Traveling Scuttle

please dont count me in...lovely PIF!

joamo said:

Just got the handoff from Pugslycat.

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After the trouble Hogwild had in finding a person to pass it off to, I had contacted Joamo as soon as I received it. It turned out that he lives in the metro area closest to my weekend place, so we arranged to meet in person to do the hand off. We met and had a brief chat, which led to a couple of tense moments as we came under the watchful eye of the airport police, but that passed. Maybe arranging the rendezvous at the abandoned post office near the air freight terminal wasn't my best choice.

I only used the traveling scuttle for a short two weeks. I wanted to keep it moving. My observations are as follows:

1. Warm lather is good.
2. As a lathering bowl, this one works OK, but it's kind of in a no mans land for size. I'd prefer larger for a lathering bowl, or go with the smaller heated gravy bowl from World Market for a brush scuttle.
3. I am pressed for space in the shave den at the apartment. This size worked great for that location even if it was a bit cramped for making lather in.
4. Adding the scuttle to my morning routine was complexity that I don't think that I need. I streamlined things by setting warm water to trickle through the bowl while I showered rather than waiting for it to fill, dumping it, refilling it to shave, and dumping it again at the end.
5. A two piece scuttle might work better for somebody trying to shave fast. It would be faster to empty water from and I suspect faster to fill.

What's the list look like now? May I be added to the end of it?
thanks,
Dan

Oh...nevermind.

1. Joamo
2. Buxwheat (next up)
3. Vferdman
4. Polardude1983
5. The Anachronist
6. deruitem
7. Mechanically
8. LouBarraza
9. rancurt2
10. menghai
11. jzuzphreek
12. joshuastar
13. ngai
14. ElliotR
15. tubaguy

Wow! a 7 page thread without a single picture of the scuttle! This is pretty amazing at a forum where people take pictures of everything they shave with. Come on, guys! Post some photos of this thing so I can start salivating as Buxwheat has contacted me to inform that I am next to receive it.

Thanks in advance!

I think the idea is that we don't know what it looks like until we get it. a surprise!

joshuastar said:

I think the idea is that we don't know what it looks like until we get it. a surprise!

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Oh, I see. I thought I read that there were going to be pictures of the scuttle in famous places near where we live. I may not have read through the whole thread. So, surprise it is, I guess.

Lemme take my name off the list...I think I have one coming for my b-day!

tubaguy said:

Lemme take my name off the list...I think I have one coming for my b-day!

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What, you aren't a two-fisted latherer?

Heading out to Buxwheat.

Warm lather was great! As stated previously the bowl area is a bit small but useable. I did experience some of my lather breaking down at 140 degree water temp. Thanks for allowing me to try the scuttle out!

The Traveling Scuttle arrived today, intact. Took it for a test spin/lather immediately. I usually face lather after building lather on the puck so this may take a while to figure out. Anyway, loaded up some Cade for about 15 sec and then took it to the scuttle and finished building lather before taking it to my face. It made decent lather, but not quite thick enough nor did it make enough for three passes (but to be honest, I can't ever seem to be able to do that with any of my soaps/brushes, I just go back to the puck between passes and pick up some more soap). I used the lather just to wash my face, forehead, and neck. I added a bit of water between each application but the lather got too thin. For tomorrow's shave I will load the brush longer and hit the puck again between passes. It certainly kept the lather warm, though, but the whole process didn't take as long as my regular shave does. That being said, I'm sure the thermal mass of this thing should maintain the heat for at least 30 minutes. Looking forward to tomorrow's shave now that Fall temps are here. That warm lather will feel pretty good.

Buxwheat said:

The Traveling Scuttle arrived today, intact. Took it for a test spin/lather immediately. I usually face lather after building lather on the puck so this may take a while to figure out. Anyway, loaded up some Cade for about 15 sec and then took it to the scuttle and finished building lather before taking it to my face. It made decent lather, but not quite thick enough nor did it make enough for three passes (but to be honest, I can't ever seem to be able to do that with any of my soaps/brushes, I just go back to the puck between passes and pick up some more soap). I used the lather just to wash my face, forehead, and neck. I added a bit of water between each application but the lather got too thin. For tomorrow's shave I will load the brush longer and hit the puck again between passes. It certainly kept the lather warm, though, but the whole process didn't take as long as my regular shave does. That being said, I'm sure the thermal mass of this thing should maintain the heat for at least 30 minutes. Looking forward to tomorrow's shave now that Fall temps are here. That warm lather will feel pretty good.

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Sounds like you do not load long enough. 15 seconds is not enough in most cases. I load for almost a minute on the puck for face lathering and never need to go back for more soap. I usually have enough for 4 passes and even then I have lather left over in the brush if I squeeze it. I use both boar and badger and the results are similar, though I find boar tends to eat up more soap and badger is more efficient at picking up soap and holding it. Still, I love a boar brush for how it feels and some times a badger just will not do. Thanks for the initial report. I am also a face latherer and also would like to try the scuttle to see if warm lather is worth the extra effort. In cold months I really feel it may be.

The scuttle is winging its way to vferdman in MA as we speak.

I had the pleasure of testing out the scuttle for the last month. It wasn't that cold here in the South when I first got it, but it's cool enough now to really appreciate the hot lather. (I should actually say warm lather because it really doesn't get hot.) Anyway, here's my thoughts/opinions on the scuttle and my experience with it:

1) This particular scuttle is a little too small for me. It would be better if the bowl was both wider and deeper. Just a little too tight of quarters for whipping up lather. Also, the handle wasn't big enough for me to get my fingers in and be able to grip the scuttle as I made lather. I ended up just holding it down on the sink.

2) Using the scuttle added a little bit of time to my shaving routine, between filling, emptying, and cleaning it out. My regular plastic bowl I don't have to be as careful with and it's easy enough to just drop it the sink as I'm rinsing out my brush and razor. Since I've been off from work a while this hasn't been an issue, but it did make a difference in my morning routine on work days.

3) As far as hot lather goes, it didn't really hot, but warm enough to make it pleasurable. As PugslyCat pointed out, a brush scuttle might be sufficient to add warmth to your lather.

4) Do I want a scuttle? Yes. Do I need one? No. Can I live without one? Yes. That being said, I think a larger scuttle would be a nice addition to my den, but I probably wouldn't use it regularly. What I might end up doing is getting a brush scuttle and settling for a warm brush.

I received the scuttle from Buxwheat last night. I never used a scuttle before and I rarely bowl lather in general. In fact, I only bowl lathered when I first started DE shaving earlier this year and quickly moved to face lathering as my everyday practice. I signed up fr the scuttle way back then and promptly forgot about it until my turn came up. As luck would have it I also received some cremes from other forum's BST last night. Among them was Tabac and Palmolive. I never used cremes before either (except in the cartridge days when I used KMF or similar without a brush), so I decided to scuttle lather Tabac this morning and see how it goes. Well, the scuttle worked very well at keeping the brush and lather warm, but I must say that the first use of shaving creme for me was rather disappointing. First off, Tabac Creme scent was not to my liking so much. Then the lather was totally underwhelming. I used an almond size blob, but maybe I need to use more product (seems to work for most lather related problems). I thought the lather was weak, but serviceable. I got an excellent shave with my Progress set at 3-ish and a mild Dorco ST300 (3) blade. I loved the warmth of the brush. I live in New England where it is now chilly in the mornings and I like to sleep in cool temperatures. So when I get up to shave it's cold in the den. The warm brush felt wonderful. I will say that the scuttle is large and heavy and I would probably prefer something like a brush scuttle for face lathering soaps and croaps. I usually soak the brush in hot water before lathering and that gives me warm lather for the first pass, but subsequent passes are rather shocking with cold lather. In the summer that feels good, but for cold months I would love the warm brush. So I think I will enjoy the scuttle for the duration of my turn as mostly a brush scuttle and possibly look to buy a brush scuttle of my own. Can anyone recommend one? I do not belive I even heard of brush scuttles. I am sure I can commission one from one of the numerous potters in my area, but I would need to know what it looks like and what all the possible ways of constructing one are. For example I know there is a two piece scuttle where the top comes off and there is one piece where the top is attached. Please post some pictures of your small brush size scuttle so I can get an idea.

Thanks for a great traveling scuttle! I am experiencing new ways in DE shaving, which is always exciting.

vferdman said:

Can anyone recommend one?

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Cost Plus World Market has a warming pitcher that has been popular with members as a one piece brush scuttle. You can buy it on line or from a store near you. I have seen it in person and it really is about the right size for a brush scuttle.

vferdman said:

I do not belive I even heard of brush scuttles. I am sure I can commission one from one of the numerous potters in my area, but I would need to know what it looks like and what all the possible ways of constructing one are. For example I know there is a two piece scuttle where the top comes off and there is one piece where the top is attached. Please post some pictures of your small brush size scuttle so I can get an idea.

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I recommend that you check out the Shaving Pottery Reference Thread for some ideas.

One piece scuttles are like the traveling scuttle you just tried. It's a bowl with a water jacket around it. There's a spout to add and remove hot water from the water jacket. Some have a cork to try and keep heat in, while others have more of a spout to facilitate the neat removal of the water.

Two piece scuttles are basically a lathering bowl within a larger outer bowl. The lathering bowl has a wide rim that projects out so that it hangs from the rim of the outer bowl. The space in between is the water jacket. The rim of the lathering bowl may also project inward a little bit to keep lather from climbing out and it may have some sort of texture on the bottom to facilitate lathering. The outer bowl may or may not have a handle and a spout.

Just an update on the traveling scuttle. It is wonderful and I am thoroughly enjoying it. The weather is cold and warm lather feels sublime. I like it so much that I ordered an original from DB (ETA early January) and I also ordered a GP G5 (ETA 2-3 weeks). I am not sure I will keep both, but of all the options out there for the price range of $40-$60 I liked these two the most. I would love to hang on to the traveling one until the GP arrives, but it may not happen. I have about 2-3 weeks with it still, so...

Thanks for the traveling scuttle!

I am done with the traveling scuttle and am sending it on to Polardude1983. I really liked using it. It is not as pretty as DB or some others out there, but it's extremely functional. I ordered a GP G5 and it arrived a little while ago. I must say, the traveling scuttle keeps my lather warmer longer than the G5. G5 is prettier and has a larger diameter bowl, but it is not all that great at retaining heat. The hot tap water is simply not enough to keep the brush warm for 3+ passes. Traveling scuttle did much better in the same environment.

Thanks for letting me test it out and everyone else down the list, ENJOY!


The updated list:

1. Polardude1983 (next)
2. The Anachronist
3. deruitem
4. Mechanically
5. LouBarraza
6. rancurt2
7. menghai
8. jzuzphreek
9. joshuastar
10. ngai
11. ElliotR
12. DEshave

yay! I'm into the single digits!

I got the scuttle a couple days ago from vferdman and tried it out for the first time. It came just in time too because my wife just recently broke my lathering bowl. Though I loved the color of the scuttle

It was a treat trying it out and kept my lather nice and warm. It is a very pretty scuttle. I will be trying it out a few more times.