auction score!)
Thanks to [MENTION=89999]skypsyd[/MENTION] , I now have this inbound:
ERNs Ator
View attachment 700291View attachment 700292
Other inbounds:
Mystic Waters Barbershop
Pinaud Clubman Soap and talcum
Firehose strop
Mid-range stone (Shapton Pro 5k)
Leather strop
Wolf Whiskers brush (24mm Envy White)
Original P.160 (Sue Moore Auction score)
NOS Martin de Candre (Sue Moore Auction score)
A couple of notes from the past few days of shaving The ERN 204 is proving to be a great shaver, easy to handle as well as easy on the eyes. All of the shaves have been relatively uneventful, outside of yesterdays and this mornings shave. Yesterday I didnt really have time for a full straight shave, so I took the Jectah and gave it a run out. I walked away DFS+, but it just didnt feel quite as close, nor as comfortable as my DEs, let alone my straights. This has more to do with my technique than anything else, but my first impressions are that it is extremely easy to use, and the angle is fairly intuitive. Its going to take a bit of time before Im comfortable with it over a DE, if that even happens. This mornings shave was a bit of a mixed bag. I was really enjoying the shave, even though I forgot to throw some music on, and was on my ATG pass using some short buffing strokes when I let the angle get a little steep and felt the blade just dig in on the jawline to start the S-N pass. I ended up with a minor 1cm cut that really didnt start bleeding until I was almost done with the ATG pass. Styptic closed it up, along with another on the chin that I dont remember causing. Alum really didnt register outside of those spots and I walked away with a DFS with which Im pretty happy. Tomorrow Ill be going to the Hartford Cutlery for a few days, then maybe the CVH again. Once Im happy with where the edges are, I can set the rotation.
Hopefully Ill be able to get back into routine in short order. Im slowly catching up on everyones journal as I missed about 3-4 days worth of entries. I hope everyone is doing well, and I appreciate you stopping by for a read!
Im not going to be doing a day by day round up, as I dont have the time, nor do I have any pictures uploaded. But suffice to say, the next razor I grabbed was the ERN 204, (pictured below). It was giving good shaves before I brought it to the Jnat for some touch ups with a full progression of naguras, and is shaving phenomenally well now. The edge is smooth and very keen, passing an HHT5 test across the entirety of the blade. I also was able to get the Hartford Cutlery razor doing much better on the HHT test, it also passing a HHT5 test across the blade. The CVH Mk 31 got some more time on the hone as well, because when I compared the bevel to the ERN and HCs, it still had quite a few of the larger grit marks remaining. So using the mejiro and tomo nagura progressions to a water only, I spent a good 45 minutes working those out. It was maybe an HHT2 before, but just like the others, is now popping hairs all over the place.
So out of the 15 razors I have in my possession, Ive been able to get great Jnat edges on the Torrey, HC, CVH Mk 31, and ERN 204. The Eiko came shave ready from Karl, so that wont be brought to a stone for a while. Next up is getting my Dubl Duck, Pumacker Black Diamond, Genco and Dovo on the stone for some refresh work before I start in on the two wedges I have, those being a Wade & Butcher near wedge and a Hellberg Spanish point full wedge. Going to work on cleaning up the two Jernbolagets after that. Ill be sending out the other Mk 31 and my Mk 32 for some new scales and a re-hone by Karl as well. They arent a priority, so it might be a while for those. Im starting to figure out what works, for me, with the Jnat, and its immensely fulfilling to know that I can take a razor from an uncomfortable shaver, or non-shaver to one that gives a great, smooth shave.
There are some fresh acquisitions and arrivals as well no pictures as of yet, but when I do theyll be posted in the C.E.C. room and the Sue Moore Auction Scores room. Heres whats arrived though
Stone Cottage Shaving Soap Fougere
Stone Cottage Shaving Soap Sandalwood
Schick Injector (Sue Moore Auction score!)
Wilkinson Sword Shaving Soap stick (Sue Moore Auction score!)
Williams Shaving soap - (Sue Moore Auction score!)
CBLindsays Bog Nymph edition Veg Soap (Sue Moore Auction score!)
CBLindsays Rosemary pre-shave soap
CBLindsays Jeris pre-shave soap (Sue Moore Auction score!)
CBLindsays Jeris shave soap (Sue Moore Auction score!)
TABACAVEG! (Sue Moore Auction score!)
CBLindsays Lavender for my hommies shave soap (Sue Moore Auction score!)
CBLindsays turkish linen strop (Sue Moore Auction score!)
Thanks to [MENTION=89999]skypsyd[/MENTION] , I now have this inbound:
ERNs Ator
View attachment 700291View attachment 700292
Other inbounds:
Mystic Waters Barbershop
Pinaud Clubman Soap and talcum
Firehose strop
Mid-range stone (Shapton Pro 5k)
Leather strop
Wolf Whiskers brush (24mm Envy White)
Original P.160 (Sue Moore Auction score)
NOS Martin de Candre (Sue Moore Auction score)
A couple of notes from the past few days of shaving The ERN 204 is proving to be a great shaver, easy to handle as well as easy on the eyes. All of the shaves have been relatively uneventful, outside of yesterdays and this mornings shave. Yesterday I didnt really have time for a full straight shave, so I took the Jectah and gave it a run out. I walked away DFS+, but it just didnt feel quite as close, nor as comfortable as my DEs, let alone my straights. This has more to do with my technique than anything else, but my first impressions are that it is extremely easy to use, and the angle is fairly intuitive. Its going to take a bit of time before Im comfortable with it over a DE, if that even happens. This mornings shave was a bit of a mixed bag. I was really enjoying the shave, even though I forgot to throw some music on, and was on my ATG pass using some short buffing strokes when I let the angle get a little steep and felt the blade just dig in on the jawline to start the S-N pass. I ended up with a minor 1cm cut that really didnt start bleeding until I was almost done with the ATG pass. Styptic closed it up, along with another on the chin that I dont remember causing. Alum really didnt register outside of those spots and I walked away with a DFS with which Im pretty happy. Tomorrow Ill be going to the Hartford Cutlery for a few days, then maybe the CVH again. Once Im happy with where the edges are, I can set the rotation.
Hopefully Ill be able to get back into routine in short order. Im slowly catching up on everyones journal as I missed about 3-4 days worth of entries. I hope everyone is doing well, and I appreciate you stopping by for a read!
- Thread starter
- #527
Josh I'm getting caught up and can see that I have missed blood, wonderful soaps and a redemptive Torrey shave! That's some weekend
The Torrey shave after the bloodbath from the Flare Tip was a great shave...thanks Dan!
Thanks Jacob! It's been a hectic week, lol.
Still waiting on a couple, but being APO I can afford to be patient. They're starting to trickle in, however!
A belated congrats on #50, Josh.
Thanks Sam! Those are quickly becoming two of my favorite shaving implements!
Thanks Chris!
I don't know about you Josh, but when I have issues with my internet it drives me crazyI hope it resolves soon!
It was a pain in the butt...but it's resolved now. Hopefully it doesn't happen again anytime soon!
Great work on the honing Josh! There is nothing like the feeling of getting an excellent shave from and edge that you honed yourself. Both of those ERN's look to be in great shape, and I'm looking forward to having an Ator in my den at some point. 
- Thread starter
- #530
I have to say Dave, that you have some of the most striking razors...the Stark(s), the SV Koraat amongst them. But the Ator Swayback just screams out "classy" and laid back to me. When I saw this I had to pick it up...and got a real good deal on it too, so it didn't hurt the wallet as much as I was expecting!
Thanks Josh, That is Awesome I look forward to your thoughts on it out of all the razors I have ergonomically it is the easiest to strop and hold and literally feels like it is meant to be an extension of your physiology. Congrats!!
- Thread starter
- #532
I'm looking forward to giving it a shave and seeing if the function equals the form! I'll definitely post my thoughts afterwards!
Danke Schoen Dan! Regardless of how well the Ator works out, the beautiful swedish ladies you're accompanied by are still some of my favorites!
- Thread starter
- #533
Yesterday was a good day, both from a shaving perspective and just in general. I did not get any of my razors to the hones, but did get some new toys to play with. To be fair, I did receive the package from CBLindsay a few days prior…
I’m going to have to do a side by side comparison between the two injectors I have and see if there is any noticeable difference…which I’m guessing there won’t be a significant difference. The new one I received is an E3 Type, whereas the one I already had was a G1 Type. I also received two Stone Cottage Shaving Soap tubs…Fougere and Sandalwood. These are both the first “pure” scents of these types that I own. Of course, each soap maker has their own interpretation of these scents, so that is fairly subjective. I enjoy the scent of both, though the fougere I like by quite a bit more.
The nightly lather was an interesting one…I grabbed the Simpson Colonel and the Bog Nymph Edition soap by CBLindsay. This is the first time I’m smelling the scent of the veg. I can see why it is such a polarizing thing. I get the lilac and powder…but at the same time I can see where people are getting the cat urine smell from it. It all depends what I am smelling for. In regards to how much I enjoy the scent…I’m going to give it another few uses before passing judgement. It’s not that my first impressions were bad…I liked one aspect of the scent (the lilac and powder) and disliked the other (cat urine). This would have to be one of those scents I would have to be in the mood for. The quality of the lather could not be questioned, however. Great lather, and so easy to achieve as well. It will be used for a shave here in the near term future. I threw some clubman on top prior to sleep, and it paired pretty well together.
Prep: hot shower | Stirling Hot Apple Cider
Pre-shave: CBLindsay’s Jeris pre-shave | hot towel
Strop: premium 3” Latigo, Nylon webbing (50/100)
Razor: Hartford Cutlery Extra Hollow Ground 5/8”
Brush: Stirling 24mm Finest
Soap: Stone Cottage Shaving Soap Fougere
Post-shave: Alum | Cold towel | Thayer’s Cucumber Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue
Fragrance: Sung Homme by Alfred Sung
View attachment 700527
Over the past couple of months, I’ve had a couple of good bites by my blades. Nothing too horrific, but a few here and there that have needed a very short styptic session at most to close up. Today’s shave, I grabbed a freshly honed razor in my Hartford Cutlery Extra Hollow Ground, pairing it up with the Stirling 24mm finest as well as the Stone Cottage Shaving Soap Fougere. I’ll get to the soap in a little bit, but let me speak on the shave. Suffice to say, the first two passes were unbelievably smooth. Each time I finish a razor and give it the shave test, I’m raising the bar on what my expected edge should feel like. The HC was even more keen and more smooth than the ERN was. I always wondered what people were talking about when they say they didn’t know if a razor was taking off stubble, especially a hollow ground razor. That’s the sensation I was feeling this morning…couldn’t feel the blade and had no sound. But there was plenty of stubble on the sponge!
The first two passes went well...until the very end, getting the very far left of my neck (S-N pass), when the corner of the blade caught the base of my earlobe…oops. Not a horribly bad cut, not like I had taken an ear off. But it was enough. After about a minute, the bleeding started. I ignored it and did my ATG pass, finishing up with a DFS. Once done I grabbed the styptic and tried closing it up…to no avail. About 5-10 minutes worth of just holding the sytptic on the cut and it finally closed up…at least to the point where it was only oozing. The alum feedback was negligible…maybe .5/10…just enough to let me know it wasn’t water, but nothing more than a tingle. The AV paired up well with the Fougere, and the Sung Homme was a great pairing to these as well.
The soap didn't perform quite as well as I had wanted it to, but that was partially on me as I didn't A) bloom it or make sure it was adhered to the container. So I was dealing with a soap puck (this is a very hard soap...ala MWF), that was spinning in the container that didn't give up too much product at first. Once it softened slightly with moisture, I was able to load enough to lather with. It didn't take too much water to get to a great slick lather. It'll take a few more times of using it to get it dialed in, but I'm pretty confident that the lather is going to be top shelf. The scent certainly is...not overpowering, but always there. More to follow in subsequent posts and usages of this soap...
Going through my music lists, Steely Dan’s Aja just jumped out at me as one that was begging to be listened to. This is by far my favorite album of theirs…and second place is really not even close. I really don’t have a favorite song, per se, off of this album, but the hook melody for the opening song “Black Cow” is just fantastic, so it gets the nod for song of the day…though it could just as easily have gone to “Aja”, “Peg”, “Deacon Blues”, “Home at Last” or “I Got the News”…the entire album is just great.
I’m going to have to do a side by side comparison between the two injectors I have and see if there is any noticeable difference…which I’m guessing there won’t be a significant difference. The new one I received is an E3 Type, whereas the one I already had was a G1 Type. I also received two Stone Cottage Shaving Soap tubs…Fougere and Sandalwood. These are both the first “pure” scents of these types that I own. Of course, each soap maker has their own interpretation of these scents, so that is fairly subjective. I enjoy the scent of both, though the fougere I like by quite a bit more.
The nightly lather was an interesting one…I grabbed the Simpson Colonel and the Bog Nymph Edition soap by CBLindsay. This is the first time I’m smelling the scent of the veg. I can see why it is such a polarizing thing. I get the lilac and powder…but at the same time I can see where people are getting the cat urine smell from it. It all depends what I am smelling for. In regards to how much I enjoy the scent…I’m going to give it another few uses before passing judgement. It’s not that my first impressions were bad…I liked one aspect of the scent (the lilac and powder) and disliked the other (cat urine). This would have to be one of those scents I would have to be in the mood for. The quality of the lather could not be questioned, however. Great lather, and so easy to achieve as well. It will be used for a shave here in the near term future. I threw some clubman on top prior to sleep, and it paired pretty well together.
Prep: hot shower | Stirling Hot Apple Cider
Pre-shave: CBLindsay’s Jeris pre-shave | hot towel
Strop: premium 3” Latigo, Nylon webbing (50/100)
Razor: Hartford Cutlery Extra Hollow Ground 5/8”
Brush: Stirling 24mm Finest
Soap: Stone Cottage Shaving Soap Fougere
Post-shave: Alum | Cold towel | Thayer’s Cucumber Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue
Fragrance: Sung Homme by Alfred Sung
View attachment 700527
Over the past couple of months, I’ve had a couple of good bites by my blades. Nothing too horrific, but a few here and there that have needed a very short styptic session at most to close up. Today’s shave, I grabbed a freshly honed razor in my Hartford Cutlery Extra Hollow Ground, pairing it up with the Stirling 24mm finest as well as the Stone Cottage Shaving Soap Fougere. I’ll get to the soap in a little bit, but let me speak on the shave. Suffice to say, the first two passes were unbelievably smooth. Each time I finish a razor and give it the shave test, I’m raising the bar on what my expected edge should feel like. The HC was even more keen and more smooth than the ERN was. I always wondered what people were talking about when they say they didn’t know if a razor was taking off stubble, especially a hollow ground razor. That’s the sensation I was feeling this morning…couldn’t feel the blade and had no sound. But there was plenty of stubble on the sponge!
The first two passes went well...until the very end, getting the very far left of my neck (S-N pass), when the corner of the blade caught the base of my earlobe…oops. Not a horribly bad cut, not like I had taken an ear off. But it was enough. After about a minute, the bleeding started. I ignored it and did my ATG pass, finishing up with a DFS. Once done I grabbed the styptic and tried closing it up…to no avail. About 5-10 minutes worth of just holding the sytptic on the cut and it finally closed up…at least to the point where it was only oozing. The alum feedback was negligible…maybe .5/10…just enough to let me know it wasn’t water, but nothing more than a tingle. The AV paired up well with the Fougere, and the Sung Homme was a great pairing to these as well.
The soap didn't perform quite as well as I had wanted it to, but that was partially on me as I didn't A) bloom it or make sure it was adhered to the container. So I was dealing with a soap puck (this is a very hard soap...ala MWF), that was spinning in the container that didn't give up too much product at first. Once it softened slightly with moisture, I was able to load enough to lather with. It didn't take too much water to get to a great slick lather. It'll take a few more times of using it to get it dialed in, but I'm pretty confident that the lather is going to be top shelf. The scent certainly is...not overpowering, but always there. More to follow in subsequent posts and usages of this soap...
Going through my music lists, Steely Dan’s Aja just jumped out at me as one that was begging to be listened to. This is by far my favorite album of theirs…and second place is really not even close. I really don’t have a favorite song, per se, off of this album, but the hook melody for the opening song “Black Cow” is just fantastic, so it gets the nod for song of the day…though it could just as easily have gone to “Aja”, “Peg”, “Deacon Blues”, “Home at Last” or “I Got the News”…the entire album is just great.
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Another excellent haul Josh. you got some of the legendary Tabacaveg soap, and I'm jealous lol.
Sorry to hear about the bite, and looking forward to reading your thoughts on the Stone Cottage soap once you get it dialed in.
Sorry to hear about the bite, and looking forward to reading your thoughts on the Stone Cottage soap once you get it dialed in.
Hey Josh! Nice collection of new gear. I see some Turkish linen in there too.
That cut sounded like a good bleeder - glad you got the blood flow stopped.
Sounds like you are making very good progress with your honing and seeing steady improvement in the final edges - well done!
That cut sounded like a good bleeder - glad you got the blood flow stopped.
Sounds like you are making very good progress with your honing and seeing steady improvement in the final edges - well done!
- Thread starter
- #537
Thanks Pete! I'm having a good time getting to know the stone, and the more I work with it, the more I learn. The swedes are a bit of a pain due to the hardness of the steel, but they still hone up just like any other, eventually. The bite...I have no one but myself to blame on that since I failed to pay attention to where the toe was.
Thanks Dave!
Nice shave Josh, sorry you drew some blood, I did the same thing on the opposite ear this morning, but it didn't require alum. My favorite album of there would have to be "Can't Buy A Thrill" and "Reelin’ in the Years" has to be the song of the album. But that's just me
I really enjoy all of the albums Steely Dan put out...but the sound of Aja is just ever so slightly different from the rest of their albums, and the composition as a whole is just more enjoyable than the others. My favorite song of theirs...that's a different story. That would be "Dirty Work", off of your favorite album, "Can't Buy A Thrill".
Another excellent haul Josh. you got some of the legendary Tabacaveg soap, and I'm jealous lol.
Sorry to hear about the bite, and looking forward to reading your thoughts on the Stone Cottage soap once you get it dialed in.
Thanks Eric...I'm looking forward to giving the TABACAVEG a try and seeing how it goes. I'm thinking that I'm going to give the SCSS soaps a few days straight to see if I can get them dialed in correctly, and give a final review of them.
- Thread starter
- #538
Incredibly hectic work day yesterday
peoples stupidity and ignorance ends up creating a lot of work. So needless to say, no honing got done yesterday. I grabbed the Wilkinson Sword soap stick last night for the nightly lather. Not ever having used a soap stick before, I was not sure what kind of results I would get. The lather, while on the thinner side, was still good enough for a DE shave. Im sure continued use would see me getting better results from it
Prep: hot shower | Stirling Hot Apple Cider
Pre-shave: CBLindsays Jeris pre-shave | hot towel
Strop: premium 3 Latigo, Nylon webbing (50/100)
Razor: Hartford Cutlery Extra Hollow Ground 5/8
Brush: Excalibur Rustics (Rob Gubber) 24mm Super Silvertip
Soap: Taylor of Old Bond St. Aloe Vera
Post-shave: Alum | Cold towel | Thayers Cucumber Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Nivea Sensitive ASB | Pinaud Clubman
Fragrance: 4711 Classic Ed9
Album of the Day: Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot
Song of the Day: Got My Own Thing Now
After yesterdays good, but bloody shave I wasnt sure what to expect this morning. I selected the TOBS Aloe Vera cream, as I have not used it in quite a while. I gave it phenomenally high marks last I used it, and was confident I could get the same type of performance out of it this morning. In retrospect, I was pretty spot on in my review. The only area it could really improve on is maybe a little slickness, as with a straight, Im going to take it to the wetter side of the spectrum. I might have over-cooked the water, causing the loss of slickness but in my defense the lather was drying out before the end of my pass, so I kept adding water a little at a time to avoid the drying issue. As before, the post-shave feel off of this soap is off the charts, while the scent is negligible, maybe a little floral note along with the primary tone of Aloe. The HC razor was just as keen as yesterday and perhaps a bit more smooth. The shave was in the BBS realm, well call it a BBS-, with no touch-ups from the DE or SE. Alum gave minimal feedback, maybe a 2/10, while the Pinaud was, predictably, quite a bit more vocal. Ill take it though, as it was probably one of the closer straight only shaves Ive had to date.
I started working on the Hellberg wedge today. This razor gave me fits on the lapping film, as it has uneven spine wear, making it difficult to develop an even bevel, and resultantly, a good even edge. So I killed the edge I had on it, and started from scratch with 3 layers of tape, re-setting the bevel with the Shapton 1.5k. I found that I had to set the bevel in three sections, heel, center, and toe. I was able to get a very good bevel, and moved to the botan nagura. I created a very thick slurry, and, used small circles, back and forth strokes and spine trailing strokes through heavy, medium and light pressure, then watered the slurry down and went through the same progression once again. By the end, the nice hazy finish of the Jnat was evident across the entire blade. I still have tenjiou, mejiro and tomo nagura progressions to run through, so at least another day or two before this razor is ready for a test shave, possibly longer due to the swedish steel its made of.
The music today was supplied by the Squirrel Nut Zippers, this being their album Hot, a swing band which was popular back in the very late 90s and early 2000s. The perfect type of music for the shave today a modern take of music that was incredibly popular in the 30s-40s kind of like shaving with a straight/DE/SE. The first track of the album is Got My Own Thing Now, and it set the tone pretty well for the entire shave.
Have a great Sunday everyone!!
Prep: hot shower | Stirling Hot Apple Cider
Pre-shave: CBLindsays Jeris pre-shave | hot towel
Strop: premium 3 Latigo, Nylon webbing (50/100)
Razor: Hartford Cutlery Extra Hollow Ground 5/8
Brush: Excalibur Rustics (Rob Gubber) 24mm Super Silvertip
Soap: Taylor of Old Bond St. Aloe Vera
Post-shave: Alum | Cold towel | Thayers Cucumber Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Nivea Sensitive ASB | Pinaud Clubman
Fragrance: 4711 Classic Ed9
Album of the Day: Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot
Song of the Day: Got My Own Thing Now
After yesterdays good, but bloody shave I wasnt sure what to expect this morning. I selected the TOBS Aloe Vera cream, as I have not used it in quite a while. I gave it phenomenally high marks last I used it, and was confident I could get the same type of performance out of it this morning. In retrospect, I was pretty spot on in my review. The only area it could really improve on is maybe a little slickness, as with a straight, Im going to take it to the wetter side of the spectrum. I might have over-cooked the water, causing the loss of slickness but in my defense the lather was drying out before the end of my pass, so I kept adding water a little at a time to avoid the drying issue. As before, the post-shave feel off of this soap is off the charts, while the scent is negligible, maybe a little floral note along with the primary tone of Aloe. The HC razor was just as keen as yesterday and perhaps a bit more smooth. The shave was in the BBS realm, well call it a BBS-, with no touch-ups from the DE or SE. Alum gave minimal feedback, maybe a 2/10, while the Pinaud was, predictably, quite a bit more vocal. Ill take it though, as it was probably one of the closer straight only shaves Ive had to date.
I started working on the Hellberg wedge today. This razor gave me fits on the lapping film, as it has uneven spine wear, making it difficult to develop an even bevel, and resultantly, a good even edge. So I killed the edge I had on it, and started from scratch with 3 layers of tape, re-setting the bevel with the Shapton 1.5k. I found that I had to set the bevel in three sections, heel, center, and toe. I was able to get a very good bevel, and moved to the botan nagura. I created a very thick slurry, and, used small circles, back and forth strokes and spine trailing strokes through heavy, medium and light pressure, then watered the slurry down and went through the same progression once again. By the end, the nice hazy finish of the Jnat was evident across the entire blade. I still have tenjiou, mejiro and tomo nagura progressions to run through, so at least another day or two before this razor is ready for a test shave, possibly longer due to the swedish steel its made of.
The music today was supplied by the Squirrel Nut Zippers, this being their album Hot, a swing band which was popular back in the very late 90s and early 2000s. The perfect type of music for the shave today a modern take of music that was incredibly popular in the 30s-40s kind of like shaving with a straight/DE/SE. The first track of the album is Got My Own Thing Now, and it set the tone pretty well for the entire shave.
Have a great Sunday everyone!!
Excellent Josh! The wedges are a pain to hone. I've taken out the Wade and Butcher and Jernbolaget wedges from time to time and, while I can get a shave from either one, neither is where it should be.
